Mirandola witch trials
The Mirandola witch trials took place in Mirandola in the Duchy of Mirandola between 1522 and 1525. It resulted in the death of ten people (seven men and three women), who were burned alive at the stake for witchcraft on the square. The witch trial attracted a lot of attention in contemporary Italy, and were the subject of Libro detto strega o delle illusioni del demonio (1523) by Gianfrancesco Pico, which are referred to as the first book about witchcraft and demonology in vulgar Latin. Background The Mirandola witch hunt was part of a historical period dominated by a relentless series of clashes and wars over the domination of the fortress-city of Mirandola, claimed by the antagonistic branches of the Pico family represented by Giovanni Francesco II Pico della Mirandola against his sister-in-law Francesca Trivulzio, wife of Ludovico I Pico della Mirandola and stepmother-regent of Galeotto II Pico della Mirandola. Already immediately after the siege of Mirandola in 1502, which had led to the exile of Gianfrancesco II Pico, on the orders of the new Lord Ludovico I Pico della Mirandola the Florentine friar Pietro Bernardino (or Bernardo), accused of heresy and sodomy, for being a follower of Girolamo Savonarola and founder of a sect of "whiners" who had elected him as antipope, was burned alive. After the siege of Mirandola in 1510-1511 by Pope Julius II against Francesca Trivulzio, Gianfrancesco II Pico was put back in power, and he continued his maneuvers to eliminate his enemies and maintain the Seignory of Mirandola: many accused of witchcraft were in fact important figures from the territory of Concordia (where Francesca Trivulzio was staying) or well known to the population of the Mirandola area and its surroundings, including many priests. Many trials ended with a dismissal (non apparet expeditio), often as a result of the accused's act of abjuration; other times the proceedings were interrupted as a result of the accused's escape, who was then hidden and protected by the population. In 1524 Giovanna Carafa, the wife of Gianfrancesco II Pico and described as a 'tyrannically avaricious woman', was accused by the partisans of her nephew Galeotto II Pico della Mirandola of forging gold coins (doubloons and ducats) minted by the Mirandola Mint out of resentment against her husband, but she blamed the Jewish mintmaster Santo di Bochali (a mere executor of the sovereign's wishes), who was beheaded in the main square by Giovanfrancesco II to save his wife's reputation. In 1533 Gianfrancesco Pico was finally killed by his nephew Galeotto II Pico della Mirandola. Witch trials The Inquisition began in 1522 when Dominican friar Girolamo Armellini arrived from Faenza, who had jurisdiction over the diocese of Reggio Emilia and who was investigating rumours of strange nocturnal rituals that took place in the countryside crossed by the Secchia river, especially in the villa of Cividale near Mirandola. According to Friar Leandro Alberti, in these sabbaths the participants allegedly practised abominable acts, including the so-called 'Game of Diana', which consisted of scandalous sins