Of the things often associated with the Basques – exploration and seafaring, pintxos, rural sports, an odd language – one of the most infamous is the Witch Trials. A mania, at least fueled by if not instigated by the Inquisition and other religious figures, swept parts of the Basque Country, leading to people accusing neighbors, friends, and families of cohorting with Satan. This happened more than once, and led to the trial and execution of many accused witches.

• The first witch trials in the Basque Country immediately followed Castilla’s and the Inquisition’s conquering of the Kingdom of Nafarroa, in 1525. These trials essentially defined how the Inquisition would conduct such trials. The first trials were held by the Council of Nafarroa’s special commissioner. Two sisters, aged 9 and 11, were brought in to look for the Devil’s mark in peoples’ eyes. In at least five different places, people were detained and executed, but we don’t know how many. At the end, the Inquisition took over and actually tempered activities, urging skepticism of spell casting and banning confiscation of property. They insisted that witches be re-educated rather than executed.
• In 1609, Pierre de Lancre led a witch-hunt in Iparralde, in the province of Lapurdi. His investigations led to the burning of 70 people, including a few priests, for witchcraft. However, he estimated that some 10% of the population – 3000 people – were witches. He was dismissed from office before he could persecute all of his suspects. However, his efforts directly inspired the trials in Logroño.
• Perhaps the most well known witch trials were in 1609-1610. The Inquisition held trials in the town of Logroño, in La Rioja. In these trials, the Inquisition resumed executions. In 1610, some 10-12 people were burned at the stake, though about half had already died during torture to extract confessions and were burned symbolically.
• After, the Inquisition appointed Alonso de Salazar Frías, the so-called Witches’ Advocate, to investigate witchcraft activities, with a particular focus on the region around Zugarramurdi. He collected confessions from nearly 2000 people, naming upwards of an additional 5000 people as witches. The majority of those 2000 people were children aged 7-14. In the end, 6 of the nearly 7000 people accused were executed for witchcraft. The nature of the accounts of witchcraft and how people created the stories they told the Inquisitors has been studied by Emma Wilby.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Navarre witch trials (1525-26), Wikipedia; Basque witch trials, Wikipedia; Labourd witch-hunt of 1609, Wikipedia