The belief in Basque witches is widespread …

Years: 1610 - 1610
March

The belief in Basque witches is widespread among the Spanish populace, but the Spanish Inquisition of the Basque Region is more inclined to persecute Protestants, conversos (baptized descendants of Jews and Moors), and those who illegally smuggle banned books into Spain.

The Council of Inquisition had warned judges, as far back as 1538, not to believe all that they read in Malleus Maleficarum, the infamous witch-finding text.

In March 1610, Antonio Venegas de Figueroa, the Bishop of Pamplona, sends a letter to the Inquisition in which he claims that the witch hunt is based "on lies and self-delusion" and that there had been little knowledge of witchcraft in the region before the outset of the trials.

Thereafter proceedings are suspended until the inquisitors have a chance to gather further evidence, on what they believe to be a widespread witch cult in the Basque region.

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