La inquisicion y las brujas
2014; College of Letters and Science of the University of California Santa Barbara; Issue: 26 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1540-5877
Autores Tópico(s)Cultural and Mythological Studies
ResumoespanolDurante las ultimas decadas del siglo XX los historiadores han cambiado nuestra vision de la caza de brujas europea en grado considerable. La brujeria no era un invento de la Iglesia, sino una creencia ancestral, hasta el siglo XV considerada como supersticion pagana tanto por la Iglesia Catolica como por la Ortodoxa. Sin embargo la caza de brujas popular esta documentada en paises como Dinamarca, Alemania, Hungria y Rusia en los siglos XI , XII y XIII. La informacion generalmente aceptada de que la Inquisicion Medieval quemo cientos de brujas en Francia durante los siglos XIII y XIV se ha revelado recientemente como fraude cometido por un novelista frances en 1829. Por lo tanto la caza inquisitorial de brujas no empezo antes de principios del siglo XV, cuando la creencia popular habia sido reinterpretada y las brujas definidas como una nueva secta diabolica. Aquellos descubrimientos nos han obligado a establecer una nueva cronologia: La caza de brujas ya no se puede considerar como algo perteneciente a la Edad Media, porque fue insignificante en comparacion con la brujomania de la Edad Moderna. Despues de decadas de trabajo sistematico en los archivos judiciales estamos tambien en condiciones de reemplazar los calculos astronomicos con millones de victimas con cifras solidas: a saber, un total de 100.000 causas, de las cuales unas 50.000 terminaron con pena de muerte. En la Edad Moderna miles de supuestas brujas y brujos fueros procesados por los tribunales inquisitoriales del Sur de Europa, pero extremadamente pocos fueron quemados: 59 en Espana, 36 en Italia y 4 en Portugal. Con su propio servicio de inteligencia y poder casi absoluto el Santo Oficio podria haber causado un holocausto de brujas en los paises catolicos del Mediterraneo, mas la Historia nos ensena algo muy diferente: la Inquisicion fue la salvacion de miles de personas acusadas por alquel crimen imaginario. EnglishDuring the last decades of the twentieth century historians have changed our vision of the European witch persecution considerably. Witchcraft was not an invention of the Church, it was an ancient worldwide belief, until the fourteenth century condemned by the Catholic as well as the Orthodox Church as pagan superstition. Notwithstanding popular witch-hunting is known to have taken place in Denmark, Germany, Hungary and Russia during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The widely accepted information about inquisitorial mass burnings of witches in thirteenth and fourteenth century France have recently been uncovered as a forgery committed by a French novellist in 1829. So the inquisitorial witch-hunt did not start until around 1400, when the popular witch belief had been reinterpreted and the witches defined as a new diabolic sect. Based on these revelations a new chronology has been established: The witch-hunt of the late Middle Ages was insignificant in comparison with the witch-craze of the following centuries and must therefore be considered as something belonging to the Early Modern period. After decades of systematic research in the archives we can now also replace the astronomic calculations with millions of victims by solid figures: a total of 100.000 cases, approximately half of which ending with execution. In the Early Modern period thousands of witches were also tried by the inquisitorial tribunals in Southern Europe, but only a few of them were burned: 59 in Spain, 36 in Italy and 4 in Portugal. Considering the efficient network of intelligence and judicial power of the early modern inquisitions they could have brought about a tremendous witch holocaust, but History teaches us something very different: the Holy Office became the salvation of thousands of men and women accused of this imposible crime
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