The Coredo witch trials

The 1614 Coredo witch trials

Hundreds of witnesses, for a total of two hundred and forty-seven depositions and three hundred and forty-six pages of investigative reports. Eight women killed: seven burnt at the stake, and one in prison due to the torture she suffered. Almost all of the accused were elderly women, alone, often widows, with no social protection or help from family.

Women such as Maria "la Pillona", who had been a widow for twenty-five years at the time of the trial, Caterina de Fedrizi, known as "la Castellana", Maria di Giacomo Rigotti di Tos, known as "la Gril", Agata, known as "la Gadenta", Giovanna, known as "la Salada", Barbara, known as "la Buzata di Coredo", or Anna, known as "la Tuenetta".

The Coredo witch trials are one of the darkest pages of Trentino's history.

It is not clear who started the accusations. But what we do know is that the motives seem absolutely ridiculous today. One of the accused, for example, was accused of casting a "Marital impotence spell" for having thrown a stone between the legs of the groom when a couple was returning home after their wedding ceremony.

The accused were also asked what knowledge they had of medicinal herbs. From the reports of the trial, we can read that "... the most knowledgeable of them knows: meio, poultices, sage, rue, savoy cabbage, green cabbage, parsley, polezi, hyssop, clover, mallow." This knowledge certainly wouldn't have worked in her favour.

The investigation was conducted according to the criteria adopted from the Malleus Maleficarum, the best-known and most controversial treatise on witchcraft in European history. This was a fully-fledged guide to recognising and punishing witches.

A hammer striking down on the heads of these unfortunate women.

* Guglielmo Bertagnolli - Il primo processo delle streghe in Val di Non (1914)

Imprisonment in Castel Nanno

There were several places in Val di Non that were involved in the trial. One of these was Castel Nanno, a magnificent Renaissance residence with a flower garden, where guests spread out picnic blankets on the bright green grass in the summer.

In the 17th century, even this carefree place was overwhelmed by the mass hysteria of the witch hunt. Still today, there is a hall in the castle known as "The hall of the witches".

Here, during the trial, three of the accused were imprisoned and interrogated.

Crossing the threshold of this room sends shivers down your spine. The room is empty, and the white walls are blackened by smoke, inevitably bringing to mind the fires that killed the unfortunate women.

However, the real reason is not at all macabre. It dates to the 18th and 19th centuries, when this room was used to farm silkworms. The fires lit on the floor, which were necessary to heat the worms, blackened the vaults of the room over time.

There is one detail that takes us back to the time of the trial, though. Three crosses are carved in one corner of the room. According to tradition, they were the work of the three prisoners, to demonstrate their Christian faith and their trust in the Lord's help.

This is only one of the stories hidden among the walls of this castle surrounded by apple orchards.

The dark walls of Palazzo Nero

A point of reference in the 1614 Val di Non witch trials is Palazzo Nero, an austere manor house in the village of Coredo.

In this case too, it is smoke that the different sites of the witch hunt have in common. The exterior walls in Coredo are blackened with soot. In 1477, the peasants, furious with the Episcopal government that was housed in the palazzo, rose up and tried to set fire to the building. The manor house held strong and the peasants were punished, but the signs of the insurrection are still there.

However, local people have not ruled out the possibility that the blackened walls might also have been caused by the witch burnings, which, over one hundred years later, took place near the palazzo.

The Judgement Hall

Today, Palazzo Nero is a private residence, but it is possible go inside (accompanied by a guide) to visit the Judgement Hall, the seat of the Val di Non witch trials.

It is an unexpected surprise, because in this low-ceilinged room, illuminated by a faint light, the walls are decorated with a spectacular cycle of Gothic frescoes.

They depict the the courtly legend of Saint Genevieve. An allegory that reminds us that the innocent always get justice sooner or later, while the guilty will never escape just punishment. And right in the central part of the fresco, we can see the gruesome punishment of he who plotted against the saint and her husband, the King.

A warning to those who were dragged before the judges in chains.

Nevertheless, in November 1614 it seems that justice turned a blind eye, and seven of the women accused of witchcraft were sentenced to the most ruthless punishment: being burnt at the stake in the public square.

A dark page in Trentino's history, which should not be forgotten. If for no other reason than to remember those women, the innocent witches.