Le streghe di Isnello. La magia come crimine nelle Madonie d'antico regime (XVI-XVII secolo)

The Sicilian village of Isnello between the late 16th century and the early 17th century was the scene of a witch persecution. The local "curia spirituale", a first instance court for the Episcopal Office of Cefalù, prosecuted several women on charges of witchcraft and condemned some to public flogging and banishment. The tried witches were very divergent in reputation and social role. The healers were respected by their fellow villagers; the evil sorcerers, given to different crimes, lived on the edge of society. Sorcery was actually a dual phenomenon: dangerous instrument of evil as well as unreplaceable element of popular medicine asked by all social groups. The bishop's justice tried to combat magic regardless of the purposes and beyond the ambivalence.