THE THIRD PART -
relating to the judicial proceedings in both the ecclesiastical and civil
courts against witches and indeed all heretics
Question XIII. Of the points to be observed by the Judge before the formal examination in the place of detention and torture. This is the Eighth Action.
Question XIV. Of the Method of Sentencing the Accused to be Questioned: and how she must be Questioned of the First Day; and Whether she may be Promised her Life. The Ninth Action.
Question XV. Of the continuing of the torture, and of the devices and signs by which the Judge can recognize a witch; and how he ought to protect himself from their spells. Also how they are to be shaved in those parts where they use to conceal the devil's masks and tokens; together with the due setting forth of various means of overcoming their obstinacy in keeping silence and refusal to confess. And it is the Tenth Action.
Question XVII. Of Common Purgation, and especially of the Trial by Red-hot Iron, to which Witches appeal.
Question XXXIII. Of the Method of passing Sentence upon one who has been Accused by another Witch, who has been or is to be Burned at the Stake.
Question XXXIV. Of the Method of passing Sentence upon a Witch who Annuls Spells wrought by Witchcraft; and of Witch Midwives and Archer-Wizards.
Part III
(page 197) ...By inspecting the astrolabe, he might find out some hidden thing. And this, they say, is pure divination or sortilege. ...or they meet together to practise heretical sortes, or make predictions by means of blood...
(page 212) ...he shall first cause his house to be searched unexpectedly, and all chests to be opened and all boxes in the corners, and all implements of witchcraft which are found to be taken away.
(page 213) ...Again, let her be asked why she persists in a state of adultery or concubinage; for although this is beside the point, yet such questions engender more suspicion than would be the case with a chaste and honest woman who stood accused.
(page 214) ...It is therefore concluded that it is most just if the Judge proceeds in that manner with his questions and the depositions of witnesses, since, as has been said, he can in a case concerning the Faith conduct matters quite plainly and in a short and summary manner; and it is meet that he should consign the accused to prison for a time, or for several years, in the case perhaps, being depressed after a year of the squalor of prison, she may confess her crimes.
(page 225) ...the Judge shall use his own persuasions and those of other honest men zealous for the faith to induce her to confess the truth voluntarily; and if she will not, let him order the officers to bind her with cords, and apply her to some engine of torture; and then let them obey at once but not joyfully, rather appearing to be disturbed by their duty.
(page 226) ...And while this is being done, let the Notary write all down, how she is tortured and what questions are asked and how she answers.
(page 228) ...And if it can be conveniently done, the witch should be led backward into the presence of the Judge and his assessors. The third precaution to be observed in this tenth action is that the hair should be shaved from every part of her body. The reason for this is the same as that for stripping her of her clothes, which we have already mentioned, for in order to preserve their power of silence they are in the habit of hiding some superstitious object in their clothes or in their hair, or even in the most secret parts of their bodies which must not be named.
(page 229) ...But what is to be said of a case that happened in the Diocese of Ratisbon? Certain heretics were convicted by their own confession not only as impenitent but as open advocates of that perfidy; and when they are condemend to death it happened that they remained unharmed in the fire. At length their sentence was altered to death by drowning, but this was no more effective.
(page 230) ...But in other countries the Inquisitors order the witch to be shaved all over her body. And the Inquisitor Como has informed us that last year, that is, in 1485, he ordered forty-one witches to be burned, after they had been shaved all over. And this was in the district and county of Burbia, commonly called Wormserbad, in the territory of the Archduke of Austria, towards Milan.
(page 231) ...And while she is raised from the ground, if she is being tortured in this way, let the Judge read or cause to be read to her the depositions of the witnesses with their names, saying: "See! You are convicted by the witnesses." Also, if the witnesses are willing to confront her face to face, the Judge shall ask her if she will confess if the witnesses are brought before her. And if she consents, let the witnesses be brought in and stand before her, so that she may be constrained or shamed into confessing some of her crimes.
(page 234) ...for we learn from naturalists that if the hands be anointed with the juice of a certain herb they are protected from burning.
(page 235) ...When she was being tortured and questioned, wishing to escape from their hands, she appealed to the trial by red-hot iron; and the Count, being young and inexperienced, allowed it. And she then carried the red-hot iron not only for the stipulated three paces, but for six, and offered to carry it even farther. Then, although they ought to have taken this as a manifest proof that she was a witch (since none of the Saints dared to tempt the help of God in this manner), she was released from her chains and lives to the present time, not without grave scandal to the Faith in those parts.
(page 236) ...First, when the prisoner is a pregnant woman; and then the sentence shall be delayed until she had given birth.
(page 268-9) ...Secondly,
they sometimes undertake to cure the injury or spell of one person, but
will have nothing to do with that of another. For in the Diocese of Spires
there is a witch in a certain place called Zunhofen who, although she seems
to heal many persons, confesses that she can in no way heal certain others.
Fourthly, they sometimes themselves observe, or cause to be observed, certain
superstitious ceremonies. For instance, they fix some such time as before
sunrise for people to visit them; or say that they cannot heal injuries
which were caused beyond the limits of the estate on which they live; or
that they can only heal two or three persons in a year.
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