The Basque region of Spain in the early 1600s witnessed the largest witch-hunt in history. From 1609-1614, seven thousand women, children, and men underwent investigation by Inquisitionial judges. Unlike the Spanish Church’s readiness to prosecute heretics or Protestants, however, this episode fortunately was kept from escalating by sceptical educated clergy who tended to find the witchcraft accusations ludicrous.
As one of the judges, named Salazar, wrote: The real question is: are we to believe that witchcraft occurred in a given situation simply because of what the witches claim? No: it is clear that the witches are not to be believed, and the judges should not pass sentence on anyone unless the case can be proven with external and objective evidence sufficient to convince anyone who hears it . . . “. Well, the skepticism was not enough to prevent the deaths of about ten people accused of witchcraft. But the ratio of people investigated to those murdered was far worse in Salem, Massachusetts, where “only” about 200 people were investigated. There, 25 people died.
Source(s): Painting “The Spell” by Francisco Goya (1797-1798), Museo Lazaro Galdiano, Madrid @ pubhist.com. see also Wikipedia for Salazar quote under “Basque Witch Trials.” And Yale Law School News & Blogs Lillian Goldman Law Library @library.law.yale.edu, “The Largest Witch Hunt in World History: the Basque Witch Trials (1609-1614)”, Oct 7, 2019, Dan Wade
