The Witches of Benevento, Italy

Jan 19

Many cultures contain references to crossroads being a place of supernatural, often dark, occurrences. They are said to be the places where one may be led astray by demons, witches, spirits, and the devil himself.

But what of a place where the entire city is said to be a giant crossroads of two converging rivers, what kind of supernatural occurrences would occur there? This was the city of Maleventum, a city belonging to the Samnite people of Southern Italy until the 3rd century B.C.E. when the Romans took over.

Believing the name and location were a bad omen, the Romans changed the name of the city to Beneventum, “bene” meaning “good”, in hopes of dissipating any lingering evil. For centuries it appeared as if the name change worked but eventually rumors of witches began to spread.

Town of Witches

In the 7th century A.D. Beneventum, now under Germanic rule, was thought to house some residents who never truly renounce their pagan religion. Though they would tell anyone who asked that they had converted to Catholicism, rumors spread of their pagan rituals around a large sacred walnut tree.

According to legend, Saint Barbatus of Benevento discovered the tree, chopped it down, and tore out its roots. He later built a church on the spot in order to exorcise any evil but unbeknownst to him, the devil had simply just rebuilt the tree in another secret place.

Centuries later in the 15th century these rituals were now being conducted by supposed witches but legend says many were aware and even sought help from the witches. Prior to battles in wars, the Dukes would ask the witches for their “blessings” and for extra supernatural help.

A ritual or sabbat would then be performed where the skins of slaughtered animals were hanged from the branches of the walnut tree. Depending on the version you hear, the skins were either eaten by the witches for magical spells or the dukes and warriors would eat the skins gaining special power depending on the animal.

Other tricks the witches performed involved them rubbing a magical oil on themselves allowing them to fly and travel to the homes of the opposing army’s men. There they would sleep with the men and steal their semen to create magical poisons and weaken them.

The Fall of Witches

Over the next two centuries, as witches became feared and hysteria swept through Europe, the witches of Benevento met their downfall. A papal bull from Pope Innocent VIII sealed their fate stating witches and witchcraft were real and was heresy.

The stories of Dukes asking for help and the witches providing assistance changed to the witches being the cause of stillborn children, deformed newborns, and bad luck that fell on the people. Under the direction of the priest, Saint Bernardino of Siena, the people turned on witches and set off to exterminate them.

Many were accused of witchcraft and were tortured until they admitted to creating pacts with the devil. Whether they admitted to it or not and regardless if it was true or not, many were burned or hanged.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the hysteria slowly died down and the witches were no longer hunted… if they ever even existed at all.