Reconstructing the activity of the “Tribunal of the Faith” in Italy during the period 1400-1600, this compelling book analyzes the ideology of its judges and takes a closer look at Italian witches and their clientele. For the first time, the English reader, student, and scholar alike will be offered direct access to this little-known world through a large selection of translated Inquisition trials from the rich State Archives of Modena. From the voices of the men and women who practiced the occult arts or resorted to them on a daily basis, magic and witchcraft will emerge as an integral part of social life in early modern Italy and a means for contact and communication between diverse cultural spheres.
Matteo Duni, a well-known scholar who specializes in the culture and religion of early modern Italy, teaches at Syracuse University in Florence. He has been awarded numerous grants and fellowships from the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the École Française de Rome, and Harvard University’s Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa i Tatti.
November 2007
