A 16–17. századi baszkföldi és erdélyi boszorkányperek összehasonlítása
Comparison of Basque and Transylvanian Witch Trials in the 16th–17th Centuries

Summary/Abstract: This paper seeks to point out the characteristics of the witch hysteria and the view of witches in the Basque Country, which played an essential role in the cessation of witch-hunts and of burnings at the stake in Spain in 1614. It analyses the contrast between the characteristics of the Basque witch-hunts and those in Transylvania. The paper compares the typical view of witches in Transylvania, especially Cluj-Napoca, from the point of view of the people’s beliefs and of the elite’s demonology, by highlighting the characteristics of the view of witches in the area, the main types of accusations, the motives of the reports and the procedures against witches. By pointing out these characteristics, we can see how the demonistic and vampiristic notion of the view of witches in the Basque Country contributed to the cessation of the witch-hunts, and the circumstances in which witch-hunts intensified in Transylvania at about the same time.

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