[MUSIC] As we saw in our last video, maleficent magic was one of the central aspects of the witch stereotype that emerged at the end of the Middle Ages. But to fully comprehend the figure of the witch we must also look into its mythological component. One of the main specialists in the history of witchcraft, Richard Kieckhefer, studied what he called the first mythologies of witchcraft that appeared during the 15th century. While doing so, he realized that the first trials and treatises about witches always included some magical elements related to a series of mythical night figures characterized by their ability to fly, to enter closed houses, to change their shape, and also by their infanticidal tendencies. These figures had in fact an ancient origin, since we already find them in the Greek and Roman period, and even before. They are the so-called <i>Strigae</i>, the bird-women who, according to the ancients, transformed themselves through ointments and formulas and entered the houses by night to suck the blood of children. And also the <i>Lamiae,</i> a similar maleficent figure that abducted babies from their cradles in order to dismember and eat them. Both nocturnal figures, the <i>Strigae</i> and the <i>Lamiae,</i> were also very close to a third mythical character, the Nightmare, a figure that received different names in many parts of Europe, and who was believed to enter houses by night to crush or suffocate sleepers, and even to kill them. All those nocturnal figures became part of the medieval system of beliefs. We know that women used to carry out multiple sorts of rituals in order to protect their children from the attack of those night demons. One of them consisted in leaving food, drink, and a mirror on a table, in order to entertain them and avoid their attacks during the night. Many medieval mothers put coral necklaces on their babies, seeking a similar effect, or asked for the services of sorcerers and conjurers to protect their children with their charms and incantations. Nevertheless, all those nocturnal figures were believed to be spiritual entities, similar in nature to other mythical figures such as fairies, leprechauns, house goblins, etc. According to ecclesiastical authorities, they were nothing but demons or bad spirits, whose purpose was simply to mislead people into superstitious beliefs and take them away from the true faith. But then, how come these figures and their maleficent actions were finally attributed to real people, that is, witches? To answer that question we have to place ourselves at the end of the medieval period, in a moment when ecclesiastical authorities started to worry about the powers of the Devil and its capacity to act in the human world physically. Clerics started to perceive many of those mythical figures not as diabolical illusions or bad spirits, but as real and corporeal beings, capable of acting in the physical world. Not only that, but the people who used to believe in those figures and interact with them started to be seen with suspicion, and even considered responsible for the misdeeds caused during the night. Let's see a couple of examples taken from Late Medieval sources. The first case happens in Italy during the 1380s. Two women from the territory of Milan, Sibilla and Pierina, were repeatedly brought to the bishop's court on charges of superstition and magical activities. Among other things, they confessed to have interacted with a sort of fairy society and have joined by night what they called "the game" (il gioco) an assembly presided by a female figure where they sang and drank and then entered different houses. If they found them clean and tidy, they felt happy and their mistress blessed them. This narrative is clearly related to the tradition of "the good ladies", attested to in the sources by the names of <i>Dominae Nocturnae</i> or <i>Dominae Albae</i>, that is, the white ladies or the nocturnal ladies, and also by the names of <i>Bonae Dominae</i> or <i>Bonae Res (the good ladies, the good things). The belief in those nocturnal figures is attested to all across Europe during medieval times. Some women believed to wander with those ladies during the night, taking part in their procession. In those nights when people suspected the visit of the good ladies, they used to keep their houses tidy, and left them food and drink in order to attract good fortune. But the trial of Sibilla and Pierina took a turn after the intervention of the Inquisitors of Milan. Under pressure, they finally confessed having paid homage to that female figure, in whose presence it was forbidden to pronounce the name of God. They even confessed to having invoked a bad spirit named Lucifelum, who transported them to the game, where they had sexual intercourse with him, and even gave him their own blood in order to seal a pact of fidelity. Both women were finally condemned as heretics, and burned in Milan in 1390. Our second case happens some years later in the Catalan city of Barcelona. In 1419, a woman was brought in front of the bishop for charges related to magical activities, involving some fertility rituals and the protection of children. When interrogated in front of the court, the woman stated that she was able to protect newborn babies from the attack of bad spirits, such as witches or ghost armies, by setting the table at night with a tablecloth, bread, wine, and a mirror, so that the witches and the members of the ghost army would entertain themselves eating and drinking, and looking themselves in the mirror; and thus, they wouldn't attack the newborn baby. Obviously, that woman was not referring to corporeal soldiers or groups of murderous women, but rather to maleficent spiritual entities. Nevertheless, the question asked by the court was quite clear as to the intentions of the judge, since he asked the woman (I quote): "if she had ever went with some women called witches, or had been in the company of those, or if she knew anyone that did that type of things in the city." We don't know the outcome of that trial, but a few years later, in the Pyrenean valleys north of Barcelona, women started to be condemned and burned for having joined witches at night to pay homage to the devil, abjure Christian faith, drink and sing and feast with demons, and enter closed chambers to abduct and kill newborn babies. [MUSIC]
