Overview

In June 1609, two judges left Bordeaux for a territory at the very edge of their jurisdiction, a Basque-speaking province on the Atlantic coast called the Pays de Labourd. In four months, they executed up to 80 women and men for the crime of witchcraft, causing a wave of suspects to flee into Spain and sparking terror there. Witnesses, many of them children, described lurid tales of cannibalism, vampirism, and demonic sex. One of the judges, Pierre de Lancre, published a sensationalist account of this diabolical netherworld. With other accounts seemingly destroyed, this witch-hunt – France's largest – has always been seen through de Lancre’s eyes. The narrative, re-told over the centuries, is that of a witch-hunt caused by a bigoted outsider. Newly discovered evidence paints a very different, still darker picture, revealing a secret history underneath de Lancre’s well-known tale. Far from an outside imposition, witchcraft was a home-grown problem. Panic had been building up over a number of years and the region was fractured by factionalism and a struggle over scarce resources. The Basque Witch-Hunt reveals that de Lancre was no outsider; he was a local partisan, married into the Basque nobility. Living at the Franco-Spanish border, the Basques were victims of geography. Geo-politics caused a local conflict which made the witch-hunt inevitable. The same forces eventually sent thousands of religious refugees from Spain to France where they, in turn, became new objects of popular fear and anger. The Basque witch-hunt is justly infamous. This book shows that almost everything historians thought they knew about it is wrong.

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9781350441507

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This is a story about a witch hunt in the mysterious Pays de Labourd, led by an obsessed witch-hunter driven by his own sexual fantasies. In its course, priests were accused, ‘werewolves’ mused on eating girls’ flesh and children denounced their own mothers, accusing them of having taken them to Sabbaths. Machielsen tells this terrible tale in graphic detail, taking us into a nightmare world betwixt sea and mountain. This is a must-read. * Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History, University of Oxford, UK * This wise and insightful book provides a radically new interpretation of a famous witch-hunt in the Basque country and of witch-finder Pierre de Lancre. In prose that is witty and arresting, Jan Machielsen explores the witch-hunt from the inside out and restores the agency of those caught up in it. * Suzannah Lipscomb, Professor Emerita, University of Roehampton, UK * The Basque Witch-Hunt is a tour de force of historical scholarship and imagination. It transports us to the borderlands of the Basque regions where in the early 1600s, rich and poor, men and women, adults and children, imagined their lives blighted by the devil, and acted against those family and friends they suspected of being in his service. From the memoir of the judge sent to investigate and punish, and many other sources, Jan Machielsen recreates the encounter between law and fear, judges and witches, accused and victims. A masterly work that will inform its readers, move them, and transform their thinking about the past. * Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History, Queen Mary University of London, UK * Pierre de Lancre was convinced of women's inclination toward evil and of the reality of witchcraft, embracing the belief that witches, male or female, are real and that they fly to the sabbat, adore Satan, engage in unnatural sex, and plan the evil deeds (maleficia) that they will perpetrate when they return to their homes. This book explains in impressive detail what led up to the persecutions, how they were conducted, and what was their aftermath. * Gerhild Scholz Williams, Barbara and David Thomas Professor in Arts and Sciences, Washington University, USA *

This is a story about a witch hunt in the mysterious Pays de Labourd, led by an obsessed witch-hunter driven by his own sexual fantasies. In its course, priests were accused, ‘werewolves’ mused on eating girls’ flesh and children denounced their own mothers, accusing them of having taken them to Sabbaths. Machielsen tells this terrible tale in graphic detail, taking us into a nightmare world betwixt sea and mountain. This is a must-read. * Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History, University of Oxford, UK * This wise and insightful book provides a radically new interpretation of a famous witch-hunt in the Basque country and of witch-finder Pierre de Lancre. In prose that is witty and arresting, Jan Machielsen explores the witch-hunt from the inside out and restores the agency of those caught up in it. * Suzannah Lipscomb, author of 'The Voices of Nîmes' and host of the 'Not Just the Tudors' podcast * The Basque Witch-Hunt is a tour de force of historical scholarship and imagination. It transports us to the borderlands of the Basque regions where in the early 1600s, rich and poor, men and women, adults and children, imagined their lives blighted by the devil, and acted against those family and friends they suspected of being in his service. From the memoir of the judge sent to investigate and punish, and many other sources, Jan Machielsen recreates the encounter between law and fear, judges and witches, accused and victims. A masterly work that will inform its readers, move them, and transform their thinking about the past. * Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History, Queen Mary University of London, UK * Pierre de Lancre was convinced of women's inclination toward evil and of the reality of witchcraft, embracing the belief that witches, male or female, are real and that they fly to the sabbat, adore Satan, engage in unnatural sex, and plan the evil deeds (maleficia) that they will perpetrate when they return to their homes. This book explains vividly and in impressive detail what led up to the persecutions, how they were conducted, and what was their aftermath. * Gerhild Scholz Williams, Barbara and David Thomas Professor in Arts and Sciences, Washington University, USA * The great achievement of this book is that it moves beyond the shock and sensationalism of the infamous Basque witch-hunt to tell a more nuanced and, in many ways, more chilling story. Amid the grisly tales of demonic sex, cannibalism, and dark magic, Machielson offers an important reevaluation of avid witch-hunter Pierre de Lancre, one that avoids simplistic moralizing. With its accessible and compelling prose, this book is a must read for anyone interested in why the witch-hunts happened—and how we can learn from them. * Michelle D. Brock, Associate Professor of History, W&L University, USA *

The Basque Witch-Hunt is a tour de force of historical scholarship and imagination. It transports us to the borderlands of the Basque regions where in the early 1600s, rich and poor, men and women, adults and children, imagined their lives blighted by the devil, and acted against those family and friends they suspected of being in his service. From the memoir of the judge sent to investigate and punish, and many other sources, Jan Machielsen recreates the encounter between law and fear, judges and witches, accused and victims. A masterly work that will inform its readers, move them, and transform their thinking about the past. * Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History, Queen Mary University of London, UK *

This is a story about a witch hunt in the mysterious Pays de Labourd, led by an obsessed witch-hunter driven by his own sexual fantasies. In its course, priests were accused, ‘werewolves’ mused on eating girls’ flesh and children denounced their own mothers, accusing them of having taken them to Sabbaths. Machielsen tells this terrible tale in graphic detail, taking us into a nightmare world betwixt sea and mountain. This is a must-read. * Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History, University of Oxford, UK * This wise and insightful book provides a radically new interpretation of a famous witch-hunt in the Basque country and of witch-finder Pierre de Lancre. In prose that is witty and arresting, Jan Machielsen explores the witch-hunt from the inside out and restores the agency of those caught up in it. * Suzannah Lipscomb, author of 'The Voices of Nîmes' and host of the 'Not Just the Tudors' podcast * The Basque Witch-Hunt is a tour de force of historical scholarship and imagination. It transports us to the borderlands of the Basque regions where in the early 1600s, rich and poor, men and women, adults and children, imagined their lives blighted by the devil, and acted against those family and friends they suspected of being in his service. From the memoir of the judge sent to investigate and punish, and many other sources, Jan Machielsen recreates the encounter between law and fear, judges and witches, accused and victims. A masterly work that will inform its readers, move them, and transform their thinking about the past. * Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History, Queen Mary University of London, UK * Pierre de Lancre was convinced of women's inclination toward evil and of the reality of witchcraft, embracing the belief that witches, male or female, are real and that they fly to the sabbat, adore Satan, engage in unnatural sex, and plan the evil deeds (maleficia) that they will perpetrate when they return to their homes. This book explains vividly and in impressive detail what led up to the persecutions, how they were conducted, and what was their aftermath. * Gerhild Scholz Williams, Barbara and David Thomas Professor in Arts and Sciences, Washington University, USA * The great achievement of this book is that it moves beyond the shock and sensationalism of the infamous Basque witch-hunt to tell a more nuanced and, in many ways, more chilling story. Amid the grisly tales of demonic sex, cannibalism, and dark magic, Machielsen offers an important reevaluation of avid witch-hunter Pierre de Lancre, one that avoids simplistic moralizing. With its accessible and compelling prose, this book is a must read for anyone interested in why the witch-hunts happened—and how we can learn from them. * Michelle D. Brock, Associate Professor of History, W&L University, USA *

This is a story about a witch hunt in the mysterious Pays de Labourd, led by an obsessed witch-hunter driven by his own sexual fantasies. In its course, priests were accused, ‘werewolves’ mused on eating girls’ flesh and children denounced their own mothers, accusing them of having taken them to Sabbaths. Machielsen tells this terrible tale in graphic detail, taking us into a nightmare world betwixt sea and mountain. This is a must-read. * Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History, University of Oxford, UK * This wise and insightful book provides a radically new interpretation of a famous witch-hunt in the Basque country and of witch-finder Pierre de Lancre. In prose that is witty and arresting, Jan Machielsen explores the witch-hunt from the inside out and restores the agency of those caught up in it. * Suzannah Lipscomb, author of 'The Voices of Nîmes' and host of the 'Not Just the Tudors' podcast * The Basque Witch-Hunt is a tour de force of historical scholarship and imagination. It transports us to the borderlands of the Basque regions where in the early 1600s, rich and poor, men and women, adults and children, imagined their lives blighted by the devil, and acted against those family and friends they suspected of being in his service. From the memoir of the judge sent to investigate and punish, and many other sources, Jan Machielsen recreates the encounter between law and fear, judges and witches, accused and victims. A masterly work that will inform its readers, move them, and transform their thinking about the past. * Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History, Queen Mary University of London, UK * Pierre de Lancre was convinced of women's inclination toward evil and of the reality of witchcraft, embracing the belief that witches, male or female, are real and that they fly to the sabbat, adore Satan, engage in unnatural sex, and plan the evil deeds (maleficia) that they will perpetrate when they return to their homes. This book explains vividly and in impressive detail what led up to the persecutions, how they were conducted, and what was their aftermath. * Gerhild Scholz Williams, Barbara and David Thomas Professor in Arts and Sciences, Washington University, USA *

Author Information

Jan Machielsen is a historian at Cardiff University, UK, with an interest in witches, demons, and saints. His previous publications include The War on Witchcraft (2021) and The Science of Demons (2020).

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