Because it was Halloween yesterday, I have decided to post an article about a related topic: witches. In 2017, when I was living in Bologna, I did a walking tour with the Vitruvio association called “Ma che strega sei” (What kind of witch are you). We often hear about the witches of Salem or of Scotland, but much less about the witches of Bologna.
A Walk To Hear Stories About The Witches
The Vitruvio association created a walking tour/show. There’s even an intervention of Onorina Pirazzoli, a character imagined by Vitruvio, who is the cliché of a typical old Bolognese woman.
There are a few scary stories, but the scariest are the ones that are true, like how many women were killed as witches in Bologna, or the lack of justice that allowed their death. At the time, th city denied having facilities to torture and kill witches, but proofs were found. Detailed account books were discovered and show where and how these poor women were murdered.
A Bit Of History About The Witches In Bologna
Between 1200 and 1700, Bologna was an important site for witch hunting. Repression was brutal and the Bologna’s court of inquisition was known to be one of the most violent of its time.
Victims were women who had special jobs or knowledge like herbalists, healers (as in the Outlander series) or prostitutes.
For example, there is the story of Gentile Budrioli, a beautiful, rich and educated woman. She attended astrology lessons and knew how to use herbs. Despite her husband’s disapproval, she started to share her knowledge with others. She quickly became a close friend of Ginevra Sforza, the wife of Bologna’s ruler Giovanni II Bentivoglio. But that wasn’t such a good thing: people started to become envious and jealous. They accused her of being a witch. Gentile Budrioli was arrested, tortured to confess something she didn’t do, and then she was simultaneously hanged and burnt alive in front of a crowd at the Piazza San Domenico.
She’s only one of the many women who perished under the terror of the Inquisition.
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