In the time of the Renaissance, magic still existed as a real force to the common people. Outside of major cities belief in supernatural abilities, witches, and trances abounded. Perhaps one of the strongest purveyors of these faiths were the benandanti people of the Friuli region of Italy. Though they were self declared Christians, their lives centered on their nocturnal supernatural journeys. They believed that their spirits left their bodies and flew into the countryside, where they would do battle with malevolent witches who threatened the local harvests. In fact, it was part of their religious duty to defend their community from the wrath of the devil. This understandably confused the Catholic Church, who would begin to interrogate the …show more content…
Ginzburg analyzes the records of Gaspurotto and Moduco’s examination as evidence that the benandanti were in fact a, “True and proper sect, organized in a military fashion about a leader and linked by a bond of secrecy- a relatively weak bond which the benandanti were continually breaking, either out of loquacity of naïve boastfulness,” (Ginzburg 22). As they protested their innocence, the two benandante further outlined common practices, such as that of being chosen at birth by the presence of a ‘caul.’ Though the witch combatants were dispersed throughout the Friuli, they, “Were principally united by a common element, that of having been born with the caul, in other words, wrapped in the amniotic membrane,” (Ginzburg 23). This ‘caul’ was an amniotic sack present at birth believed to have special powers and often worn by a benandante around the neck. Another important facet of existence were the night battles against evil, their primary mission as a collective. In the woods the spirits of the benandanti would meet the undead and witches in the throes of their Sabbath. The witches would dance, fornicate and defile Christian images. Sometimes the devil himself lead the lifeless horde, at other times a warlock. The benandanti would wait, organized by a captain (several separate trials record benandanti from different villages describing the same forerunner), or a glowing angel. Then they would meet the witches in battle and beat them with fennel stalks. If the witches won, evil triumphed – crops withered, children and animals died. If the benandanti succeeded, good triumphed for a season – fields were fertile, storms rare, children healthy. Such rites happened four times a year, once before every season. As Ginzburg furthers, in the sect’s eyes, they were, “The forces of famine fighting the forces of plenty,” (Ginzburg