I went to visit the Zugarramurdi Witches' museum yesterday . A shocking story of the witchcraft hysteria that gripped the Spanish Basque country in the early C17th. In five years more than 5000 inhabitants (more than 1000 of them children) from a handful of parishes were accused of witchcraft. Six were burned at the stake. Thirteen died in prison. Of those, six had their remains burned the stake. The methods used to extract 'confessions' were brutal. It made me think how harsh life used to be. Then I read today's news about the techniques used by the CIA on the suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo And it made me wonder how much progress the human race has actually made. Substitute Islamic for witch. I don't see much difference.
The cave where the 'witches' of Zugarramurdi were alleged to have practised devil worship.
One positive thing came out of the Zugarramurdi witch hunt (for those who survived it physically and psychologically unimpaired). The authorities that licensed the Inquisition were so appalled at its excesses that five years later it was stripped of all authority and disbanded. Every cloud has a silver lining.
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