……

The Detailed Report on the Witch Trials is a report by intelligence agents appointed by Ferdinand and some ecclesiastical personnel who overtly visited the witch trials in various parts of Spain. This work began in August 1493.

The report fully exposes the dark side of the witch trial movement. Ferdinand probably had no female political enemies to fight, there were almost no wealthy female businessmen, female heretics and female heretics were not much of a threat, there were far fewer female atheists than men, and female scientists ...... If so, it must be a protected animal.

Therefore, since there is no oil and water, then this is one of the important drawbacks of Catholicism at present, and Ferdinand is by no means trying to bring down Catholicism, but to help it up, so this problem must also be changed. The ignorance and backwardness of society are reflected in all aspects, and the fear and hunting of witches is also a manifestation of ignorance and backwardness.

The root cause of the problem is to develop education, but the politics of these ignorances can also in turn promote social progress and the awakening of the people.

The "Detailed Report on the Witch Trials" shows that the witch trials were completely unorganized and undisciplined, and almost became an irrational collective carnival of the church and democracy, wantonly venting the sins of human nature.

Of the one hundred and six so-called witches executed in early 1495, at least ninety-seven were not real witches, but most of them were simply picking wild flowers and weeds near their homes or happened to be sick near their homes. The methods of persecution were very brutal, mainly burning at the stake. In fact, these women are not real witches, they are simply "forced" to be called witches. ”

The report enumerates all sorts of absurd situations in the witch trials.

“…… Not only that, but the way in which witches were interrogated was also debatable—to put it mildly. ”

"There is neither an indictment nor a defender in such trials, and in addition to torture as a means of extracting confessions, there is also the so-called "witch" test. ”

"In the trial of witches, the book "The Witch's Mallet" from Germany, which has had a very bad effect in recent years, according to the theory provided in the book, because the "witches" were enchanted by the devil and were no longer sensitive to pain, so they could be tortured as they pleased. For example, if the defendant's hand is burned with a piece of red-hot iron, if the hand is burned, the defendant is guilty......

“…… Or ask the defendant to take a holy ring with his hand in boiling water, and then put a bandage and seal on his hand, and if there is no trace after 3 days, he is not guilty. Or they tied the defendant's hands and feet and threw him into the lake. If she sinks to the bottom, she is not guilty; Conversely, if she floats on the water, it means that she is blessed by the devil and must be burned at the stake. According to the clergy in Barcelona, Valencia, Toledo and other places, these absurd practices have led to the fact that the person being tried has no possibility of clearing his name. ”

There were also many disagreements within the Church about such trials, such as Adrian, the Bishop of Andalusia, who had "summed up a wealth of experience" from various witch incidents, which were due to the large number of local Moors and Jews mixed with Christians, and according to his own irony, if the accused had led an immoral life, which of course proved that she had dealings with the devil; And if she is pious and well-behaved, then she is clearly disguised in order to use her piety to divert suspicion from her demonic dealings and attending witch meetings at night. If she appears frightened during interrogation, then she is clearly guilty, and conscience makes her exposed. If she believed that she was innocent and kept her composure, then she was undoubtedly guilty: because witches were accustomed to lying shamelessly. If she pleads guilty to the charges against her, it proves her guilt; If she had been frightened, despaired, depressed, and silent because of the terrible false accusations made against her, it would have been direct evidence of her guilt. If she dies under punishment, it means that the devil does not want her to confess more. Even if none of this happened, as long as she was Jewish, everything was doomed! ”

……

The content of the report is really incredible, even Torquemada is a little speechless when he sees it, indeed, it seems, a little ...... It's too much. Although he strongly advocated the fight against heresy, he was not sure whether it was a heresy or not, and it was really uncivilized to use such a completely unreasonable method of trial.

"According to the report," Ferdinand began to lash out at the absurd trial, "in addition to being a woman, other distinguishing characteristics that might identify as a witch are: homosexuality, leprosy, or simply being Jewish." ”

"In my opinion, a witch is a woman who would never want to be a neighbor in the eyes of ordinary people, and has nothing to do with magic and witchcraft. I've heard of a case where church officials in Valencia measured a woman's weight to determine if she was a witch or not, and any woman who was light couldn't escape a dead end! The reason turned out to be that witches can fly all over the sky on broomsticks! I don't know what is going on in these people's minds, saying a blasphemous word, and the Virgin Mary can ascend to heaven! What do they think about this? Do they dare to say that the Virgin is also a witch? ”

It's a bit too big, but this way of identifying witches is really stupid. In fact, many church members are fundamentally wrong about the definition of witches, the relationship between witches and the devil, or transactions, and even the behavior and spells of witches.

"Even the definition of a witch, such as this nonsense book "The Witch's Mallet", is complete nonsense. The so-called witch with the devil ** does not exist at all. Nidhogg's investigation clearly reveals the true nature of traditional witches, who as I understand it, join the strict hierarchy of witch gatherings and learn things like astrology, astronomy, herbs, medicine, magic, and more. They believe in Mother of the Nature, and they believe in neither God nor Satan, because they have no connection with Christianity, either good or bad. Their main focus is on spells, and whether this has anything to do with the devil or not depends on the strength of the psychic power, the spiritual power, that is, the energy.

"It is true that they are infidels, but it would be absolute nonsense to say that they are connected with the devil and that there are many of them, and Niedhogg's report points out that if the witches we are trying this year are really all witches, then the witch trials can be stopped, because the witches in Spain are all extinct. If not, then it is better to stop, because this persecuts too many innocent people! ”

This kind of opinion may be expressed by many monks or ordinary people with a strong sense of justice, but it will have no effect, and it will lead to burning. Some theologians and nobles or clergy, such as the Andalusian bishop, may be able to protect some people, but they can't contain the trend.

However, when the king of Spain himself came forward to express strong opposition, the meaning was different, and it was enough to change the attitude of the Spanish church.

"Your Majesty, you may be right." After contemplation, Torquemada agreed with Ferdinand.

"How do you want to solve this problem?"

"The status of the Church is exalted, and I do not want the king's decrees and the government's executive orders to come into serious conflict with the Church."

Ferdinand is frank, "What I hope is that the Church will be able to improve itself and cope with events like this and all kinds of new changes in the future." Christianity is the pillar of the monarch and the backbone of society, and the church can completely transform itself and improve itself, which is beneficial to the prestige of Christianity and the church. There is no need to wait for outside opinions, let alone allow dissatisfaction and opposition to accumulate. The Inquisition could conduct an investigation on its own and then make a conclusion and issue an order to stop this persecution issue. ”

Yes, it was not necessary for the king to be in opposition to the Church to promote the Catholic Church itself, and by 1614 the Spanish Inquisition had put an end to the witch trials.

"I think this can be a good example for solving some of the problems within the church that need to be reformed. The church should face up to these problems rather than avoid them, and would rather have imperfect reforms than unreformed crises! ”

“…… Yes, Your Majesty, it makes sense...... "Torquemada has always been committed to maintaining the prestige of Catholicism, and Ferdinand's words opened a new window to his thoughts.

This was a good beginning of the Catholic revolution in Spain.

On December 25, 1495, Christmas, the Spanish Inquisition, based on Niderhogg's Detailed Report on the Witch Trials, officially ruled that "the claims of the existence of witches are entirely imaginary and unfounded, and the vast majority of convictions lack truth, and the ecclesiastical judiciary must henceforth strengthen its management and not accept any more accusations against witches." ”

On the same day, Ferdinand also issued an edict prohibiting all accusations, arrests, and trials of witches, prohibiting the publication, printing, and sale of secretaries on the identification and trial of witches in Spain, and burning more than 30,000 copies of the confiscated "Witch's Mallet" to ashes in the squares of Barcelona. Three weeks later, the news spread across a wide area of Germany, causing a sensation in the places where witch persecution was most intense at the time. Since the King of Spain had the merit of conquering Granada, discovering new lands and fighting against the Ottoman Empire, and the Pope supported it, and since this was also the decision of the Spanish Church, no one could blame Ferdinand.

Gentlemen Krama and Sblenger, the Inquisitors of the German region who were the authors of "The Witch's Mallet", were so angry that they blew their beards and glared, but they were helpless, and the King of Spain was not of the same rank as them.

……