The Benandanti were an agrarian fertility cult in Northern Italy in the 16th century. They are a small group of anti-witches that ensure the protection of the crops and villagers. Children born with "the caul," or the placenta partially covering their face were destined to join the ranks of the Benandanti. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... A caul is a thin, filmy membrane, the remnants of the amniotic sac, that covers or partly covers the newborn mammal immediately after birth. ... Human placenta shown a few minutes after birth. ...

During the Ember Days, periods of fasting for the Catholic Church, the spirits of the Benandanti would leave their bodies in the form of small animals. The spirts of the men would go to the fields to fight black witches. The Benandanti men fought with fennel stalks, while the dark witches fought with sorghum stalks. If the men prevailed, the harvest would be plentiful. Ember days are four separate sets of three days within the same week - specifically, the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday - roughly equidistant in the circuit of the year, formerly set aside for fasting and prayer in the liturgical calendar of the Western Churches, but significantly not in the Eastern Orthodox Church... The Roman Catholic Church believes its founding was based on Jesus appointment of Saint Peter as the primary church leader, later Bishop of Rome. ... Species About 20 species, including: Sorghum almum Sorghum bicolor Sorghum caffrorum Sorghum caudatum Sorghum cernuum Sorghum halepense Sorghum nervosum Sorghum nigricans Sorghum nitidum Sorghum propinquum Sorghum roxburghii Hybrids Sorghum × almum Sorghum × drummondii Sorghum is a genus of about 20 species of grasses, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the...

The Female Benandanti preformed other sacred tasks. When they left their bodies they traveled to meet a Goddess. There were many Goddesses they were known to visit, such as Abundia and Irodiana. When with the Goddess they followed a procession of spirits, animals and faeries, and learned who among their villagers would die in the next year. Abundia was a witch goddess in Medieval Europe. ...

In the late 16th century, the Benandanti began to be tried as heretics under the inquisition. During this time, they tried to draw sharp distinctions between their actions and the actions of the malevolent witches. They did this by explaining the evil that the witches inflicted upon the people of the villages and their crops, and stressing the fact that only the Benandanti could save the people from these afflictions. Drawing this distinction was difficult, however, as one inquisition account shows: "On the one hand, they declared that they were opposed to witches and warlocks, and their evil designs and that they healed the victims of injurious deeds of witches, on the other, like their presumed adversaries, they attended mysterious nocturnal reunions (about which they could not utter a word under pain of being beaten) riding hares, cats, and other animals." Pedro Berruguete. ...

To avoid persecution they even began to accuse other villagers of witchcraft. This proved futile and only served to destroy their reputation in the village. In the late 16th century, however, the inquisitors were less concerned with witchcraft, and more concerned with heresy. The actions of the Benandanti were idolatrous, and therefore heretical, and the distinction they tried to create between themselves and the witches was to no avail. Over time, the Benandanti were made to “realize” after serious persuasive work that they themselves were indeed witches. Slowly but surely they were grouped with those targeted by the inquisition, and by the 17th century they had almost completely died out. None of the trials ended in execution, however.

References

Carlo Ginzburg. 'The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.' Translated by Anne and John Tedeschi. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. Carlo Ginzburg is a noted historian and pioneer of microhistory. ...

External links

The Night Battles, By Carlo Ginzburg, Book Review

The American Historical Review

The Burning Times Encyclopedia

Mediterranean Food History