The Basque Witch Trials: Mass Denunciations and the Investigation of Alonso de Salazar Frías (1611–1614)

During the Basque witch trials (1609–1614), accusations of witchcraft and demonic activity spiraled out of control, leading to mass denunciations and forced confessions. Alonso de Salazar Frías, the junior inquisitor of the Logroño tribunal, conducted a thorough investigation, ultimately exposing the baseless nature of the hysteria.

Wave of Accusations and Confessions

• Denunciations poured in, as was common in mass witch hunts, with neighbors, children, and even family members accusing one another.
• Frías collected confessions from nearly 2,000 individuals, including:
  • 1,384 children between the ages of 7 and 14, many of whom named others under pressure.
  • A total of 5,000 additional names implicated as supposed witches or sabbath attendees.
• The massive volume of evidence collected amounted to 11,000 pages of documentation, making it one of the largest witch trials in Spanish history.

Widespread Retractions and the Role of Torture

• 1,802 witnesses later retracted their statements, claiming that their confessions had been made under torture or duress.
• Only six individuals refused to retract their confessions, insisting that they had indeed returned to sabbaths (akelarres).

The Turning Point: Salazar Frías’ Skeptical Conclusion

• After reviewing the testimonies, Salazar Frías concluded that most accusations were fabricated, influenced by fear, coercion, and mass hysteria.

• His final report famously stated:

  “There were neither witches nor bewitched until they were talked about.”

• His findings led the Spanish Inquisition to abandon large-scale witch hunts.

• Unlike France and Germany, where thousands of witches were executed, Spain largely stopped executing witches after 1614.

Conclusion: The Collapse of the Basque Witch Trials

The massive scale of the accusations, combined with Salazar Frías’ critical examination, led to a reevaluation of witch trials in Spain. By 1614, the Inquisition had largely abandoned further persecutions, marking the end of widespread witch hysteria in Spain and ensuring that witch trials would never again reach the scale of those in other European countries.