Cantabria had regained its independence from the rule of the Visigoths following the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Liuvigild invades Cantabria in 574, destroying its two principal towns: the City of Cantabria, believed to have been near modern Logroño, and …

Henry II of Castile and León has for most of his reign had to fight off the attempts of John of Gaunt, a son of Edward III of England, to claim the Castilian throne in right of his second wife, Pedro's daughter.

At his death on May 29, 1379 at Santo Domingo de la Calzada, his twenty-one-year-old son by his wife Juana Manuel of Castile, daughter of Juan Manuel, Duke of Penafiel, head of a younger branch of the royal house of Castile, succeeds him as John I.

The First Phase of the Basque Witch Trials (1609–1610) and the Auto-da-Fé of 1610

The first phase of the Basque witch trials culminated in 1610 with a major auto-da-fé (act of faith) in Logroño, where 31 individuals were condemned. Of these, 12 or 11 were burned at the stake, including five posthumously, as they had died before the sentencing.

Background: The Basque Witch Panic (1609–1610)

• The trials were triggered by mass hysteria and accusations of witchcraft in the Basque Country, particularly in Zugarramurdi (Navarre).
• The Inquisition of Logroño launched an investigation, arresting hundreds of suspected witches, often based on testimonies from children and neighbors.
• Torture was frequently used to extract confessions, leading to sensational claims of sabbats, flying witches, and pacts with the Devil.

The Auto-da-Fé of 1610 in Logroño

• On November 7–8, 1610, the Inquisition held a public auto-da-fé, where 31 individuals were sentenced:
  • 12 or 11 were burned alive.
  • Five were burned in effigy, having died in prison before the trial concluded.
  • The rest were forced to perform public penance and received lesser sentences.
• The event was one of the most infamous witch trials in Spanish history, reflecting the peak of the witch hysteria in the region.

The Aftermath and Decline of the Witch Trials

• Following the 1610 executions, skepticism within the Inquisition—especially from inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frías—led to a reevaluation of witchcraft cases.
• By 1614, the Inquisition concluded that most accusations were baseless, effectively ending large-scale witch trials in Spain.
• Unlike in France or Germany, Spain rarely executed accused witches after this period, making the Logroño trials one of the last major witch persecutions in Iberian history.

Conclusion: A Turning Point in Spanish Witch-Hunting

The auto-da-fé of 1610 was the climax of the Basque witch trials, marking one of the last mass executions for witchcraft in Spain. However, the trials also triggered skepticism within the Spanish Inquisition, leading to a more cautious approach toward witchcraft accusations. By 1614, large-scale witch hunts had largely ended in Spain, setting it apart from the harsher persecutions seen elsewhere in Europe.

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.