Village Infernos and Witches’ Advocates

“Homza’s clear prose and detailed archival work weave a fascinating micro-history into the larger narrative of the early modern witch-hunts.”

—Chloé Roberts EuropeNow

“A fascinating and detailed study of a unique element in the witchcraft mania that swept Europe and New England.”

—Cliff Cunningham Sun News Austin

“Homza’s study will long remain an essential point of reference and an indispensable compass for social, religious and political history due to its critical rigor and interpretive acumen, as well as the amount of documentation examined.”

—Michaela Valente Archivio storico italiano

“. . .this specific module, between 1608 and 1614, of the historical period entitled witch hunts, could constitute a novel study paradigm, since it contains clear and unprecedented local circumstances, useful in the effort to reconsider the diverse approaches that until now have served, more or less, to elucidate a phenomenon as fantastic as it is brutal and real.”

—Alberto Ortiz Edad de Oro

“An almost compulsively readable, deeply humane book that weds empathy for its subjects with a clear understanding of the cultural and administrative context in which they lived their lives. It can be read profitably by newcomers to the field or by experts, and I expect that it will become the standard work on these trials for the foreseeable future.”

—Gretchen Starr-LeBeau Journal of Modern History

“This book will be of interest to anyone researching Catholic history or the treatment of non-Christian minority groups following the Reconquista. It can also serve as an important volume for anyone interested in the occult, as it debunks much of the mythology surrounding occultism, witchcraft, and European witch hunts in the early modern era. Highly recommended reading.”

—Rob Perry Religious Studies Review

“Village Infernos and Witches’ Advocates: Witch-Hunting in Navarre, 1608-1614 skillfully draws from inquisitorial and non-inquisitorial sources while highlighting the roles of children and engaging with the history of emotions. As such, it deepens our appreciation of this complicated witch hunt and shows that multiple ‘witches’ advocates’ helped bring this dramatic event to its end.”

—Rochelle Rojas Journal of the American Academy of Religion

“A wonderful addition to the scholarship not only on the witch-trails of Navarre but also witch-hunts throughout Europe and the Spanish Inquisition at large.”

—Veronica Menaldi Church History

“Homza’s research brings to the table a wealth of materials previously neglected or overlooked. Bristling with new and important insights into the village dynamics underlying Spain’s only serious witchcraze, Homza examines it from two quite different perspectives: that of the men, women, and most originally, the children implicated in individual accusations of witchcraft, and that of the learned inquisitors charged with investigation of individual cases. She also successfully positions the Navarre witchcraze within the wider compass of recent historiography on witches and witchcrazes in other parts of early modern Europe. This remarkably readable, comprehensive, insightful and nuanced study deserves a wide audience.”

—Richard L. Kagan, author of Lucrecia’s Dreams: Politics and Prophecy in Sixteenth-Century Spain

“Village Infernos and Witches’ Advocates employs a wide range of sources to provide a multi-angled view of the hunt as it developed. It also takes into account important developments in the field of history, principally in terms of social history and history-from-below, allowing for a startling and much-needed degree of revisionism. Its interpretation is new and greatly welcome. It will be a very important and widely cited book.”

—Michael D. Bailey, author of Origins of the Witches’ Sabbath