This episode dives into the Basque witch trials- a mass panic that exploded out of Zugarramurdi and culminated in the 1610 Auto de Fe at Logroño, where fear, rumor, and forced confessions igniting a full-scale witch hunt across Spain's entire Navarre region.
Villagers swore they’d seen sabbaths, devils, and secret networks of witches. The Inquisition prepared to believe them. With a mass trial of 53 defendants and over 1800 confessions, the region was spiraling out of control- until one inquisitor, Alonso de Salazar Frías, stepped in and changed everything. Was this Europe’s biggest witch hunt in the making… and the rare case where skepticism actually won?
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Some images and historical documents in this episode are public domain, Creative Commons licensed, or used under U.S. Fair Use for educational analysis, historical commentary, and transformative storytelling.
Full list of images and licensing links are included below.
🏆 Episode Credits
All research, writing, editing, narration, and production by:
Jessica M. Lathrop, M.A. (Ancient & Classical History)
Larry Lathrop, M.S. (Data Science + MBA)
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🖼️ Image Attributions
• Navarre in Spain (SVG) – CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Navarre_in_Spain.svg
• Casa de Sefarad – condemned outfit (14784579882) – CC BY-SA 2.0. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Casa_de_Sefarad_-_condemned_outfit_(14784579882).jpg
• Inmaculada Concepción, la Colosal (Bartolomé Esteban Murillo) – CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inmaculada_Concepci%C3%B3n,_la_Colosal_(Bartolom%C3%A9_Esteban_Murillo).jpg
• 18.03.28 Inauguración Exposición Murillo, Sevilla (cropped) – CC BY-SA 2.0. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:18.03.28_Inauguraci%C3%B3n_Exposici%C3%B3n_Murillo._Sevilla._14_(26199274717).jpg
• AHA_Witches02, AHA_Witches03, AHA_Witches04, AHA_Witches05, and AHA_Witches06 – Images from Brujas, Inquisición y Auto de Fe de Logroño (1610–2010). Source: Laicismo.org. Mixed licensing as published on source page (CC BY-SA 4.0 / Public Domain depending on individual image).
https://laicismo.org/brujas-inquisicion-auto-de-fe-logrono-1610-2010-en-el-ayuntamiento-de-logrono/
• Bartolomé Esteban Murillo: Saint Rufina – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SantaRufinaMurillo.jpg
• Cristo en casa de Marta y María (cropped) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cristo_en_casa_de_Marta_y_Mar%C3%ADa,_by_Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez.jpg
• Auto de fe de la Inquisición por Goya – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auto_de_fe_de_la_Inquisici%C3%B3n_por_Goya.jpg
• The History of Witches and Wizards (1720), pages 24, 26, 33, 34, and 41 – Public Domain. Source: Wellcome Collection.
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/abkab8tq
• Francisco de Zurbarán 012 – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francisco_de_Zurbar%C3%A1n_012.jpg
• An interrogation room of the Spanish Inquisition with two prisoners (Wellcome V0041642) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:An_interrogation_room_of_the_Spanish_Inquisition_with_two_pr_Wellcome_V0041642.jpg
• A Sermon in a Village Church (MET DT4696) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Sermon_in_a_Village_Church_MET_DT4696.jpg
• Niños jugando a los dados (Bartolomé Esteban Murillo) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ni%C3%B1os_jugando_a_los_dados_(Bartolom%C3%A9_Esteban_Murillo).jpg
• Jean-Paul Laurens – Le pape et l'inquisiteur – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean-Paul_Laurens_-_Le_pape_et_l%27inquisiteur.jpg
• Carlos de Haes – Mountains in Asturias – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carlos_de_Haes_-_Mountains_in_Asturias_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
• Interior de prisión (El crimen del castillo II), de Goya – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Interior_de_prisi%C3%B3n_(El_crimen_del_castillo_II),_de_Goya.jpg
• Madrid School – Auto-da-fe – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madrid_School_-_Auto-da-fe_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
• Goya9 (“For being born somewhere else”) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Goya9.jpg
• Auto de Fé no Rossio (1744) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auto_de_F%C3%A9_no_Rossio_1744.png
• Mateo Zapata by Goya – Public Domain.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mateo_Zapata.jpg
• Andrea del Sarto, liberazione di un'indemoniata (1509–1510) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andrea_del_Sarto,_liberazione_di_un%27indemoniata,_1509-1510,_01.jpg
• An auto-da-fé of the Spanish Inquisition: burning of heretics – Public Domain. Source: Wellcome Collection.
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/mjwa6gf4/images?id=kfufctwr
• Pieter Brueghel II – A Village Fair – Public Domain.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Pieter_Brueghel_II_(The_Younger)_-_A_Village_Fair_(Village_festival_in_Honour_of_Saint_Hubert_and_Saint_Anthony)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
• The Witches' Advocate: Basque Witchcraft and the Spanish Inquisition (1980), page 301 – Public Domain scan used under archival citation. Source: Internet Archive.
https://archive.org/details/witchesadvocateb0000henn/page/n7/mode/2up
• Hans Leimbacher (attr.) Lasset die Kindlein zu mir kommen – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Leimbacher_(attr)_Lasset_die_Kindlein_zu_mir_kommen.jpg
• Vieja Usurera Alta Resolucion – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vieja_Usurera_Alta_Resolucion.jpg
• Bodegón de recipientes (Zurbarán) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bodeg%C3%B3n_de_recipientes_(Zurbar%C3%A1n).jpg
• Vieja despiojando a un niño (Bartolomé Esteban Murillo) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vieja_despiojando_a_un_ni%C3%B1o_(Bartolom%C3%A9_Esteban_Murillo).jpg
• Consulta del Consejo de Inquisición sobre edicto de gracia – Public Domain. Source: Archivo General de Simancas.
https://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas20/catalogo/show/2214677?nm
• Brodie, Kate S. – Landscape (Four Figures in a Wood) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brodie,_Kate_S._-_Landscape_(Four_Figures_in_a_Wood)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
• Luis Tristán – Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas (1619) – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luis_Trist%C3%A1n_-_Bernardo_de_Sandoval_y_Rojas,_1619.jpg
• Instruciones del Santo Oficio de la Inquisicion (1627), title page – Public Domain. Source: Internet Archive.
https://archive.org/details/instrucionesdels00argu/page/n1/mode/2up
• Sano di Pietro – Madonna of Mercy – Public Domain.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sano_di_Pietro._Madonna_of_Mercy.1440s_Private_coll..jpg
😅 Whew!
You’ve reached the end of the details for this episode.
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Stay curious, question everything, and we’ll meet you in the next episode. - Jess & Larry