The witches’ triangle between Oderzo, Motta and Meduna. So many trials, slight penalties

The places and historical episodes that saw women in the center accused of “serving the devil” explained by the historian Mauro Fasan

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Motta di Livenza, Meduna and Oderzo land of witches, between spells and magical rites. “The women who practiced witchcraft belonged to different social classes, they could be commoners as members of the noble families of the country”, explains the local history writer Mauro Fasan in the aftermath of the women’s day. Even the villages of Opitergino-Mottense between the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century were populated by female figures linked to magic.

“Most of these were devoted to folk medicine, in the period in which scientific medicine was taking its first steps, they were consulted to treat some ailments such as ulcers or other physical problems. Or in some cases for more trivial needs such as finding a husband or a lost object “, continued Fasan who in his work” A Witch Hunt “has collected the life and trials of these women, who came to light thanks to the study in the archives by of the writer who revealed how the Opitergino-Mottense gave birth to some women accused of “witchcraft”.

“It was precisely either women of humble origins who, thanks to their skills and knowledge of healing herbs, managed to maintain themselves or in any case to scrape together something, or were part of the noble class of the country, like the cases recorded in Meduna of Livenza“. One night in March 1605, Aurora de Rubies, a Medunese noblewoman, was surprised with Angela Quartarola in the town cemetery to unearth the bones of the dead at two in the morning. These, she told herself, were pulverized and used by the two women as an ingredient for various rites. In those same days there were two other complaints to the ecclesiastical tribunal against two other women of Meduna.

“The story ended in a short time and without punishments or particular penalties, the Serenissima left very little freedom to the inquisitors to investigate: the women who were tortured are rare, fortunately there were no killings”, continued Fasan.

Also to Motta di Livenza – town where the Madonna appeared on 9 March 1510 – there was a witch: Maddalena Locatelli. The woman probably belonged to a noble family of Brescia origins and was accused in 1630 together with friar Michele Gallo (accused in turn of having the power to summon the witches in the church, which no longer exists, in the convent square) of having killed with the magic a woman.

The accusation was supported by her husband. «Locatelli used to do witchcraft and healing rites on the bridge over the Monticano», explained the writer, «a structure that no longer exists today. It is not known how the trial ended. It can be assumed that both Magdalene and the friar did not face severe penalties. That year Motta di Livenza was spared from the plague that had struck all of Italy ».

Also Oderzo he had two witches – Valeria Brunalesco and daughter Splendiana Mariani – the two were dedicated to the art of “ingesting”, useful for discovering the identity of thieves. Once denounced, they swore that they would no longer serve the devil. –

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