Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
1609-1612 · 3 years · show in timeline

Logroño 1610: Auto da fé against alleged witches from Navarre with eleven relaxed to the secular arm; afterwards the inquisitor Salazar shows that the confessions had no basis

A witch panic broke out in Navarre. Inquisitor Valle de Alvarado gathered statements against more than 280 persons in Cigarramundi and its vicinity. At the auto da fé of Logroño on 7 and 8 November 1610, 53 culprits stood before the tribunal, 29 of them as witches. Eleven were relaxed to the secular arm, five of whom had already died in prison and appeared only in effigy. The tribunal obtained confiscation of witches'' property, which according to Monter did not pay. In 1611 the inquisitor Salazar reviewed everything, heard 1,802 persons, mostly children, and concluded that the confessions were delusions and extorted by violence.

Period
1609-1612 (3 years)
Country
Spain
Institutions
Spanish Inquisition
Tribunal of Logroño
Category
Expropriation, Heresy trials, Persecution
Level of evidence
B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?
Persons
Alonso de Salazar Frías (inquisitor at Logroño, reviewed the accusations)
Juan Valle de Alvarado (inquisitor at Logroño)
María Zozaya (condemned, relaxed to the secular arm)

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. The auto da fé began on 7 November 1610 and lasted two days. Of 53 culprits, 29 were accused as witches. Eleven were relaxed to the secular arm: five who had died in prison, in effigy with their bones, five who had not confessed, and María Zozaya, who had confessed. Eighteen were reconciled.
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 226 f.
    „the coming auto de fe, which was fixed for November 7th“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 226 f.. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 227
    „In all there were fifty-three culprits, of whom but twenty-nine were witches of either sex.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 227. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 227
    „five, who had died in prison, in effigy with their bones, and five negativos who had not been induced to confess“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 227. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 227 f.
    „There was but one relaxation of a buen confitente“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 227 f.. Original

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. On 8 June 1610 the consulta de fe of three inquisitors, the bishop's representative and four consultors met. Inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frías analysed the testimony as flimsy, while his colleagues apparently had no misgivings. The Suprema, the supreme council of the Inquisition, asked the king for support.
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 225
    „Salazar analyzed the testimony and showed its flimsy and inconclusive character“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 225. Original

What happened to those affected?

  1. Salazar found no external evidence for the alleged gatherings and ointments: pots examined proved to be frauds, and witnesses could not identify any site. He held the confessions to be delusions and reported threats and violence to force them, including by fathers, husbands or brothers acting with the magistrate or the commissioner of the Inquisition. The sacraments were denied to suspects.
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 232
    „Equally destructive to credibility, he says, were the threats and violence employed to extort confessions.“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 232. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 232
    „One stated that he was burned with blazing coals“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 232. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 231 f.
    „investigation showed them all to be frauds“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 231 f.. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 231
    „so that none of the nine could be identified“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 231. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 232
    „one of the violences committed had been to deny the sacraments to all reputed to be witches“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 232. Original

Background

Course of events

  1. A witch panic arose in Navarre; the secular authorities made many arrests, extorted confessions and hastily executed victims. Inquisitor Juan Valle de Alvarado gathered evidence in Cigarramundi against more than 280 persons. Forty were brought to Logroño.
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 225
    „they made many arrests, they extorted confessions and hastily executed their victims“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 225. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 225
    „inculpating more than two hundred and eighty persons of having apostatized to the demon“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 225. Original

Who received the assets, who profited?

  1. The Spanish Inquisition ordinarily did not confiscate the property of convicted witches, but at Logroño a tribunal successfully petitioned for this right. Four years later the records showed that the costs were almost three times the receipts. Only three of 77 convicted had property exceeding the trial costs, and over half left nothing.
    Evidence: ABC-CLIO (2006), Abdruck im Repositorium der Iowa State University, S. 207 f.
    „a tribunal petitioned successfully for the right to confiscate property from convicted witches“
    William Monter, Confiscations of Witches’ Property, in: Richard M. Golden (Hg.), Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition, Bd. 1, S. 207 f., S. 207 f.. Original
    Evidence: ABC-CLIO (2006), Abdruck im Repositorium der Iowa State University, S. 207 f.
    „only three of seventy-seven convicted witches had enough personal property for confiscation to exceed trial costs“
    William Monter, Confiscations of Witches’ Property, in: Richard M. Golden (Hg.), Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition, Bd. 1, S. 207 f., S. 207 f.. Original

Response of the Church

  1. From May 1611 to January 1612 Salazar travelled through the affected districts with an Edict of Grace. He heard 1,802 applicants, 1,384 of them children aged 12 to 14, and 81 revoked earlier confessions. His report with the original papers came to more than 5,000 folios.
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 230
    „amounting to more than five thousand folios“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 230. Original
    Evidence: Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209), Bd. 4, S. 230
    „of whom thirteen hundred and eighty-four were children of from twelve to fourteen years of age“
    Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907), Bd. 4, S. 230. Original

See also

Scholarly literature and reference works

  1. Scholarly literature
    Macmillan; Project Gutenberg (eBook 44209): Henry Charles Lea, A History of the Inquisition of Spain, Bd. 4 (New York 1907). Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
  2. Scholarly literature
    ABC-CLIO (2006), Abdruck im Repositorium der Iowa State University: William Monter, Confiscations of Witches’ Property, in: Richard M. Golden (Hg.), Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition, Bd. 1, S. 207 f.. Original (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)
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