Case file · Witch trials
Matteuccia di Francesco, the witch of Todi
On 20 March 1428 Matteuccia di Francesco was burned at Todi after confessing to love magic, healing and flying to the walnut tree of Benevento on a goat, anointed with ointment made from infants' fat.
1428 CE · 42.78, 12.41 · status: official
The account
Her trial record survives and is one of the earliest Italian witch trials with the full sabbath motif. It came soon after Bernardino of Siena's preaching against witches in Todi in 1426.
The sceptical view
The flight and infant-fat confessions were extracted under trial pressure and echo the preacher's sermons.