A trial for heresy of two peasants reveals a pagan-shamanic peasant cult based on the fertility of the land widespread in Friuli, northern Italy, around the 16th-17th centuries. The Benandanti was an agrarian cult with shamanic characteristics that gradually transformed under the pressure of the inquisitors to assume the features of traditional witchcraft.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://weirditaly.com/2022/01/10/the-benandanti-witchcraft-and-agrarian-cults-between-16th-and-17th-centuries-in-italy/

The Bizarre Drawings of the Renaissance painter Amico Aspertini

Weird ItalyBy WeirdItalyMay 26, 2022