Historical method: a recorded belief or accusation is not independent proof of the supernatural event described.
Four different clocks
A claimed night activity, the date someone reported it, the date of a court session and the date of a twentieth-century edition are different events. The distinction is critical when narrating a historical controversy.
A practical timeline
This archive anchors its interactive chronology to identifiable record and publication dates. It does not assign exact dates to supernatural claims when the surviving text gives none.
Revision discipline
If a newly located manuscript changes a chronology, the correction should preserve the previous claim, show the reason for revision and link to the new evidence. A static website can provide real editorial accountability without running a large database.
Source and revision record
- Trial transcripts: Paolo Gasparutto and Battista Moduco, 1575–1581 (translated excerpt via University of Washington)Edited translation of primary record · A modern publication of translated trial testimony, not a facsimile of the original manuscript. Copyright may apply.
- Carlo Ginzburg, I benandanti, original Italian edition (1966), library recordLibrary catalog · Bibliographic confirmation of original Italian publication.
- Franco Nardon (ed.), Benandanti e inquisitori nel Friuli del Seicento (1999)University repository · University of Trieste volume focused on seventeenth-century healing and counter-witchcraft.