Historical method: a recorded belief or accusation is not independent proof of the supernatural event described.
Reverse the chain
Start with a modern statement such as a particular location or ritual requirement. Find the earliest cited historian, locate the relevant edition and inspect the underlying deposition if available.
Separate repeats from confirmations
Ten modern websites paraphrasing one book are evidence that a story became widespread, not that ten independent sixteenth-century witnesses said the same thing. This distinction resembles source-dependence problems in contemporary synthetic-media analysis.
What the tool shows
The claim explorer links selected modern summaries to scholarship and translated records. It is not a comprehensive stemma of every publication; missing edges are labeled rather than guessed.
Source and revision record
- Carlo Ginzburg, The Night Battles (2013 edition)Publisher listing · Accessible edition record with table of contents.
- 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.
- Santarelli and Weber, Benandanti, EreticopediaScholarly reference · Survey of agrarian, funerary and therapeutic strands, with discussion of scholarly disagreement.