Historical method: a recorded belief or accusation is not independent proof of the supernatural event described.
Layers of a text
The reader encounters an event reported by a speaker, written by an official, preserved in an archive, edited by a scholar, translated and sometimes recopied on a teaching website. These are distinct artifacts.
Source-control checklist
Preserve the archival call number if the edition supplies it. Log editor, translator and edition; distinguish literal quotation from a summary; compare multiple editions where important words determine a claim. Never copy an entire copyrighted translation into a public reference site without permission.
A disciplined conclusion
A text may strongly establish that an allegation appeared in a proceeding while weakly establishing that the alleged activity occurred. That asymmetry should be visible to every reader, not buried in a footnote.
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, The Night Battles (2013 edition)Publisher listing · Accessible edition record with table of contents.