Glossary
Benandanti
Historical label used for the Friulian “good walkers” described in early modern inquisitorial records.
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Glossary
Definitions that preserve differences among historical testimony, scholarly interpretation and modern technical language.
Glossary
Born with a caul
A birth with membranes associated with special status in some Benandanti accounts.
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Claim lineage
The chain of sources, transformations and interpretations behind a published statement.
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Ember Days
Seasonal observances in the Christian liturgical calendar that appear in recorded descriptions of nocturnal activities.
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Evidentiary gap
Information necessary for a particular conclusion that is not established by available records.
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Fennel stalks
Plants described in the night-battle narratives as the implements of the Benandanti.
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Funerary strand
Benandanti-related traditions concerning processions and encounters with the dead.
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Historiography
The study of how history is researched, written and reinterpreted.
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Roman Inquisition
An ecclesiastical institution whose records document many Benandanti encounters.
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Microhistory
An approach drawing broad historical questions from close study of specific cases and records.
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Night battles
Reported spiritual contests associated with defending agricultural fertility.
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Provenance
A record of an object’s source, transformations and custodial context.
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Recorded time
The date on which an archive entered or updated a claim.
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Witches’ sabbath
A composite category employed in some early modern European accusations and interrogations.
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Sorghum stalks
In opposing sides of the recorded nocturnal contests, adversaries were associated with sorghum stalks.
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Source independence
The degree to which evidence items originate through separate acquisition pathways.
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Source monitoring
Cognitive processes used to attribute remembered information to its origin.
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Synthetic imprinting
A proposed term for lasting influences following AI-generated or simulated experiences.
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Therapeutic strand
Healing and counter-witchcraft activities associated with some Benandanti.
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Valid time
The period in which a fact or event is said to apply in the underlying world.
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