Note 524 — Chapter IX · WITCHCRAFT.
Reading edition
Collect. Decret. S. Congr. Sti Inquisit., p. 333 (MS. penes me).—Decret. S. Congr. S. Inquisit. pp. 385-88 (Bibl. del R. Archivio di Stato in Roma, Fondo Camerale, Congr. del S. Officio, Vol. 3).
The inquisitor of Milan took no part in the trials of those accused of causing and spreading the terrible pestilence of 1630, by the use of unguents and powders furnished by the demon. His only act was to return a negative answer to the question whether it was licit to employ diabolic arts to save the city. The reckless prosecutions and savage punishments were wholly the work of the civil magistracy.—Processo originale degli Untori (Milano, 1839).
The pestilence did not extend to Spain, but the panic did, leading to the most extravagant precautions against all foreigners.—MSS. of Bodleian Library, Arch Seld. A, Subt. 11.