Of the Method of
Sentencing the Accused to be Questioned: and How she
must be Questioned on the First Day; and Whether she may
be Promised her Life. The Ninth Action
SECONDLY, the Judge must take care to frame his sentence
in the following manner.
We, the Judge
and assessors, having attended to and considered the
details of the process enacted by us against you N. of
such a place in such a Diocese, and having diligently
examined the whole matter, find that your are equivocal
in your admissions; as for example, when you say that
you used such threats with no intention of doing an
injury, but nevertheless there are various proofs which
are sufficient warrant for exposing you to the question
and torture. Wherefore, that the truth may be known from
your own mouth, and that henceforth you may not offend
the ears of the Judges, we declare, judge and sentence
that on this present day at such an hour you be placed
under the question and torture. This sentence was given,
etc.
Alternatively, as has been said, the Judge may not be
willing to deliver the accused up to be questioned, but
may punish her with imprisonment with the following
object in view. Let him summon her friends and put it to
the that she may escape the death penalty, although she
will be punished in another way, if she confesses the
truth, and urge them to try to persuade her to do so.
For very often meditation, and the misery of
imprisonment, and the repeated advice of honest men,
dispose the accused to discover the truth.
And we have
found that witches have been so strengthened by this
sort of advice that, as a sign of their rebellion, they
have spat on the ground as if it were in the devil's
face, saying, “Depart, cursed devil; I shall do what
is just” and afterwards they have confessed their
crimes.
But if, after
keeping the accused in a state of suspense, and
continually postponing the day of examination, and
frequently using verbal persuasions, the Judge should
truly believe that the accused is denying the truth, let
them question her lightly without shedding blood;
knowing that such questioning is fallacious and often,
as has been said, ineffective.
And it should
be begun in this way. While the officers are preparing
for the questioning, let the accused be stripped; or if
she is a woman, let her first be led to the penal cells
and there stripped by honest women of good reputation.
And the reason for this is that they should search for
any instrument of witchcraft sewn into her clothes; for
they often make such instruments, at the instruction of
devils, out of the limbs of unbaptized children, the
purpose being that those children should be deprived of
the beatific vision. And when such instruments have been
disposed of, the Judge shall use his own persuasions and
those of other honest men zealous for the faith to
induce her to confess the truth voluntarily; and if she
will not, let him order the officers to bind her with
cords, and apply her to some engine of torture; and then
let them obey at once but not joyfully, rather appearing
to be disturbed by their duty. Then let her be released
again at someone's earnest request, and taken on one
side, and let her again be persuaded; and in persuading
her, let her be told that she can escape the death
penalty.
Here it is
asked whether, in the case of a prisoner legally
convicted by her general bad reputation, by witnesses,
and by the evidence of the fact, so that the only thing
lacking is a confession of the crime from her own mouth,
the Judge can lawfully promise her her life, whereas if
she were to confess the crime she would suffer the
extreme penalty.
We answer
that different people have various opinions on this
question. For some hold that if the accused is of a
notoriously bad reputation, and gravely suspected on
unequivocal evidence of the crime; and if she is herself
a great source of danger, as being the mistress of other
witches, then she may be promised her life on the
following conditions; that she be sentenced to
imprisonment for life on bread and water, provided that
she supply evidence which will lead to the conviction of
other witches. And she is not to be told, when she is
promised her life, that she is to be imprisoned in this
way; but should be led to suppose that some other
penance, such as exile, will be imposed on her as
punishment. And without doubt notorious witches,
especially such as use witches' medicines and cure the
bewitched by superstitious means, should be kept in this
way, both that they may help the bewitched, and that
they may betray other witches. But such a betrayal by
them must not be considered of itself sufficient ground
for a conviction, since the devil is a liar, unless it
is also substantiated by the evidence of the fact, and
by witnesses.
Others think
that, after she has been consigned to prison in this
way, the promise to spare her life should be kept for a
time, but that after a certain period she should be
burned.
A third
opinion is that the Judge may safely promise the accused
her life, but in such a way that he should afterwards
disclaim the duty of passing sentence on her, deputing
another Judge in his place.
There seems
to be some advantage in pursuing the first of these
courses on account of the benefit which may accrue from
it to those who are bewitched; yet it is not lawful to
use witchcraft to cure witchcraft, although (as was
shown in the First and Introductory Question to this
Third Part) the general opinion is that it is lawful to
use vain and superstitious means to remove a spell. But
use and experience and the variety of such cases will be
of more value to Judges than any art or text-book;
therefore this is a matter which should be left to the
Judges. But it has certainly been very often found by
experience that many would confess the truth if they
were not held back by the fear of death.
But if
neither threats nor such promises will induce her to
confess the truth, then the officers must proceed with
the sentence, and she must by examined, not in any new
or exquisite manner, but in the usual way, lightly or
heavily according as the nature of her crimes demands.
And while she is being questioned about each several
point, let her be often and frequently exposed to
torture, beginning with the more gentle of them; for the
Judge should not be too hasty to proceed to the graver
kind. And while this is being done, let the Notary write
all down, how she is tortured and what questions are
asked and how she answers.
And note
that, if she confesses under torture, she should then be
taken to another place and questioned anew, so that she
does not confess only under the stress of torture.
The next step
of the Judge should be that, if after being fittingly
tortured she refuses to confess the truth, he should
have other engines of torture brought before her, and
tell her that she will have to endure these if she does
not confess. If then she is not induced by terror to
confess, the torture must be continued on the second or
third day, but not repeated at that present time unless
there should be some fresh indication of its probable
success.
Let the
sentence be pronounced in her presence in the following
manner: We the aforesaid Judge, as above, assign to you
N. such a day for the continuation of your questioning,
that the truth may be heard from your own mouth. And the
Notary shall write all down in the process.
And during
the interval before that assigned time the Judge himself
or other honest men shall do all in their power to
persuade her to confess the truth in the manner we have
said, giving her, if it seems expedient to them, a
promise that her life will be spared.
The Judge
should also take care that during that interval there
should always be guards with her, so that she is never
left alone, for fear lest the devil will cause her to
kill herself. But the devil himself knows better than
anyone can set down in writing whether he will desert
her of his own will, or be compelled to do so by God.
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