Los niños como víctimas y los niños como verdugos en la caza de brujas: Navarra, siglo XVI [Children as Victims, Children as Executioners: The Witch Trials in Kingdom of Navarra, 16th Century]

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the role played by children in the lawsuits against the witches of Navarra in the 16th century in the context of Western Europe. These, traditionally, appeared as scapegoats and innocent victims of a sect; but infants also had, as complainants and witnesses, an important responsibility in the persecution of relatives and neighbors, in what would be a precedent for their great role in the witch hunt of the early seventeenth century. This article also attempts to explain why witches were accused of murdering children or how and why children described in the trials, in great detail the witches’ covens and spells.