After confessing to these practices of diabolical witchcraft before the Inquisition court, the inquisitors asked the defendants two final questions in which they were to formally acknowledge their ...

The persecutions were initiated by Innocent VIII with the bull Summis desiderantes, which ordered the inquisition, torture, and killing of those practicing witchcraft (particularly in Germany).

Painting shows people fainting and causing disorder in courtroom during the trial of a suspected witch in 1692 (Getty) In the study, scientists assessed how new ideas about witchcraft spread ...