Aggressive Prosecution of Witches in Reformation Geneva

Based on the discovery of hundreds of hitherto overlooked witchcraft trials prosecuted in Reformation Geneva between 1560 and 1571, this article challenges the conclusions of earlier scholars who argue that Genevan authorities were exceptionally lenient in the prosecution of witchcraft. Instead, this article argues that belief in demonic witchcraft and the dangers it posed to society were orthodox ideas policed by Genevan authorities and demonstrates that over one hundred witches were burnt at the stake at the height of the Reformation in the tiny Genevan republic. Genevan authorities panicked in 1571, convinced that witches’ sabbats were being held in the major squares of the city. This study undermines claims to Protestant rationality and links efforts to purge Geneva of egregious sinners after 1555 to the violence of witch-hunting during this period.