The Witch trials in France are poorly documented, mainly because a lot of the documents of former witch trials have not been preserved, and no number can therefore be given for the executions of witch trials in France or the true extent of them.Stuart Clark & William Monter: ''Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 4: The Period of the Witch Trials'' While there is much secondary information about witch trials in France, the poor state of documentation often makes them hard to confirm. As no national Witchcraft Act was enacted in France, they fell under the jurisdiction of local courts and the witch hunt differed between regions. The witch trials of Northern France fell under the jurisdiction of the

Parliament of Paris The Parliament of Paris (french: Parlement de Paris) was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. It was fixed in Paris by Philip IV of France in 1302. The Parliament of Paris would hold sessions inside the ...

, which was normally not liberal in enforcing the death penalty. However, the local courts did not always defer to Paris, which is another contributing factor to the difficulty in estimating the witch hunt in France. Present day North Eastern France is known to have experienced a severe witch hunt, close to the border of the territories of the Catholic Prince Bishops as it was, but at that point this, part of France belonged to the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

History

The first witch trial believed to be held at Le Châtelet in Paris, in 1390, ended with the execution of Jeanne de Brigue. During the first half of the 16th century, a few cases of witch trials are noted to have taken place in France. In 1539 a witch trial resulted in four executions in

Beaujolais Beaujolais ( , ) is a French ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wine generally made of the Gamay grape, which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which mak ...

; in 1553 a "

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

ian magician" was executed in

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

; and in 1558 and 1562 witch trials were conducted in

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

respectively both of which resulted in three executions. In France, no national witchcraft law was introduced, and the procedure of such a trial was therefore up to the local court and judge to decide. The book ''Demonomanie'' by

Jean Bodin Jean Bodin (; c. 1530 – 1596) was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. He is known for his theory of sovereignty. He was also an influential writer on demonology. Bodin l ...

, which was published in 1578, was to have a great impact upon the witch trials in France.

Northern France

Northern France was under the jurisdiction of the

, and all sentences of local witchcraft trials therefore fell under its jurisdiction. This proved to have an inhibiting effect on witch trials in Northern France. Between 1568 and 1625, the Parliament of Paris only confirmed one hundred death sentences for witchcraft and thus confirmed less than five percent of the cases from local courts which were put before it. The Parliament of Paris refused to follow the example of other countries and make witchcraft an "Exceptional Crime". In 1588, the Parliament issued regulations to prevent what they termed as "excessive" zeal and exaggerations in witchcraft persecutions. However, it is known that local courts ignored the recommendations of the Parliament of Paris, and the number of local witchcraft sentences which were never reported or appealed to Paris, is unknown or unconfirmed. In 1624, a new law required all sentences made by a local court in Northern France to be confirmed by the Parliament of Paris before they could be carried out. With one exception, the Parliament of Paris stopped confirming death sentenced for witchcraft after 1625. However, local witch trials who did not report their cases to be confirmed by Paris would still go undetected.

North East France

The North East of present-day France, particularly

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...

and

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

(at that time a part of the Holy Roman Empire), was an area strongly affected by witch hunt. About 800 witch trials took place in these areas with numerous executions in the period of 1603-1614 and 1627-1632, and again in France-Comté with 100 executions in 1658-1661.Bengt Ankerloo, Stuart Clark & William Monter: ''Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 4: The Period of the Witch Trials''

Southern France

Southern France was not under the jurisdiction of the Parliament of Paris, and a number of large witch trials were conducted there during the first half of the 17th century, among them being the famous

Labourd witch-hunt of 1609 The Labourd witch-hunt of 1609 took place in Labourd, French Basque Country, in 1609. The investigation was managed by Pierre de Lancre on the order of King Henry IV of France and III of Navarre. It resulted in the execution of 70 people. The a ...

and the

Aix-en-Provence possessions The Aix-en-Provence possessions were a series of alleged cases of demonic possession occurring among the Ursuline nuns of Aix-en-Provence (South of France) in 1611. Father Louis Gaufridi was accused and convicted of causing the possession by a p ...

(1611).

End of witch trials

Peronne Goguillon Peronne Goguillon (died 29 May 1679) was an alleged French witch. She and the other women who were accused with her are regarded the last women to have been burned at the stake for witchcraft in France. Life On 8 May 1679, four soldiers from the gar ...

has been referred to as the last woman to be executed for witchcraft in France in 1678. There have been different opinions as to whether the

Affair of the Poisons The Affair of the Poisons (french: affaire des poisons) was a major murder scandal in France during the reign of King Louis XIV. Between 1677 and 1682, a number of prominent members of the aristocracy were implicated and sentenced on charges ...

(1679–1682) should be defined a witch trial or not. While the accused of the Affair de Poisons had indeed positioned themselves as professional witches, they were prosecuted and executed for poison and murder rather than for witchcraft. The 1682 Edict of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

described witchcraft as fraudulent magic, a definition which did not as such prevent witch trials, but made it more difficult to convict people of witchcraft. Ankarloo, Bengt & Henningsen, Gustav (red.), Skrifter. Bd 13, Häxornas Europa 1400-1700: historiska och antropologiska studier, Nerenius & Santérus, Stockholm, 1987 A few witch trials were conducted in France during the 18th century, some of which resulted in death sentences for men. The execution of an alleged male sorcerer in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

in 1718 has traditionally been referred to as the last. However, a

donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

-driver was in fact executed for this crime in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1724. The last witch trial resulting in an execution in France was likely that of

Louis Debaraz Louis Debaraz (died 1745), was a French Roman Catholic priest. He was executed in Lyon on the charges of witchcraft after having performed sacrilegious masses and a pact with the Devil in order to find hidden treasures. He was implicated in the L ...

, who was executed in Lyon in 1745. He was executed as the last of several men implicated in the

Lyon witch trials The Procès des sorciers de Lyon ('The trial of the Wizards of Lyon') was a witch trial which took place in Lyon in France between 1742 and 1745. It was the last big witch trial in France and likely the last to result in death sentences. 14 people, ...

in 1743–1745, in which several men were charged with making a Devil's pact in order to find hidden treasures, following the case of

Bertrand Guilladot Bertrand Guilladot or "Guillaudot" (died 1743) was a French priest and an alleged sorcerer. Guilladot was among the last people to be executed for witchcraft in France. He was the central figure in the Lyon witch trials that lead to the execution ...

. As late as 1768, a woman was tried and convicted of witchcraft in France, but she was only given a fine.

References