Matteuccia de Francesco
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Matteuccia de Francesco (also known as Matteuccia da Todi;[1] c. 1388 – d. 20 March 1428) was an Italian woman and traditional healer from the Papal States.[2][3] She became one of the earliest victims of the witch trials in the early modern period.[2][4]
Matteuccia de Francesco | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1388 |
| Died | 20 March 1428 (aged 39–40) |
Cause of death | Executed by burning for witchcraft |
| Other name | "Witch of Ripabianca" |
| Known for | Being one of the first Europeans executed for witchcraft in the 15th century |
Biography
Matteuccia was born in Ripabianca, Umbria in 1388.[3][5] Known locally as Domina Herbarum ("Lady of the Herbs"), she made her living as a herbalist and spiritual healer who provided remedies to paying clients.[5][6][7] Clients commonly hired her to perform love spells, or incantations to improve their personal relationships.[1] She also performed rites that blended superstition with Catholic dogma, such as treating alleged victims of demonic possession through rituals and prayer.[3] Other treatments she offered likely included calendula for toothaches, and prescribing St. John's wort for symptoms of the menopause.[3][5]
In 1416, military leader Braccio da Montone captured the city of Todi in Umbria.[1] Braccio, who had attracted the ire of the Catholic Church for ignoring orders from papal authorities, became one of Matteuccia's clients.[3][5][8] He served as her most influential protector until his death in 1424.[5][8] Two years later, missionary Bernardino of Siena visited Todi to preach and help the city revise its governance structures.[5][9] He also warned locals about the perceived threat of witchcraft, identifying Matteuccia as a potential witch in the process.[3][9] Although it is unknown what actions Bernardino took to stop Matteuccia during this time, it is likely that his efforts brought her to the attention of local authorities.[1][9]
Allegations of witchcraft
Accounts of Matteuccia's activities over the next two years derive primarily from records of her witchcraft trial.[1] She was ultimately charged with thirty instances of supposed witchcraft, with her powers said to derive from Satan.[9] Matteuccia was alleged to have summoned the Devil in the form of a goat, which she rode across water and through the air; she also met with other witches at the Walnut Tree of Benevento, a legendary gathering place for sorcerers.[1] At these meetings, the Devil ordered her to "go around destroying children and other wicked things."[9]
In 1426, Matteuccia allegedly directed a man who claimed to be "possessed by a spirit" to sleep atop the tomb of a pagan.[10] She advised clients with similar claims to acquire pagan bones and bring them to a crossroads, where they would repeatedly recite the Pater Noster and Ave Maria.[10] The next year, Matteuccia prescribed a herbal contraceptive to an unmarried woman who was having an affair with a local priest.[10] From September until her arrest, Matteuccia also allegedly caused the death of more than one hundred infants.[3][9]
Many of Matteuccia's clients were women seeking help with their marriages.[6][10] She directed women in abusive relationships to create wax effigies of their violent husbands, which they would place in their marital beds while chanting a spell to end the abuse.[6][10] Nonetheless, some of her clients were men, such as a jilted suitor who requested Matteuccia's help in making his lover's new husband impotent.[9] On another occasion, she allegedly produced a herbal tonic that cured a man with paralysis.[9] This incident formed the basis of a charge against her, as papal authorities deemed curing the man to be defying God's will.[9]
Trial
Matteuccia was arrested in March 1428.[3] While under interrogation, she was said to have "confessed spontaneously... saying that she had no defence",[9] though she was nonetheless given a few days to prepare one.[3] Her confession was possibly the result of torture.[10]
On 20 March 1428, Matteuccia's trial began.[9] Proceedings were held at the Tribunal de Malefici ("Court of Evildoers"), led by Captain Lorenzo di Surdis of Rome and commissioned by Pope Martin V.[5][10] Bernardino da Siena was one of the witnesses who testified against Matteuccia, and other attendees court dubbed her the "Witch of Ripabianca".[5] The court found her guilty of being "a woman of a bad life and reputation, public enchantress, sorceress, evil spell caster, and witch".[5] Because she could not afford the large fine demanded by the court,[1] she was sentenced to death.[5]
Her sentence, which was announced by the ringing of church bells, was carried out on the same day.[9] She was led atop a donkey to Todi's town square with her hands tied behind her back, and a bishop's mitre upon her head to mock her.[5][8] There, she was publicly burned alive on a pyre.[3]
Analysis
Historian Marina Montesano suggests that Matteuccia was likely prosecuted because of her affiliation with Braccio da Montone, a warlord who had defied the Catholic Church.[1] According to historians Katherine Jansen and Richard Golden, Bernardino's preaching directly created the conditions for her execution.[2][10]
Researchers including Mary Ellen Snodgrass and Eleanor Johnson posit that Matteuccia was also targeted because she took actions to help victims of domestic violence within a highly patriarchal society.[5][6] Academic Gina M. Miele suggests that Matteuccia's traditional remedies posed a threat to male physicians at a time when women were excluded from formal medicine.[3] She may have also been an economic threat, as her herbal prescriptions likely represented a cheaper alternative to doctors' fees.[3]
Legacy
In 2013, Ornella Muti originated the role of Matteuccia in a play adapting her life, Processo alla strega ("Witch Trial"), written by Silvano Spada.[3] The Agricultural Institute of Todi maintains a garden of medicinal herbs in Matteuccia's honour known as the Orto della strega Matteuccia ("Matteuccia the Witch's Garden").[3][8]