VAL CAMONICA CITY AND VALLEY
In the eastern province of Lombardia, Italy, one of the
largest valleys in the central Alps, is the valley of Val Camonica. It extends
from Tonale Pass to Corna Trentapssi in Pisogne, one of the fifteen communes
around Lago d’Iseo. Pisgone sits at the northern end where the Oglio River
flows through the valley before entering the Iseo. The local residents call the
lake, Sebino from the original Latin name Sebinus.
Val Camonica’s name derives from the Latin Vallis Camunnorum, meaning the “Valley
of the Camunni,” a people who were living there at the time of Roman conquest.
Where these original people came from is unknown; nevertheless, they left a
significant legacy. Most impressive is the rock art. There are some 300,000
petroglyphs, making it the largest center of rock art in Europe. The chronology
of these rock carvings pass through four ages, beginning with: the
Palaeolithic-post Palaeolithic carved figures of game, elk and deer. Next is
the Neolithic or onset of the copper age, these appear to be maps. The Copper Age (2800 to 2200 BC), consists of carved
figures of people and cattle plowing fields, of pigs, game, trees, and weapons.
The Bronze Age art figures (2200-800 BC) consists of weapons, daggers and axes,
and people praying. The Iron Age, (800-16 BC), there was an upsurge in the rock
art, constituting, approximately 80% of all extant figures. These are scenes of
duels, horse riding warriors, hunters, field plowing, dogs, birds, houses,
Etruscan inscriptions, swords, snakes, and spears. There is a large concentration
of these at the Naquane National Park of Engraved Rock located in the valley.
Another legacy left by residents of Val Cammonica, from the
Renaissance Period, were two witch trials. These are included in the list of
the biggest ones occurring in Italy. These occurred in the years from 1505 to 1510
and again from 1518 to1521. These trials brought about the death of sixty
persons in each trial. The major source of information about them is from a
Venetian Marin Sanudo, who was the chronicler to the Council of Ten, the
governing body of the Republic of Venice during the trials. However, the Bishop
of Brescia, Giacinto Gaggia, had the court’s recorded documentary evidence of
the trials destroyed to prevent use by anticlerical opposition.
Christianity spread into the area around the 5th
century. Despite a three hundred year establishment the area was still suspect
as being pagan into the 8th century. Apparently, that suspicion
continued into the next millennia causing the trials.
Prior to the occurrences in Val Camonica, the inquisition
burned witches in South Tirol and in Valtellina. An inquisitor, Antonio da
Brescia complained about the heresy and witch craft happening in Val Camonica. Subsequently,
on June 23, 1505, the inquisition burned seven women and one man in the commune
of Cemmo. In 1510 sixty men and women confessed to having injured people, animals,
and land with their spells and that Satan helped them to cause fires. The
literature indicates the trials put sixty-four persons to death and imposed
other forms of punishment upon those not condemned to the pillory.
The second trial occurred from 1518-1521. During the first
few months of 1518, the judicial process led by Bishop Peter Durante, who
presided at the court of inquisition, stationed investigators at the various
parishes of the valley. The investigators reported that some women, in the
towns confessed to having spread a “powder” from Satan in the air, causing
sicknesses and the death of some two-hundred people. The inquisitors accused
some of spreading the plague by magic and some of causing thunder and
lightning. The court burned sixty men and women at the stake. One-hundred and
seventy-one years later, the witch trials began in Salem Massachusetts, the
hearings and prosecutions of individuals accused of witchcraft occurred from
February 1692-May 1693. Of the two-hundred people accused of witchcraft,
nineteen (14 women and 5 men) were found guilty and hanged. See attached photographs. If you would like to leave a comment simply click on comment and a form will appear for you to do so.
