ABSTRACT
On the Italian peninsula the witch-hunt picked up speed rapidly towards the end of the fifteenth century, reaching its maximum intensity in the first thirty years of the sixteenth, principally at the hand of Dominican inquisitors, who authored an impressive series of texts in support of their endeavours. On the Italian peninsula, Gianfrancesco Ponzinibio's book held also the notable record of being the first on witchcraft published by a lay author, a clear indication that the pre-eminence of inquisitors and theologians on this subject was beginning to be challenged. Indeed, the norm mandating the participation of lawyers in heresy trials is the final proof that jurists may discuss issues pertaining to faith with the same authority as inquisitors. Having thus quite daringly established his own right to speak about witchcraft, Ponzinibio opens the second part of his text by reviewing the evidence brought forth by the proponents of the reality of demonic flight and the sabbat.
