On the Inconstancy of Witches: Pierre de Lancre's Tableau de l'inconstance des mauvais anges et demons (1612)

Tableau de l'inconstance des mouvais anges et démons (1612) is an important text in the history of witch persecutions and is basically a report of the author's four-month stay in the Labourd region of France, situated in the extreme southwest corner bordering Spain and Navarre. He was there as part of a commission to cleanse the region of witches. His narrative of his activities is based not only on his own experiences but also on the original trial records, which were destroyed in the eighteenth century, and thus has assumed the authority of witness to the prosecutions. It also contains one of the most detailed accounts of the witches'sabbath that we have as well as an equally precise account of a giant celebration of punishment and forgiveness for various sins of witchcraft and heresy at the city of Logroño by members of the Spanish Inquisition. The auto-da-fé occurred there on 7 and 8 November 1610. In addition, de Lancre gives an expert and meticulous account of the Basque people, their lives, their culture, and (as far as he was concerned) their easy commerce with devils and 'bad angels'. The text was translated into German in a truncated version in 1630, but it has not until now been rendered into English.