Matteuccia da Todi, Umbrian herbalist and healer, was the first woman in Italy to be burned alive for witchcraft in 1428. Esteemed by the people and nobles, she was accused of infanticide, magical healing rites and trade in love potions. Its burning marked the beginning of the witch hunt.
Matteuccia from Todi— known in subsequent centuries as “the Witch of Ripabianca”, from the name of the village in which she lived — was the first woman in Italy, according to documented sources, to be burned at the stake on charges of witchcraftkickstarting the witch hunts in Italy, a practice that lasted for around 300 years.
On March 20, 1428, Matteuccia was burned alive after being found guilty of thirty counts accusing her of being witch, sorceress and enchantress: he did not rebel against the accusations and eventually confessed, probably due to the torture that was routinely carried out to obtain false confessions. Matteuccia, in reality, was mainly an expert herbalist and healerheld in high regard by both the people and the nobles, because its remedies were effective. She also had powerful protectors who offered her protection and prestige, but this very network of relationships may have made her vulnerable. Many historians think that the charges against her were not just fear or ignorance, but also political tools: hitting Matteuccia meant weakening those who supported her, in this case Braccio da Mutton, very powerful lord who had hostile relations with Pope Martin V.
Matteuccia da Todi, herbal expert and healer, and the bond with Braccio da Montone
Matteuccia di Francescoor “Francesco’s daughter”, was born in Umbria in 1388 (presumed date) in Ripabianca, a village about 20 km from Todi. There is no information about his childhood, but it is known that in adulthood he worked as a Domina Herbarum, herbalist healer. He was preparing ointments, decoctions, infusions, ointments and other preparations which, accompanied by formulas to be recited aloud, they healed pains, injuries, sores and various ailmentsincluding also more “inner” painslike lovesickness.
Matteuccia’s story comes down to us because his remedies, in many cases, were effective, as they were probably based on the inflammatory, decongestant and relaxing effectiveness of many medicinal herbs. It is also thought that many other of his preparations, such as love potions, were actually harmless, and had effects because the men and women to whom he administered them entered a sort of “delirium” of superstition.
Matteuccia was held in consideration not only by the people, but also by some nobles and powerful people, including Andrea Fortebraccio, known as Mutton armwho was Lord of Perugia, of Bologna, Prince of Capua and Count of Montone, who became his protector. Some historians have hypothesized that the malicious rumors that began to circulate about Matteuccia accusing her of demonic practices were actually a way to attack the authority of Braccio da Montonesince the lord had a very aggressive policy in central Italy, and was in open hostility with Pope Martin V.
The accusations of witchcraft and the trial in the Court of Evils
Matteuccia was accused of practice black magic and be one witch and, when she presented herself at the Criminal Court, the place designated for this type of trial, thirty charges were pending against her. Among these, it was said that he had cast anathemas on children and drank their blood, that he had used human flesh to prepare an ointment, that he had flown on a goat to the “benevento walnut”, the tree where it was thought that witches met together with Satan.
The Benevento walnut had the reputation of being a cursed tree because, as was later discovered, its roots produce a toxic substance, juglandinawhich prevents other plant species from growing near the trunk and the area where the roots expand. As a result, this tree appears isolated, which is why, at the height of superstitions, it was believed to be a haunt for witches.
Matteuccia was tried and found guilty: she did not defend herself and, probably following terrible tortures which were very frequent at the time, she confessed to being a witch. From the documents of the trial, which can still be consulted today in the Historical Archives, what remained was the formula that, so it was said, Matteuccia had used to fly to the Benevento walnut tree: “Ointment ointment, send me to the nut of Benivento, above water and above wind and above all bad weather”.
The sentence to the stake and death
From the trial documents we know that Matteuccia was declared “woman of terrible condition, life and fame, public enchantress, sorceress, enchantress and witch” and also “enchantress” . The charges were confirmed and the trial had a lot of resonancealso because Matteuccia was well known – and, probably, also well-liked by many people she had helped – and because she had important friendships.
The 20 March 1428in Piazza Montarone in Todi the stake was burned to which Matteuccia was led on the back of a donkey, with her hands tied and a headdress, and here she was burned alive. The Matteuccia fire was the first documented in Italy by official sources, and it can therefore be considered that she was the woman who started the witch hunt in Italy, which lasted approximately three hundred years, until 1750.
