Madonna Oriente
Madonna Oriente or Signora Oriente (Woman from the Orient) , also known as La Signora del Gioco (The Woman of the Game) , are the names of a supposed religious figure described by two Italian women who were witches executed by the Inquisition in 1390 .
The story they convey is a thoughtful and fantastic narrative of occult religious rituals that were practiced in the homes of wealthy individuals from Milan . A woman known as Madonna Oriente, who may have been considered a goddess by her followers, is supposed to perform magical acts, such as B. carried out the resuscitation of slaughtered animals.
The two women, Sibilla Zanni and Pierina de Bugatis, were brought before the Inquisition for the first time in 1384, although the first time their story was dismissed as pure spinning, which is why they received only a small penalty. However, when they were suspected again in 1390, they were accused of having had sex with the devil and were sentenced and executed.
While there is no evidence that the group described by the women actually existed, it bears notable resemblance to other testimonies by groups from Italy and the rest of Europe, e.g. B. the followers of "Richella" and the "wise Sibillia" (15th century, northern Italy), the "Benandanti" (16th and 17th centuries, northern Italy), the "Armier" (Pyrenees), the "Căluşari" and the "Livonian werewolves" (Romania), the "Kresniki" (Dalmatia), the "Táltos" (Hungary) or the "Burkudzauta" (Caucasus). These widespread and often repeated motifs were identified by the historian Carlo Ginzburg as part of an ancient, mythologically complex cult that may have originated in Central Eurasia.
Ginzburg concluded that the name Madonna Oriente is derived from the Latin Domina Oriens , a term for the moon as a deity.
literature
- Carlo Ginzburg: Witches' Sabbath. Berlin 2005.
- Luisa Muraro : La signora del Gioco. Feltrinelli, Milan 1976.
- Mario Graziano Parri: La signora del gioco. F. Cesati, 1984, ISBN 88-7667-027-0 .
- Massimo Centini: Le schiave di Diana. Stregoneria e sciamanismo tra superstizione e demonizzazione (Nuova atlantide). ECIG, 1994, ISBN 88-7545-588-0 .