Ancient history

The Inquisition in Switzerland

The witch hunt had important consequences in Switzerland:one by one, the Swiss cantons cleared their last witches executed almost three hundred years ago.
The modern era follows disasters such as as the plague, and seeks those responsible for its misfortunes. The repression against witchcraft began in the 1420s in French-speaking Switzerland, and in particular in the canton of Valais, where the inquisition already condemned heretics. Devil worship, otherwise known as the Sabbath , began to be talked about in the Alps at the beginning of the fifteenth century.
From then on, we hunted down any danger for Christian society, we watched for sects allied with the devil as well as magicians and other individuals endowed with supernatural powers:"We know well how the activity of our own nature:in immorality, impurity and vice, idol worship and magic. People hate each other, quarrel and are jealous, they are dominated by anger and rivalry. They divide into opposing parties and groups. This is what Christian society fears.
The arrival of Protestantism does not appease the spirits:the fight against the influence of the devil here below continues unabated. Michel Servetus, accused of heresy, ended up at the stake in 1553. A climate of terror then reigned over Geneva until the death of Calvin. Geneva was certainly the city most affected by the inquisition and the one that put an end to it more quickly. Michée Chauderon was executed in 1652.