What Happened in Andorra's Witch Trials?

Introduction

Between 1471 and 1661, Andorra experienced a long series of witchcraft prosecutions rather than a single overwhelming witch panic. Surviving judicial records show repeated accusations, investigations and trials stretching across almost two centuries, making this one of the best-documented episodes of persecution in the country’s history. Modern research has identified around 180 women who were denounced or prosecuted, while at least 15 executions are securely documented. Because Andorra’s population was very small, these numbers represent a significant social trauma rather than an isolated legal curiosity.[govern.ad]govern.add’Andorra UntitledGovern d’AndorraUntitledJuly 7, 2022…Published: July 7, 2022

The trials are also distinctive because they were conducted mainly by Andorra’s own secular courts, especially the Tribunal de Corts, instead of the Spanish Inquisition, which has often been wrongly associated with every Iberian witch trial. The surviving archives reveal how local rumours, neighbourly disputes and beliefs about supernatural harm repeatedly became criminal prosecutions, creating a pattern of persecution that rose and fell in several waves before disappearing in the mid-seventeenth century.[Bondia]bondia.adRobert Pastor, historiador: “Les quinze dones executades per bruixeria les va condemnar Corts” | Bondia…

The first known accusations and later prosecutions

The earliest surviving proceedings date from 1471, although a medieval legal reference from 1201 already shows that Andorran authorities recognised offences involving alleged witches and poisoners. The documented wave of 1471–1473 marks the beginning of the historical record rather than necessarily the beginning of witchcraft accusations themselves. During these years, at least twenty women were investigated by the Tribunal de Corts, establishing patterns that would reappear over the next 190 years.[diariandorra.ad]diariandorra.adDiari Andorra.ad BruixesBruixesNovember 14, 2021…Published: November 14, 2021

The first prosecutions were exceptionally severe. Contemporary records describe women accused of causing illness, infant deaths, poisoning, livestock losses and other unexplained misfortunes. Judicial interrogations relied heavily on community testimony and reputation, while torture was used to obtain confessions in some cases. Confessions often expanded into claims of meetings with the Devil or participation in nocturnal gatherings, reflecting demonological ideas spreading across the Pyrenees during the late fifteenth century.[govern.ad]govern.add’Andorra UntitledGovern d’AndorraUntitledJuly 7, 2022…Published: July 7, 2022

The campaign did not end after this first burst of activity. Another group of prosecutions followed in 1499, and additional cases appeared throughout the sixteenth century before the final documented execution in 1661. Instead of one uninterrupted campaign, historians identify several distinct waves separated by quieter periods, with local circumstances determining when accusations intensified.[govern.ad]govern.add’Andorra UntitledGovern d’AndorraUntitledJuly 7, 2022…Published: July 7, 2022

Where trials clustered and who was targeted

The surviving records show that accusations were not evenly distributed across Andorra. Certain valleys and parishes repeatedly generated prosecutions, particularly Canillo, where local research has identified around thirty women tried between the mid-fifteenth century and 1621. Approximately six of them are known to have been executed. Such concentration suggests that village relationships and local reputations mattered far more than any nationwide campaign.[Bondia]bondia.adRobert Pastor, historiador: “Les quinze dones executades per bruixeria les va condemnar Corts” | Bondia…

Most defendants were women, matching wider patterns across Catalonia and the Pyrenean region. Many were vulnerable because they were widows, elderly, socially isolated or already regarded with suspicion. Others practised household healing or herbal remedies, occupations that could easily become associated with harmful magic when neighbours searched for explanations after illness or sudden deaths.[Govern d’Andorra]govern.add’Andorra UntitledGovern d’AndorraUntitledJuly 7, 2022…Published: July 7, 2022

Neighbour testimony played a decisive role. Rather than relying on physical evidence, prosecutions frequently grew from rumours about previous quarrels, unusual behaviour or an individual’s longstanding reputation. Once someone acquired a local reputation as a witch, later misfortunes could reinforce existing suspicions, producing a cycle that became increasingly difficult to escape.[Govern d’Andorra]govern.add’Andorra UntitledGovern d’AndorraUntitledJuly 7, 2022…Published: July 7, 2022

How the courts handled witchcraft cases

The Tribunal de Corts was central to these prosecutions. Its records preserve complaints, witness statements, interrogations, legal arguments, verdicts and appeals, allowing historians to reconstruct individual cases in unusual detail. The archive remains one of the most valuable sources for understanding Andorra’s judicial history between the Middle Ages and the modern era.[Govern d’Andorra]govern.add’Andorra Arxiu del Tribunal de Corts (fons)|Andorra. Arxiu Nacional d'AndorraGovern d’AndorraArxiu del Tribunal de Corts (fons)|Andorra. Arxiu Nacional d'Andorra - Govern d’Andorra…

Although executions attract the most attention, not every accused person was put to death. Some defendants received exile or other punishments instead. A well-preserved case from 1551 concerns Antònia Martina del Tarter, who was interrogated—including under torture—but ultimately sentenced to permanent banishment rather than execution. This illustrates that Andorran courts imposed a range of penalties depending on how they evaluated individual cases.[Govern d’Andorra]govern.add’Andorra“La peça del mes”Govern d’Andorra“La peça del mes” - Govern d’Andorra…

Modern historians also emphasise that the Spanish Inquisition was not the principal driving force behind these prosecutions. Robert Pastor’s research concludes that the known executions were ordered by Andorra’s own courts, while the single Andorran case that reached the Inquisition ended in acquittal rather than execution. This distinction challenges a persistent popular misconception about the source of judicial authority in Andorra’s witch trials.[Bondia]bondia.adRobert Pastor, historiador: “Les quinze dones executades per bruixeria les va condemnar Corts” | Bondia…

Executions, surviving records and unresolved totals

Current scholarship generally identifies approximately 180 women who were denounced or prosecuted for witchcraft between 1471 and 1661. At least fifteen executions can be confirmed from surviving documentation. Earlier estimates were lower because researchers had identified fewer archival cases, while continuing archival work has expanded the known record.[Bondia]bondia.adRobert Pastor, historiador: “Les quinze dones executades per bruixeria les va condemnar Corts” | Bondia…

Even so, the precise totals remain uncertain. Some medieval and early modern records have been lost, while others survive only in fragmentary form. Historians therefore distinguish carefully between documented executions and possible additional cases that cannot yet be confirmed. The surviving evidence is substantial enough to demonstrate repeated persecution, but incomplete enough to prevent absolute certainty about every accusation or death sentence.[Govern d’Andorra]govern.add’Andorra Arxiu del Tribunal de Corts (fons)|Andorra. Arxiu Nacional d'AndorraGovern d’AndorraArxiu del Tribunal de Corts (fons)|Andorra. Arxiu Nacional d'Andorra - Govern d’Andorra…

The known chronology ends with the last documented execution in 1661. By then, the intensity of witchcraft prosecutions had already declined across much of western Europe as courts became increasingly sceptical of supernatural accusations and legal standards gradually changed. Andorra followed this broader regional trend, although its judicial history retained a distinctive local character throughout the period.[Bondia]bondia.adRobert Pastor, historiador: “Les quinze dones executades per bruixeria les va condemnar Corts” | Bondia…

Why these trials remain historically important

The Andorran witch trials matter because they reveal how ordinary community tensions could become deadly when courts accepted supernatural explanations for real-world misfortune. The accusations rarely emerged from abstract theology alone. Instead, they developed from everyday conflicts over illness, infant mortality, livestock, harvest failures and personal reputation, with legal institutions transforming local suspicion into formal prosecution.[Govern d’Andorra]govern.add’Andorra UntitledGovern d’AndorraUntitledJuly 7, 2022…Published: July 7, 2022

They also challenge the popular image of European witch hunts as isolated episodes resembling Salem. In Andorra, persecution unfolded through repeated local waves over nearly two centuries, shaped by changing social conditions rather than one moment of collective panic. The extensive archives preserved by the Tribunal de Corts have made the country an important case study for historians investigating how fear, rumour and judicial authority combined to produce long-lasting campaigns against alleged witches.[Govern d’Andorra]govern.add’Andorra Arxiu del Tribunal de Corts (fons)|Andorra. Arxiu Nacional d'AndorraGovern d’AndorraArxiu del Tribunal de Corts (fons)|Andorra. Arxiu Nacional d'Andorra - Govern d’Andorra…

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Further Reading

Books and field guides related to What Happened in Andorra's Witch Trials?. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.

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Europe's inner demons

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First published 1975. Subjects: Witchcraft, History, Demonology, Church history, Witchcraft, europe.

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The witch-hunt in early modern Europe

By Brian P. Levack

First published 1987. Subjects: Witchcraft, History, Hexenglaube, Geschichte (1450-1750), Heksenvervolgingen.

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By Lyndal Roper

First published 2004. Subjects: Trials (Witchcraft), Witchcraft, History, Witchcraft, europe, Heksenvervolgingen.

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Endnotes

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Link:https://www.govern.ad/ca/l/4673550

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Title: Ser bruixa i portar-ho a l’ADN | Bondia
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Title: Va ser la parròquia amb més dones
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Published: March 15, 2026

11. Source: bondia.ad
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Additional References

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Title: A History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe Part 5: Medieval Christianity
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AafuN-KAg2c

20. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0LX6LIYSkc

21. Source: youtube.com
Title: Witchcraft in Basque Country
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EF3N6VXc_Q

22. Source: researchgate.net
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23. Source: consellgeneral.ad
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24. Source: studia.reviste.ubbcluj.ro
Link:https://studia.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/index.php/subbhistoria/article/view/1753

25. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikhhTOQmMHY

26. Source: taylorfrancis.com
Title: Witchcraft and women in seventeenth-century England: some Northern evi
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27. Source: youtube.com
Title: They Said She Was a Witch with Judith Prat
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UssS2Vz-6Q8

28. Source: elperiodic.ad
Link:https://elperiodic.ad/cultura/traure-lo-fetge-per-lo-cul/