Research source

Child Sacrifice.--The child-victim was usually a young infant, either a witch's child or unbaptized; in other…

Date of account: Published 1921
Source: The Witch-cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology
Reference: The Witch-cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology · selected passage 114
Rights: public_domain
Language: English with quoted European trial material
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Child Sacrifice.--The child-victim was usually a young infant, either a witch's child or unbaptized; in other words, it did not belong to the Christian community

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

3. _Child Sacrifice._--The child-victim was usually a young infant, either a witch's child or unbaptized; in other words, it did not belong to the Christian community. This last is an important point, and was the reason why unbaptized children were considered to be in greater danger from witches than the baptized. 'If there be anie children vnbaptised, or not garded with the signe of the crosse, or orizons; then the witches may or doo catch them from their mothers sides in the night, or out of their cradles, or otherwise kill them with their ceremonies.'[620] The same author quotes from the French authorities the crimes laid to the charge of witches, among which are the following: 'They sacrifice their owne children to the diuell before baptisme, holding them vp in the aire vnto him, and then thrust a needle into their braines'; and 'they burne their children when they haue sacrificed them'.[621] Boguet says, 'Les Matrones, & sages femmes sont accoustume d'offrir a Satan les petits enfans qu'elles recoiuent, & puis les faire mourir auant qu'ils soient baptizez, par le moy[~e] d'vne grosse espingle qu'elles leur enfoncent dans le cerueau.'[622] Boguet's words imply that this was done at every birth at which a witch officiated; but

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This is a historical account assembled under the reporting and publishing conventions of its period. It may preserve testimony, hearsay, retelling and editorial interpretation together.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

A modern comparison can identify recurring descriptions and possible explanations, but the account is not treated as independently verified evidence merely because it appeared in print.

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