During the eighteenth century, jurisdictional disputes between church and state over witchcraft prosecutions in the Republic of Venice reached their most contentious height. One such example concerned an interesting and well-documented case from Buttrio in 1745, where Inquisitors, ecclesiastical authorities, and secular magistracies of the Republic all intervened in a controversy involving some alleged witches from Buttrio. Although the Inquisition initially dealt with this case, its attempts to assume sole prosecutorial authority were met with claims of mixti fori (overlapping) jurisdiction by the secular authority, in this case the Council of Ten.
Keywords: Witchcraft; mixti fori; Inquisition; eighteenth century; witches