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How did the Council of Basel help spread ideas about Satanic witchcraft?

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Oil painting The Witches' Sabbath by Francisco de Goya shows a group of figures in dark robes gathered around a crouching person, with eerie creatures flying in a moonlit sky. — Witchcraft *El conjuro* or *Las brujas* (“The Conjuring” or “The Witches”), oil on canvas by Francisco Goya, 1797–98; in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid.

The Council of Basel (1431–1449) played a significant role in the dissemination of ideas regarding Satanic witchcraft across Europe. During the 1420s and 1430s, new concepts of witchcraft—which synthesized older traditions of malevolent magic with fears of diabolical pacts, nocturnal gatherings, and the witches’ sabbath—emerged from trials in the western Alps.12

The Council of Basel brought numerous ecclesiastical figures to this Alpine region, exposing them to these developing theories. By providing a forum for these influential individuals, the council facilitated the export of these notions of a Satanic conspiracy throughout European Christendom. These ideas were subsequently reinforced and spread among the literate classes through the publication of demonological literature, such as Johannes Nider’s Formicarius and the later, highly influential Malleus maleficarum. This transition marked a shift from viewing witchcraft as simple maleficium to characterizing it as a dangerous, organized threat to Christian society, ultimately fueling the rise of early modern witch trials.12