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Why did the western Alps play an important role in the development of Satanic witchcraft ideas?

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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 western Alps served as the critical crucible for the development of Satanic witchcraft ideas during the 1420s and 1430s. During this period, various medieval tropes—including folklore regarding nocturnal spirit travel, ceremonial magic, and long-standing conspiracy theories about secretive, malevolent groups—coalesced into a singular, cohesive stereotype of the Satanic witch.12

This synthesis occurred primarily through a series of judicial trials in the region. These trials were pivotal because they integrated the concept of a pact with the Devil or demons with the idea of the witches’ sabbath, a nocturnal gathering where witches were imagined to venerate Satan and engage in heinous acts like cannibalism and infanticide.2

The region’s role was further cemented by the Council of Basel (1431–49), which brought numerous ecclesiastical figures to the area, exposing them to these emerging concepts. These ideas were subsequently exported across Europe, aided by the development of the printing press, which allowed for the widespread dissemination of demonological literature that codified these fears.21