In 1609, in the Basque Country, a local dispute turned into accusations of witchcraft.
Henri IV, King of France, decided to restore order to the borders of the Kingdom. He sends a commission to judge the witches and sorcerers.
The trial lasts 4 months. Pierre de Lancre, magistrate at the Bordeaux parliament, arrested, tried and sentenced 80 people to the stake. It was the deadliest witch-hunting episode in France. Today, historians are investigating to find out what really happened. They are delving into the archives of the time, in search of previously unpublished documents. They are going back to the origins of the figure of the witch. These women were accused of meeting up at night to celebrate the devil, and copulate with demons, during a satanic festival known as the Sabbath.
Between the 15th and 17th centuries, 40,000 to 60,000 people were condemned for witchcraft. An unprecedented cycle of violence, 80% of whose victims were women.
How can such a massacre be explained today? This field investigation in the footsteps of the witches of the Basque Country reveals the hidden workings of this terrible episode in European history.