Inquisition in Zagreb and its area

Inkviziciju na našim prostorima sluţbeno pratimo od prvog zabiljeţenog suĎenja 1360., kada je pokrenut slučaj protiv Alice i Margarete. Budući da je tada progon vještica još uvijek bio u povojima, metode istrage i kazne za optuţene uvelike su se razlikovale od onog što će uslijediti krajem 17. stoljeća. Za čišćenje od počinjenog grijeha bilo je dovoljno pronaći odreĎen broj svjedoka koji će potvrditi nevinost optuţenog. Godina 1668. ostala je zapamćena kao prekretnica u pitanju voĎenja sudskoga procesa. Uvode se nove metode ispitivanja, tortura postaje neizostavan dio svakog suĎenja, a broj slučajeva naglo raste. Korištene sprave za mučenje dovode do sve većeg broja priznanja i novih optuţaba pa cijeli proces prerasta u zatvoreni krug s neiscrpnim izvorom novih postupaka. Presude su uglavnom bile nepovoljne za optuţene, a najčešća kazna je smrt na lomači ili vješanje. Budući da je nerijetko dolazilo do zloporabe poloţaja sudaca i gradskih senatora, do kraljice Marije Terezije stiţu vijesti o velikom broju ţena koje neduţne završavaju u tamnicama. Tada se ona, u suradnji s liječnikom Van Swietenom, odlučuje pobliţe informirati o situaciji u Hrvatskoj. God. 1758. donosi zakon prema kojem je zabranjeno voditi procese u našoj zemlji, već se svi dokazni materijali, kao i optuţenice, moraju što prije transportirati u Beč, gdje će Dvorsko vijeće presuditi o njihovom slučaju. Kada je zakon stupio na snagu, procesi polako prestaju te histerija oko vještica pada u drugi plan. Marija Terezija svojom odlukom nije načelno prekinula mogućnost istrage protiv navodnih vještica, ali u tom trenutku inkvizicija na području Hrvatske formalno prestaje i ne postoje sačuvani zapisi o daljnjim istragama.We can officially track the Inquisition in our territories ever since the first recorded trial that was held in 1360 when the case against Alica and Margareta was started. At the time, witch hunting was still at the very beginnings, so the methods of inquiry and the punishments for the accused varied greatly from what would later follow towards the end of the 17th century. To purify/atone for any manner of sin it was sufficient to find a certain number of witnesses who would vouch for the innocence of the accused. The year 1668 is remembered as a turning point in the matter of court procedures. New methods of interrogation were introduced, torture became an inseparable part of every trial, and the number of cases rapidly grew. The devices which were used for torture lead to an even greater number of confessions and new accusations, so the whole process turned into a vicious circle with an endless source of new trials. The verdicts were mostly unfavourable towards the accused, and the most frequent punishment was death by fire or hanging. Quite often there was abuse of power and position from the judges and city senators, so the information about the continuously growing number of women ending up in dungeons reached the queen Mary Theresa. That was when the queen, in alliance with doctor Van Swieten, decided to look more closely into the situation in Croatia. In 1758 she proclaimed a law by which it was forbidden to have any kind of trial in our country, and that all the evidence, as well as the accused themselves, should be transported to Vienna as soon as possible, and there the Court Council will judge their cases. When the law was passed, the trials slowly began to cease and the witch hysteria faded away. Mary Therese did not abolish the possibility of investigating the alleged witches with her decision, however, in that very moment the Inquisition on the Croatian territory is formally ended and there are no records to be found of any further investigations