Madonna Oriente or Signora Oriente (Lady of the East), also known as La Signora del Gioco (The Lady of the Game), are names of an alleged religious figure, as described by two Italian women who were executed by the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

in 1390 as

witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

. The story which they are reported to have told is an elaborate and fantastical tale of occult religious rituals practised at the houses of wealthy individuals in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy, where a woman known as the Madonna Oriente, possibly regarded as a

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

by her followers, performed magical acts such as the resurrection of slaughtered animals. The two women, Sibilla Zanni and Pierina de' Bugatis, were brought before the Inquisition first in 1384, and with their story apparently dismissed as fantasy, were sentenced only to minor penance. When they were investigated again in 1390, however, they were charged with consorting with the Devil, condemned, and executed. While there is no evidence that the organized group described by the women actually existed, their testimonies are remarkably similar to those of several other groups in Italy and greater Europe, such as the followers of Richella and "the wise Sibillia" in 15th century Northern Italy, the

Benandanti The () were members of an agrarian visionary tradition in the Friuli district of Northeastern Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries. The claimed to travel out of their bodies while asleep to struggle against malevolent sorcerers (; ) in order ...

of 16th and 17th century Northern Italy, the '' Armiers'' of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, the

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n Căluşari, Livonian werewolves,

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

n '' kresnici'', Hungarian ''

táltos The táltos (; also "tátos") is a figure in Hungarian mythology, a person with supernatural power similar to a shaman. Description The most reliable account of the táltos is given by Roman Catholic priest Arnold Ipolyi in his collection of fol ...

'' and Caucasian '' burkudzauta''. These widespread repeated themes have been identified by historian Carlo Ginzburg as part of an ancient

mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

complex probably originating from central

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

. The mythology of these groups has become a popular subject among adherents of modern witchcraft and

Neopaganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the Paganism, beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some comm ...

. Ginzburg concluded that the name Madonna Oriente derives from the Latin ''Domina Oriens'', a term for the Moon as a goddess.

References

*Richard Kieckheffer, ''Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century (Magic in History)'', page 155. Pennsylvania State University Press, February 1, 1998. * Carlo Ginzburg, Raymond Rosenthal (translator), ''Ecstasies : Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath''. University Of Chicago Press, June 14, 2004. *

Jan Peter Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Nu ...

and Yury Winterberg, ''Hexen - Magie, Mythen und die Wahrheit'' (Witches - Magic, Myths and the Truth). A documentary movie. - in German, DVD was issued on 6 April 2004 * Luisa Muraro, ''La signora del Gioco'', Feltrinelli, Milano, 1976 - in Italian *Mario Graziano Parri, ''La signora del gioco'', F. Cesati, 1984. , in Italian *Massimo Centini, ''Le schiave di Diana: Stregoneria e sciamanismo tra superstizione e demonizzazione (Nuova atlantide)''. ECIG, 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oriente, Madonna History of Milan 1390 deaths Year of birth unknown Italian people executed for witchcraft Witchcraft in Italy

See also

References