- Pierre de Rostegny
Pierre de Rostegny, Lord of De Lancre, aka De Lancre (1553 - 1631) was a French
jurist .In 1582 he was named judge in
Bordeaux , and in 1608 KingHenry IV of France commanded him to put an end to the practice ofwitchcraft inLabourd , in the French part of the Basque Country, where in three years heburnt at the stake about six hundred persons.He wrote three books on witchcraft, analysing the Sabbath,
lycanthropy , and sexual relationships during the Sabbath. According to his opinion,Satan had little sexual intercourse with single women, because he preferred married women for that implied alsoadultery , and theincest between mothers and sons at the end of the Sabbath was essential to give birth to demonic children, as well as a sexual act between awitch and a he-goat (believed to be Satan present at the reunion). He also thought that Satan was pleased with a clean body but not a clean (or pure) soul, inducing people to wash their body and embellish themselves with ornaments.
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