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Margherita Degaudenzi was lynched in a mountain village in Piedmont after locals accused her of witchcraft. Historians today consider her case an example of violence against women and social exclusion.
On January 22, 1828, in the Valsesia mountains in Italy, what many scholars consider “the last witch of Europe” was murdered. Margherita Degaudenzi, known to the locals as “Stria Gatina,” was lynched in the village of Cervarolo in the province of Vercelli, after being accused of causing the death of one fellow villager and the serious illness of another.
According to contemporary accounts, Margherita was an elderly, widowed woman with a strong character, which made her the object of suspicion and prejudice in the community she lived in. The residents believed that she possessed supernatural powers and was responsible for the disasters that befell the area.
Historian Giovanna Potenza, author of the book “Malefiche. Storia della caccia alle streghe in Italia,” argues that the real reason for her persecution had nothing to do with witchcraft. According to her, women accused of being witches were often widows, folk healers, or women who lived outside the norms of the time and were considered a threat to the social order.
Unlike many well-known witch-hunts in Europe, Margherita was not convicted after a trial. She became the victim of a later, less visible form of persecution, where fear, prejudice, and rumors continued to fuel violence against marginalized people.
A widow and originally from Ferrara, Margherita had moved to Cervarolo with her daughter. She made a living from her humble farming job, but her reputation as a "witch" had followed her to her new home. The locals believed that her predictions came true, and this was enough to fuel suspicions.
The incident that led to her murder began after a conflict over ownership of a walnut tree, which was an important source of food and income for Margherita. During an argument with two neighbors, she warned them not to cut down the tree. A few months later, one of them died suddenly, while the other became seriously ill.
For the residents, this was proof that Margherita had cast a curse.
Two men entered her home and beat her to death with sticks in front of her daughter. Later, investigations revealed that several representatives of the local administration, including the deputy mayor of the municipality at the time, had instigated her punishment.
Although the perpetrators of the murder were sentenced to seven and ten years in prison, they did not serve a single day of their sentence. After fleeing the village, they benefited from the amnesty declared on the occasion of the accession to the throne of King Carlo Alberto of Savoy in 1831 and returned as free men.
Today, scholars see the case of Margherita Degaudenzi as an example of violence against women and of the mechanisms by which societies isolate and blame those considered different. In Varallo, a memorial plaque still commemorates “Stria Gatina”, the woman who fell victim to the fear and prejudice of her time. / Corriere Della Sera
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