In the 1670s in Moravia, an altar boy observes an old woman hiding the bread given out during communion. He alerts the priest, who confronts the old woman. She admits that she took the bread with the intent to give it to a cow to re-enable its milk production. The priest reports the incident to the owner of the local estate who, in turn, calls in an inquisitor, a judge specializing in witchcraft trials. Jindřich František Boblig of Edelstadt, the inquisitor, commences an ever-escalating series of trials, with Boblig revering the book ''Malleus Maleficarum'' as his guide. The tribunal uses Thumbscrew (torture) in its interrogations, relying on its conventional use to justify it against torture accusations. However, a priest, Kryštof Lautner, criticizes Boblig for inhumane methods, and another clergy member senses many of the accused women Death by burning are in fact innocent, and openly prays for the trials to stop.
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