The judge's file: Courtin's "Mémoire sommaire" on "pretended magic practices" (Cap-Français, 1758)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1758 · Places: Ayiti, Africa
SUMMARYThe judge's file: Courtin's "Mémoire sommaire" on "pretended magic practices" (Cap-Français, 1758) [Connections: Ayiti spirit, first-person, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDSébastien Jacques Courtin, acting sénéchal (chief judge) in the Makandal prosecution, wrote the Mémoire sommaire sur les prétendues pratiques magiques et empoisonnements; archive ANOM F/3/88. The Northeastern ECDA page describes it as a first-hand reflection on fetish-making that uses his knowledge to argue for suppression, presenting the practices as moving "from superstition to crime." Pierre Pluchon published a transcription in Vaudou, sorciers, empoisonneurs (1987). HOSTILE witness: the prosecuting judge
PATTERNThe earliest detailed colonial record of African spiritual practice in Ayiti is a criminal brief
LENS (WW9)The first "magic" file was written by the man who burned the priest
OPENWikipedia cites Courtin (p. 88) for Makandal reciting the Muslim Shahada under interrogation; verify in the ANOM scan or Pluchon