1347, in Mende (Gévaudan, France), begins the trial of Étienne Pépin, a defrocked Franciscan friar. He is accused of having bewitched Albert Lordet, bishop of Mende, at the request of Guérin de Châteauneuf, a local lord. It is not only a trial for magic, but also a political trial, related to the conflict opposing local barons to the bishops of Mende, and involving the powerful allies of Guérin, nephew of Pope Clement VI.