Darkside of Religion
The Religion archive Explore Darkside ↗

01 / An archive opened after dark

Faith. Power.
What lies between.

Sacred promises. Earthly ambitions. Explore the darker histories of religious power—from inquisitions and fractured movements to institutional secrecy, apocalyptic visions, and the people caught within them.

02 / The daily darkside

One story brought to light.
A seventeenth-century clerk writes in a large ledger as an anonymous woman’s silhouette fades between a courthouse and a distant execution fire; a locked volume sits out of reach.

Daily selection · Sep 10 UTC

Witch trials and the recordVerified story

Karen Roeds in a Modern Account of Ribe’s 1620 Witch Trials

Karen Roeds · Ribe witch trials

The Lex account’s Ribe table lists Karen Roeds as executed by burning in 1620. The available sources place that entry in a wider history of accusations, confessions and torture, but do not establish what happened in her individual case or whether she personally underwent torture.

Unverified

03 / The religion archive

The record
remains.

Institutions. Convictions. Consequences.
Follow the record. Read the sources.

From the collection15 stories

15 stories in this selection.

01

Institutional accountability1977–1989

The Church That Destroyed the Record

Synanon Church · Charles Dederich

Synanon went to court to recover its tax exemption. The case ended before a judge could decide the full claim—because the organization had destroyed the evidence needed to test it.

Unverified ↗
02

Coercive organizations2015–2020

The Price of Moving Up

NXIVM · Keith Raniere

NXIVM promised that discipline and disclosure could remove the barriers holding people back. Inside its secret highest ranks, those same ideas became tools Keith Raniere used to obtain obedience.

Unverified ↗
03

Institutional accountability1999–2020

The Warning That Arrived Before the Promotion

Theodore McCarrick · Holy See

Catholic officials did not discover concerns about Theodore McCarrick only after his rise. The Holy See's own report shows how warnings reached Rome, lost force as they passed through the hierarchy, and failed to stop his appointment to Washington.

Unverified ↗
04

Religious persecution1492

Four Months to Leave

Alhambra Decree · Jewish communities of Castile and Aragon

In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella turned religious uniformity into a deadline. Jewish families could abandon their faith, liquidate their lives and depart—or become criminals by remaining.

Unverified ↗
05

Institutional accountability2010–2018

Francis Admitted Serious Errors in Chile, Then Removed Karadima

Pope Francis · Fernando Karadima · Juan Barros

In 2018, Pope Francis acknowledged serious errors in his assessment of the situation in Chile. The Holy See documented a report from special envoys, announced meetings with five priests identified as victims, and recorded Karadima’s immediate removal from the clerical state.

Unverified ↗
06

Institutional accountability1941–2019

Legionaries Reported 175 Minors Abused, but Independent Corroboration Remains Unclear

Legionaries of Christ · Marcial Maciel

ABC News reported that a Legionaries of Christ report attributed abuse of 175 minors to 33 priests between 1941 and 2019, including at least 60 minors attributed to founder Marcial Maciel. The captured record preserves the figures and the criticism surrounding them, but not the underlying report or independent confirmation of its totals.

Unverified ↗
Showing 1–6 of 15

History deserves a careful reading. Follow the sources and distinguish documented accounts, allegations, and folklore. Artwork throughout this archive is interpretive concept art rather than documentary imagery.

04 / For readers & creators

Keep the record
in circulation.

Bring a new chapter to your website.
Build with the archive behind it.

01 / THE EMBEDEmbed the daily editorial.

Add the existing Religion daily widget to your website. Its artwork and story follow the daily selection.

Widget instructions ↗
02 / THE APIExplore the archive API.

Find stories by keyword, figure or institution, category, myth status, and wildness. Start with a simple request.

Read the API guide ↗

In the guide, choose the REST API tab for endpoints and filters.

From the Religion archive

Follow the sources

    Status and citations are supplied by the archive. AI concept art is an interpretation, not historical evidence.