Laurence M Janifer's "Wizard" (short story, telepathy, free)

During the dark days of Christian Inquisition in medieval Europe, a small group of telepaths is doing what it can to reduce the misery of the harassed populace.

Year is 1605. Speyer is a small town of scared & miserable people. Jonas, a telapath from this activist group, will contrive himself to be arrested as a wizard & tried in Speyer. But the Inquisitor, Herr Georg Knupf, himself is a potential telepath - though he doesn't know it. Jonas will make Knupf realize his hidden potential. A fundamentally honest telepathic Inquisitor, of course, doesn't convict people for being wizards & witches, since he can read their mind!

Told in a very entertaining way, sometimes bringing a smile.

Fact sheet.

First published: Astounding Science Fiction, May 1960.
Rating: A
Download full text from Project Gutenberg, Manybooks.
Listed among the stories from John Campbell's Astounding/Analog.
Related: All stories from Analog/Astounding; Harry Bates' Astounding.