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Malleus Maleficarum
Title page of the seventh Cologne edition of the Malleus Maleficarum, 1520 (from the University of Sydney Library). The Latin title is "MALLEUS MALEFICARUM, Maleficas, & earum hæresim, ut phramea potentissima conterens." (Generally translated into English as The Hammer of Witches which destroyeth Witches and their heresy as with a two-edged sword).
Author(s)	Heinrich Kramer and, credited but under modern academic dispute, Jacob Sprenger
Date	1486
Date of issue	1487

The Malleus Maleficarum (commonly rendered into English as "Hammer of Witches"; Der Hexenhammer in German) is a treatise on the prosecution of witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, a German Catholic clergyman. The book was first published in Speyer, Germany, in 1487. Jacob Sprenger's name was added as an author beginning in 1519, 33 years after the book's first publication and likewise decades after Sprenger's death; but the veracity of this late addition has been questioned by many historians partly due to the suspicious circumstances of adding him long after his own death partly because a close friend of Sprenger said that the posthumous attribution was false, and partly because Sprenger's known views were in many cases the opposite of the views in the Malleus and Sprenger was likewise a bitter and public opponent of Kramer. In 1490, three years after its publication, the clergy at the University of Cologne condemned the book, although Kramer would falsely claim that several of them had approved it, which they denied. It was later used by royal courts during the Renaissance, and contributed to the increasingly brutal prosecution of witchcraft during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Kramer wrote the Malleus following his expulsion from Innsbruck by the local bishop, due to charges of illegal behavior against Kramer himself, and because of Kramer's obsession with the sexual habits of one of the accused, Helena Scheuberin, which led the other tribunal members to suspend the trial.

Background

Magic, sorcery, and witchcraft had long been condemned by the Church, whose attitude towards witchcraft was explained in the canon Episcopi written in about 900 AD. It stated that witchcraft and magic did not really exist, and that those who believed in such things "had been seduced by the Devil in dreams and visions into old pagan errors". Until about 1400 it was rare for anyone to be accused of witchcraft, but heresies had become a major problem within the Church by the 13th century, and by the 15th century belief in witches was widely accepted in European society. Those convicted of witchcraft typically suffered penalties no more harsh than public penances such as a day in the stocks, but their persecution became more brutal following the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, as witchcraft became increasingly accepted as a real and dangerous phenomenon.

In 1484 Heinrich Kramer had made one of the first attempts at prosecuting alleged witches in the Tyrol region. It was not a success: he was expelled from the city of Innsbruck and dismissed by the local bishop as "senile and crazy". Kramer was opposed by the local clergy partly because of his eccentric behavior (as the Bishop of Innsbruck's verdict indicates), and because he didn't hold any official position as an Inquisitor at the time despite his efforts to make himself into one. According to Diarmaid MacCulloch, writing the book was Kramer's act of self-justification and revenge. Ankarloo and Clark claim that Kramer's purpose in writing the book was to explain his own views on witchcraft, systematically refute arguments claiming that witchcraft does not exist, discredit those who expressed skepticism about its reality, claim that those who practised witchcraft were more often women than men, and to convince magistrates to use Kramer's recommended procedures for finding and convicting witches.

Some scholars have suggested that following the failed efforts in Tyrol, Kramer and Jacob Sprenger (also known as Jacob or Jakob Sprenger) requested explicit authority from Pope to prosecute witchcraft. Kramer received a papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus in 1484. It allegedly gave full papal approval for the Inquisition to prosecute what was deemed to be witchcraft in general and also gave individual authorizations to Kramer and Sprenger specifically. Other scholars have disputed the idea that Sprenger was working with Kramer, arguing that the evidence shows that Sprenger was actually a persistent opponent of Kramer, even going so far as to ban him from Dominican convents within Sprenger's jurisdiction while also banning him from preaching.

Within two years after the issuance of the papal bull, Malleus Maleficarum – the most popular manual on witchcraft and its prosecution – was finished and the papal bull was included as part of its preface (1486). There were 13 editions of the manual until 1520 and during later years 1574-1669 it was published 16 times in catholic and protestant countries.

Publication

First edition of the Malleus Maleficarum was published by Kramer (Latinised as "Institoris") and Sprenger in 1487. Scholars have debated how much Sprenger contributed to the work. Some say his role was minor, and that the book was written almost entirely by Kramer, who used the name of Sprenger for its prestige only, while others say there is little evidence for this claim.

The preface also includes an unanimous approbation from the University of Cologne's Faculty of Theology. The authenticity of the Cologne endorsement was first questioned by Joseph Hansen but has not been universally questioned; Christopher S. Mackay rejects Hansen's theory as a misunderstanding. Nevertheless, it is well established by sources outside the "Malleus" that the university's theology faculty condemned the book for unethical procedures and for contradicting Catholic theology on a number of important points. Any apparent approval from the Cologne theologians was an advertising scam by Kramer, The Malleus Maleficarum drew on earlier sources such as Johannes Nider's treatise Formicarius, written 1435/37.

The book became the handbook for secular courts throughout Renaissance Europe, but was not used by the Inquisition, which "denied any authority to the Malleus" in the words of historian Wolfgang Behringer. Between 1487 and 1520 the work was published thirteen times. It was again published between 1574 and 1669 a total of sixteen times. Regardless of the authenticity of the endorsements appearing at the beginning of the book, their presence contributed to the popularity of the work.

Summary of contents

Malleus Maleficarum consists of the following parts:

1. Justification (introduction)
2. Papal bull
3. Approbation by professors of theology at University of Cologne
4. Table of contents
5. Main text in three sections

Justification

In this part it is briefly explained that prevalent sorcery which is a method of Satan's final assault is the motivation for writing Malleus Maleficarum:

he attacks through these heresies at that time in particular, when the evening of the world declines towards its setting and the evil of men swells up, since he knows in great anger, as John bears witness in the Book of Apocalypse , that he has little time remaining. Hence, he has also caused a certain unusual heretical perversity to grow up in the land of the Lord – a Heresy, I say, of Sorceresses, since it is to be designated by the particular gender over which he is known to have power. In the midst of these evils, we Inquisitors, Jacobus Sprenger together with the very dear associate delegated by the Apostolic See for the extermination of so destructive a heresy we will bring everything to the desired conclusion. naming the treatise the “Hammer for Sorceresses,” we are undertaking the task of compiling the work for an associate

Papal bull

Copies of Malleus Maleficarum contain a reproduction of papal bull known as summis desiderantes affectibus. According to it, Pope Innocent VIII acknowledges that sorceresses are real and harmful through their involvement in the acts of Satan. As Mackay writes "It is then noted that Institoris’s and Sprenger’s efforts to stamp these activities out had met with opposition in the form of technical objections relating to the specific offenses that were covered by their appointment as inquisitors, which the pope then overrides by reiterating and amplifying the terms of the inquisitors’ appointment."

According to the date on a document, the papal bull had been issued two years before Malleus Maleficarum was finished. Therefore, it is not an endorsement of a particular contents of the Malleus. Instead, it is meant to confirm the reality of witchcraft and give full authority to Sprenger and Institoris in their preachings and proceedings :

And they shall also have full and entire liberty to propound and preach to the faithful word of God, as often as it shall seem to them fitting and proper, in each and all of the parosh churches in the said provinces, and to do all things necessary and suitable under the aforesaid circumstances, and likewise freely and fully to carry them out.

— Summis desiderantes affectibus

Main text

The Malleus Maleficarum asserts that three elements are necessary for witchcraft: the evil intentions of the witch, the help of the Devil, and the Permission of God. The treatise is divided into three sections. The first section is aimed at clergy and tries to refute critics who deny the reality of witchcraft, thereby hindering its prosecution. The second lays the foundation for the next section by describing the actual forms of witchcraft and its remedies. The third section is to assist judges confronting and combating witchcraft, and to aid the inquisitors by removing the burden from them. However, each of these three sections has the prevailing themes of what is witchcraft and who is a witch. The Malleus Maleficarum relies heavily upon earlier works such as Visconti and, most famously, Johannes Nider's Formicarius (1435). It also draws heavily from the works of Augustine and Aquinas.

Section I

Section I examines the concept of witchcraft theoretically, from the point of view of natural philosophy and theology. Specifically it addresses the question of whether witchcraft is a real phenomenon or imaginary, perhaps "deluding phantasms of the devil, or simply the fantasies of overwrought human minds". The conclusion drawn is that witchcraft must be real because the Devil is real. Witches entered into a pact with Satan to allow them the power to perform harmful magical acts, thus establishing an essential link between witches and the Devil.

Section II

Matters of practice and actual cases are discussed, and the powers of witches and their recruitment strategies. It states that it is mostly witches, as opposed to the Devil, who do the recruiting, by making something go wrong in the life of a respectable matron that makes her consult the knowledge of a witch, or by introducing young maidens to tempting young devils. It details how witches cast spells, and remedies that can be taken to prevent witchcraft, or help those who have been affected by it.

Section III

Section III is the legal part of the Malleus Maleficarum that describes how to prosecute a witch. The arguments are clearly laid for the lay magistrates prosecuting witches. The section offers a step-by-step guide to the conduct of a witch trial, from the method of initiating the process and assembling accusations, to the interrogation (including torture) of witnesses, and the formal charging of the accused. Women who did not cry during their trial were automatically believed to be witches.

Theological foundations and major themes

Malleus Maleficarum was intended to implement Exodus 22:18: "You shall not permit a sorceress to live." and explicitly argues that Canon Episcopi does not apply to the new, formerly unknown heresy of "modern witchcraft". The ancient subjects of astronomy, philosophy, and medicine were being reintroduced to the West at this time, as well as a plethora of ancient texts being rediscovered and studied. The Malleus Maleficarum often makes reference to the Bible and Aristotelian thought, and it is heavily influenced by the philosophical tenets of Neoplatonism. It also mentions astrology and astronomy, which had recently been reintroduced to the West by the ancient works of Pythagoras. The Malleus is also heavily influenced by the subjects of divination, astrology, and healing rituals the Church inherited from antiquity.

Torture and confessions

Malleus recommended not only torture but also deception in order to obtain confessions: "And when the implements of torture have been prepared, the judge, both in person and through other good men zealous in the faith, tries to persuade the prisoner to confess the truth freely; but, if he will not confess, he bid attendants make the prisoner fast to the strappado or some other implement of torture. The attendants obey forthwith, yet with feigned agitation. Then, at the prayer of some of those present, the prisoner is loosed again and is taken aside and once more persuaded to confess, being led to believe that he will in that case not be put to death."

All confessions acquired with the use of tortures had to be confirmed: "And note that, if he confesses under the torture, he must afterward be conducted to another place, that he may confirm it and certify that it was not due alone to the force of the torture."

However, if there was no confirmation tortures could not be repeated but it was allowed to continue them at the specified day: "But, if the prisoner will not confess the truth satisfactorily, other sorts of tortures must be placed before him, with the statement that unless he will confess the truth, he must endure these also. But, if not even thus he can be brought into terror and to the truth, then the next day or the next but one is to be set for a continuation of the tortures - not a repetition, for it must not be repeated unless new evidences produced. The judge must then address to the prisoners the following sentence: We, the judge, etc., do assign to you, such and such a day for the continuation of the tortures, that from your own mouth the truth may be heard, and that the whole may be recorded by the notary."

Victims

The treatise describes how women and men become inclined to practice witchcraft. The text argues that women are more susceptible to demonic temptations through the manifold weaknesses of their gender. It was believed that they were weaker in faith and more carnal than men. Michael Bailey claims that most of the women accused as witches had strong personalities and were known to defy convention by overstepping the lines of proper female decorum. After the publication of the Malleus, it seems as though about three quarters of those individuals prosecuted as witches were women.

Witches were usually female. The reasons for this is the suggestion that women are "prone to believing and because the demon basically seeks to corrupt the faith, he assails them in particular." They also have a "temperament towards flux" and "loose tongues". They "are defective in all the powers of both soul and body" and are stated to be more lustful than men. The major reason is that at the foundation of sorcery is denial of faith and "woman, therefore, is evil as a result of nature because she doubts more quickly in the faith." Men could be witches, but were considered rarer, and the reasons were also different. The most common form of male witch mentioned in the book is the sorcerer-archer. The book is rather unclear, but the impetus behind male witches seems to come more from desire for power than from disbelief or lust, as it claims is the case for female witches.

Indeed, the very title of the Malleus Maleficarum is feminine, alluding to the idea that it was women who were the villains. Otherwise, it would be the Malleus Maleficorum (the masculine form of the Latin noun maleficus or malefica, 'witch'). In Latin, the feminine "Maleficarum" would only be used for women, while the masculine "Maleficorum" could be used for men alone or for both sexes if together. The Malleus Maleficarum accuses male and female witches of infanticide, cannibalism and casting evil spells to harm their enemies as well as having the power to steal a man's penis. It goes on to give accounts of witches committing these crimes.

Arguments favoring discrimination against women are explicit in the handbook. Those arguments are not novel but constitute a selection from the long tradition of Western misogynist writings. However, according to Brauner, they are combined to produce new meanings and result in a comprehensive theory. It mixes elements borrowed from Formicarius (1435), Preceptorium divinae legis (1475) and Lectiones super ecclesiastes (1380).

Although authors give many examples of male witchery in second part of the handbook, those witchcraft trials that are independently confirmed and that were led by Kramer himself are related to persecution of women exclusively. They took place in Ravensburg near Constance (1484) and Innsbruck (since 1485). According to Brauner, trial records confirm that Kramer believed that women are by nature corrupt and evil. His position was in harmony with the scholastic theory at the time. In contrast, Sprenger never conducted a witch trial though he was consulted in a few cases.

Demons

Demons are the ones who tempt humans to sorcery and are the main figures in the witches' vows. They interact with witches, usually sexually. The book claims that it is normal for all witches "to perform filthy carnal acts with demons." This is a major part of human-demon interaction and demons do it "not for the sake of pleasure, but for the sake of corrupting." It is worth noting that not all demons do such things. The book claims that "the nobility of their nature causes certain demons to balk at committing certain actions and filthy deeds." Though the work never gives a list of names or types of demons, like some demonological texts or spellbooks of the era, such as the Liber Juratus, it does indicate different types of demons. For example, it devotes large sections to incubi and succubi and questions regarding their roles in pregnancies, the submission of witches to incubi, and protections against them.

Elaborated concept of witchcraft

Malleus Maleficarum has a very specific conception of what a witch is, one that differs dramatically from earlier times. The word used, Malefica, carries the implicit condemnation that other words also referring to women with supernatural powers, lacked. The conception of witches and of magic by extension is one of evil. It differs from earlier conceptions of witchcraft that were much more generalized. This is the point in history where "witchcraft constituted an independent antireligion". The witch lost her powerful position vis-a-vis the deities; the ability to force the deities comply with her wishes was replaced by a total subordination to the devil. In short, the witch became Satan's puppet." This conception of witches was "part of a conception of magic that is termed by scholars as 'Satanism' or 'diabolism'". In this conception, a witch was a member of "a malevolent society presided over by Satan himself and dedicated to the infliction of malevolent acts of sorcery (malefica) on others."

According to Mackay, this concept of sorcery is characterized by the conviction that those guilty engage in six activities:

1. A pact entered into with the Devil (and concomitant apostasy from Christianity),
2. Sexual relations with the Devil,
3. Aerial flight for the purpose of attending;
4. An assembly presided over by Satan himself (at which initiates entered into the pact, and incest and promiscuous sex were engaged in by the attendees),
5. The practice of maleficent magic,
6. The slaughter of babies.

Popularity and influence

Gender-specific theory developed in Malleus Maleficarum laid the foundations for widespread consensus in early modern Germany on the evil nature of women as witches. Later works on witchcraft have not agreed entirely with Malleus but none of them challenged the view that women were more inclined to be witches than men. It was perceived as intuitive and all-accepted so that very few authors saw the need to explain why women are witches. Those who did, attributed female witchery to the weakness of body and mind (old medieval explanation) and a few to female sexuality.

Some authors argue that the book's publication was not as influential as earlier authors believed. According to MacCulloch, the Malleus Maleficarum was one of several key factors contributing to the witch craze, along with popular superstition, and tensions created by the Reformation.

Factors stimulating widespread use

Between 1487 and 1520, twenty editions of the Malleus Maleficarum were published, and another sixteen between 1574 and 1669. The Malleus Maleficarum was able to spread throughout Europe rapidly in the late 15th and at the beginning of the 16th century due to the innovation of the printing press in the middle of the 15th century by Johannes Gutenberg. The invention of printing some thirty years before the first publication of the Malleus Maleficarum instigated the fervor of witch hunting, and, in the words of Russell, "the swift propagation of the witch hysteria by the press was the first evidence that Gutenberg had not liberated man from original sin."

The late 15th century was also a period of religious turmoil. The Malleus Maleficarum and the witch craze that ensued took advantage of the increasing intolerance of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Europe, where the Protestant and Catholic camps, pitted against one another, each zealously strove to maintain what they each deemed to be the purity of faith.

Translations

The Latin book was firstly translated by de [J. W. R. Schmidt] into German in 1906; an expanded edition of three volumes was published in 1923. Montague Summers was responsible for the first English translation in 1928.

• Henricus Institoris and Jacobus Sprenger, Malleus maleficarum, ed. and trans. by Christopher S. Mackay, 2 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) (edition in vol. 1 and translation in vol. 2)
• The Hammer of Witches: A Complete Translation of the Malleus maleficarum, trans. by Christopher S. Mackay (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
• The Malleus Maleficarum, ed. and trans. by P.G. Maxwell-Stuart (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007) (translation only)

Some translations ignore the most brutal third section and may be misleading to the reader. For instance, sections one and three have never been translated into polish.

See also

• Friedrich Spee
• Witch-hunts
• Witch trials in the early modern period
• Witchcraft
• Rack (torture)
• European witchcraft
• Pope Innocent VIII
• Witchcraft and divination in the Bible
• Christian views on magic
• Torture of witches
• Discoverie of Witchcraft

References

Notes

1. "In its own day it was never accorded the unquestioned authority that modern scholars have sometimes given it. Theologians and jurists respected it as one among many informative books; its particular savage misogyny and its obsession with impotence were never fully accepted", Monter, The Sociology of Jura Witchcraft, in The Witchcraft Reader, p. 116 (2002)

Citations

1. The English translation is from this note to Summers' 1928 introduction.
2. Translator Montague Summers consistently uses "the Malleus Maleficarum" (or simply "the Malleus") in his 1928 and 1948 introductions. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-07-18. Retrieved 2016-02-05. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2007-06-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. In his translation of the Malleus Maleficarum, Christopher S. Mackay explains the terminology at length – sorcerer is used to preserve the relationship of the Latin terminology. '"Malefium" = act of sorcery (literally an act of 'evil-doing'), while "malefica" = female performers of sorcery (evil deeds) and "maleficus" = male performer of evil deeds; sorcery, sorceress, and sorcerer."
4. Ruickbie (2004), 71, highlights the problems of dating; Ankarloo (2002), 239
5. Behringer, Wolfgang. "Malleus Maleficarum", p. 2.
6. Behringer, Wolfgang. "Malleus Maleficarum", p. 3.
7. Klose, Hans-Christian. “Die angebliche Mitarbeit des Dominikaners Jakob Sprenger am Hexenhammer, nach einem alten Abdinghofer Brief.” pp. 197–205 in Paderbornensis Ecclesia. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Erzbistums Paderborn. Festschrift für Lorenz Kardinal Jäger zum 80. Geburtstag. Edited by Paul-Werner Scheele.
8. Behringer, Wolfgang. "Malleus Maleficarum", p. 3.
9. "The latter was at least partly a forgery, because two of its supposed authors (Thomas de Scotia and Johann von Wörde) later denied any participation." - Behringer, Wolfgang. "Malleus Maleficarum" p. 3.
10. Jolly, Raudvere, & Peters(eds.), "Witchcraft and magic in Europe: the Middle Ages", page 241 (2002)
11. Burns, William. "Witch Hunts in Europe and America: An Encyclopedia", pp. 143-144.
12. Pavlac (2009), p. 29.
13. Pavlac (2009), p. 31.
14. ^ MacCulloch, Diarmaid (2004). Reformation: Europes House Divided. Vintage Books, 2006. pp. 563–68. ISBN 0-14-028534-2.
15. Trevor-Roper (1969), pp. 102–105.
16. Behringer, Wolfgang. "Malleus Maleficarum", p. 2.
17. Ankarloo & Clark (2002), p. 240.
18. ^ Russell, 229
19. In the words of Wolfgang Behringer: "Sprenger had tried to suppress Kramer’s activities in every possible way. He forbade the convents of his province to host him, he forbade Kramer to preach, and even tried to interfere directly in the affairs of Kramer’s Séléstat convent... The same day Sprenger became successor to Jacob Strubach as provincial superior (October 19, 1487), he obtained permission from his general, Joaquino Turriani, to lash out adversus m Henricum Institoris inquisitorem (against Master Heinrich Kramer, inquisitor)." - Behringer, Wolfgang. "Malleus Maleficarum" pp 2 - 3.
20. Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. vi, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1994, s. 514-527
21. ^ Template:PDF: Defining Witchcraft. Elizabeth Mack.
22. Russell (1972), 230
23. Mackay (2006), p. 103.
24. Mackay (2006), p. 128.
25. "So successful was this stroke of advertising strategy that the authors hardly even needed the approval of the Cologne University theologians, but just for good measure Institoris forged a document granting their apparently unanimous approbation.", Joyy et al., 'Witchcraft and Magic In Europe', p. 115 (2002)
26. Bailey (2003), p. 30.
27. Behringer, Wolfgang. "Malleus Maleficarum", p. 7.
28. 'In 1538 the Spanish Inquisition cautioned its members not to believe everything the Malleus said, even when it presented apparently firm evidence.', Jolly, Raudvere, & Peters(eds.), 'Witchcraft and magic in Europe: the Middle Ages', page 241 (2002)
29. ^ Mackay (2009), p. 12.
30. ^ Mackay (2009), p. 8.
31. Mackay (2009), p. 69: excerpts from translation
32. Mackay (2009), p. 8': "the general harm that sorceresses are inflicting in Germany is first described at some length, and the connection of these activities with Satan is emphasized."
33. Mackay (2009), p. 10.
34. ^ Halsall (1996), Innocent VIII: BULL Summis desiderantes, Dec. 5th, 1484.
35. Russell, 232
36. Russell, 279
37. Broedel (2003), p. 20.
38. ^ Broedel (2003), p. 22.
39. ^ Broedel, 30
40. Mackay (2006), p. 214.
41. Broedel (2003), p. 34.
42. Mackay (2006), p. 502.
43. Britannica: "The Malleus codified the folklore and beliefs of the Alpine peasants and was dedicated to the implementation of Exodus 22:18: “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.”"
44. Kieckhefer (2000), p. 145.
45. Kieckhefer (2000), p. 146.
46. Ankarloo & Clark (2002), p. 77.
47. ^ Halsall (1996), Extracts from THE HAMMER OF WITCHES , 1486.
48. Bailey (2003), p. 49.
49. Bailey (2003), p. 51.
50. Russell, 145
51. ^ Mackay (2009), p. 164.
52. Mackay (2009), p. 166.
53. Maxwell-Stewart (2001), p. 30.
54. Brauner (2001), p. 38.
55. Brauner (2001), p. 45.
56. Brauner (2001), p. 47.
57. Brauner (2001), p. 44.
58. Mackay (2009), p. 125.
59. Mackay (2009), p. 283.
60. Mackay (2009), p. 309.
61. Ben-Yehuda (1980), p. 3. sfnp error: no target: CITEREFBen-Yehuda1980 (help)
62. ^ Mackay (2009), p. 19.
63. Brauner (2001), p. 49.
64. ^ Brauner (2001), p. 48.
65. "The effect that the book had on witch-hunting is difficult to determine. It did not open the door 'to almost indiscriminate prosecutions' or even bring about an immediate increase in the number of trials. In fact its publication in Italy was followed by a noticeable reduction in witchcraft cases", Levack, The Witch-Hunt In Early Modern Europe, p. 55 (2nd edition 1995)
66. "Nor was the Malleus immediately regarded as a definitive work. Its appearance triggered no prosecutions in areas where there had been none earlier, and in some cases its claims encountered substantial skepticism (for Italy, Paton 1992:264–306). In 1538 the Spanish Inquisition cautioned its members not to believe everything the Malleus said, even when it presented apparently firm evidence", Joyy et al., Witchcraft and Magic In Europe, p. 241 (2002)
67. Russell, 79
68. Russell, 234
69. Henningsen (1980), p. 15.

Bibliography

• "Malleus maleficarum". Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Halsall, Paul, ed. (1996). "Witchcraft Documents [15th Century]". Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Burns, William (2003). Witch Hunts in Europe and America: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood. ISBN 0-3133-2142-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Brauner, Sigrid (2001). Fearless Wives and Frightened Shrews: The Construction of the Witch in Early Modern Germany. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 1-5584-9297-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ankarloo, Bengt; Clark, Stuart, eds. (2002). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 3: The Middle Ages. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1786-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bailey, Michael D. (2003). Battling Demons: Witchcraft, Heresy, and Reform in the Late Middle Ages. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-02226-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Broedel, Hans Peter (2003). The Malleus Maleficarum and the Construction of Witchcraft: Theology and Popular Belief. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719064418. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Henningsen, Gustav (1980). The Witches' Advocate: Basque Witchcraft and the Spanish Inquisition. University of Nevada Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kieckhefer, Richard (2000). Magic in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Mackay, Christopher S. (2009). The Hammer of Witches: A Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum (1 volume). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-53982-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Template:En icon
• Mackay, Christopher S. (2006). Malleus Maleficarum (2 volumes). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-85977-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Template:La icon Template:En icon
• Maxwell-Stewart, P. G. (2001). Witchcraft in Europe and the New World. Palgrave. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Pavlac, Brian (2009). Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition through the Salem Trials: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition through the Salem Trials. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313348747. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Trevor-Roper, H. R. (1969). The European Witch-Craze: of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries and Other Essays. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-131416-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Further reading

• Flint, Valerie. The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe. Princeton University Press. Princeton, NJ. 1991
• Hamilton, Alastair (May 2007). "Review of Malleus Maleficarum edited and translated by Christopher S. Mackay and two other books". Heythrop Journal. 48 (3): 477–479. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2265.2007.00325_12.x. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |quotes= (help)
  (payment required)
• Institoris, Heinrich; Jakob Sprenger (1520). Malleus maleficarum, maleficas, & earum haeresim, ut phramea potentissima conterens. Excudebat Ioannes Gymnicus.

This is the edition held by the University of Sydney Library.

• Ruickbie, Leo (2004). Witchcraft Out of the Shadows. Robert Hale. ISBN 0-7090-7567-7.
• Russell, Jeffrey Burton (1972 repr. 1984). Witchcraft in the Middle Ages. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9289-0. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link) (bibrec)
• Summers, Montague (1948 repr. 1971). The Malleus Maleficarum of Kramer and Sprenger. ed. and trans. by Summers. Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-22802-9. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• Thurston, Robert W. (November 2006). "The world, the flesh and the devil". History Today. 56 (11): 51–57. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |quotes= (help) (payment required for full text)

External links

• Malleus Maleficarum – Online version of Latin text and scanned pages of Malleus Maleficarum published in 1580.
• Malleus Maleficarum – Online and downloadable scan of original Latin edition of 1490.
• English translation

• 1487 books
• 15th-century Christian texts
• Witch hunter manuals
• Catholicism-related controversies
• Christian terminology