Malleus maleficarum
Also known as Hammer of Witches
treatise on the prosecution of witches
AI overview
The "Malleus maleficarum" is a 15th-century treatise that provided guidelines for identifying and prosecuting people accused of witchcraft. It became influential in European witch trials and is historically significant as a document that shaped how authorities approached witchcraft allegations during a period when thousands were executed on such charges.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Full title
- Malleus Maleficarum
- Also known as
- Hammer of Witches
- Author s
- Heinrich Kramer
- Language
- Latin
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Sprenger - Malleus maleficarum, 1669 - BEIC 9477645.tiff
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
Article
The Malleus Maleficarum, usually translated as the Hammer of Witches, is the best known treatise about witchcraft. It was written by German Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer (under his Latinized name Henricus Institor) and first published in the German city of Speyer in 1486. Some characterize the book as a compendium of preexisting demonological literature of the 15th century, as opposed to an original work.
Kramer presented his text as an official position of the Catholic Church. The book was condemned by top theologians of the Inquisition at the Faculty of Cologne for recommending illegal procedures and for inconsistencies with existing Catholic demonological doctrines. However, Kramer received praise for his work by Pope Innocent VIII in the papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus. Kramer was never removed and even enjoyed considerable prestige thereafter.