Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch Hammer)

The Hammer of Witches: A Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum — Click on Image

The Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch Hammer) is a comprehensive witch-hunter’s handbook, the most important treatise on prosecuting witches during the witch hysteria. Published first in Germany in 1486, the Malleus Maleficarum proliferated into dozens of editions throughout Europe and England and had a profound impact on European witch trials for about 200 years.

Montague Summers called it “among the most important, wisest, and weightiest books in the world.” It was second only to the Bible in sales until John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress was published in 1678.

The Malleus Maleficarum was written by two Dominican inquisitors, Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger. The two men were empowered by Pope Innocent VIII in his Bull of December 9, 1484, to prosecute witches throughout northern Germany. The papal edict was intended to quell Protestant opposition to the Inquisition and to solidify the case made in 1258 by Pope Alexander IV for the prosecution of witches as heretics.

It was the opinion of the church that the secular arm, the civil courts, was not punishing enough witches solely on the basis of maleficia. The effect of both the bull and the Malleus Maleficarum spread far beyond Germany, its greatest influence being felt in France and Italy and, to a lesser extent, in England.

It was adopted by both Protestant and Catholic civil and ecclesiastical judges. The full biographies of Kramer and Sprenger are not known, but it is evident that they distinguished themselves in their ecclesiastical careers.

Sprenger, born sometime between 1436 and 1438 in Basel, rose rapidly in the Dominican order and was named prior and regent of studies of the Cologne Convent. In 1488 he was named provincial of the Province of Germany.

Kramer was born in Schlettstadt in Lower Alsace (date unknown) and also rose rapidly to become prior of the Dominican House in his hometown. In 1474 he was appointed inquisitor for the provinces of Tyrol, Bohemia, Salzburg and Moravia. There he employed fraudulent tactics to frame people as witches, and subsequently tortured them.

The Bishop of Brixen expelled him. Both men were prolific writers, and by 1485 Kramer drafted a comprehensive manuscript on witchcraft, which was absorbed into the Malleus Maleficarum. The book is based generally on the biblical pronouncement. “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18) and draws on the works of Aristotle, the Scriptures, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.

It maintains that because God acknowledged witches, to doubt witchcraft is in itself heresy. Kramer in particular exhibited a virulent hatred toward women witches and advocated their extermination. The Malleus devotes an entire chapter to the sinful weakness of women, their lascivious nature, moral and intellectual inferiority and gullibility to guidance from deceiving spirits.

In Kramer’s view, women witches were out to harm all of Christendom. Scholars have debated the reasons for Kramer’s misogyny; he may have had a fear of the power of women mystics of his day, such as Catherine of Siena, who enjoyed the attentions of royalty as well as the church.

The Malleus Maleficarum is divided into three parts, each of which raises questions and purports to answer them through opposing arguments. Part I concerns how the devil and his witches, with “the permission of Almighty God,” perpetrate a variety of evils upon men and animals, including tempting them with succubi and incubi; instilling hatred; obstructing or destroying fertility; and the metamorphosis of men into beasts.

It is the premise of the authors that God permits these acts; otherwise, the Devil would have unlimited power and destroy the world. Part II discusses how witches cast spells and bewitchments and do their maleficia and how these actions may be prevented or remedied. Emphasis is given to the Devil’s pact, considered a key to proving heresy.

The existence of witches and their maleficia is treated as unassailable fact, and wild stories are presented as truth. Most of the stories of spells, pacts, the sacrifice of children and copulation with the Devil came from the inquisitions conducted by Sprenger and Kramer and from material of other ecclesiastical writers on witchcraft.

Part III sets forth the legal procedures for trying witches, including the taking of testimony, admission of evidence, procedures for interrogation and torture and guidelines for sentencing. Judges are instructed to allow hostile witnesses on the reasoning that everyone hated witches.

Torture is dealt with matter-of-factly; if the accused did not voluntarily confess, even after a year or so in prison, then torture was to be applied as an incentive. Judges are permitted to lie to the accused, promising them mercy if they confess—it is all done in the best interests of society and the state.

The Malleus provides for light sentences of penance and imprisonment in certain cases, but the acknowledged purpose of the authors was to execute as many witches as possible, and most of the instructions on sentencing pertain to death. Some questions are never clearly answered, and contradictions abound. For example, the authors say that the Devil, through witches, afflicts mostly good and just people; they later say that only the wicked are vulnerable.

At one point, judges are said to be immune to the bewitchments of witches; at another, the authors assert that witches cast spells over judges with the glance of an eye, and judges are admonished to protect themselves with Salt and sacraments. The success of the Malleus Maleficarum was immediate in Europe. Fourteen editions were published by 1520; another 16 editions appeared by 1669.

It became the guidebook by which inquisitors and judges conducted themselves and which subsequent writers used as a foundation for their own works. The book was important in the way it linked witchcraft to heresy. In England, the book was slower to catch on, perhaps because of the independence of the English Anglican Church. Foreign-language editions surfaced in libraries and among scholars, but no English edition appeared until 1584.

Nevertheless, Protestant writers absorbed the material into their own writings. The emphasis in English witchcraft trials was less on heresy and more on maleficia.

Kramer and Sprenger piously maintained that God would never permit an innocent person to be convicted of witchcraft. Yet their collaboration, the Malleus Maleficarum, provided the blueprint for condemning thousands of innocent people to horrific torture and death.

SOURCE:

The Malleus Maleficarum (Witch Hammer) is the most influential and important witch hunter’s guide of the Inquisition. Published first in Germany in 1487, the Malleus Maleficarum was translated into dozens of editions throughout Europe and England and was the leading reference for witch trials on the Continent for about 200 years. It was adopted by both Protestant and Catholic civil and ecclesiastical judges. It was second only to the Bible in sales until John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress was published in 1678. The book gives instructions for interrogating, trying, and punishing accused witches and details the nature, characteristics, and behaviour of Demons and the Devil.

Fourteen editions were published by 1520; another 16 editions appeared by 1669. By the end of the 17th century, there were more than 30 editions. The book became the definitive guide by which inquisitors and judges conducted themselves and that subsequent writers used as a foundation for their own works. The book was important in the way it linked witchcraft to heresy. It has been described in the centuries since as a vicious and cruel work, the most damaging book of its kind during the Inquisition.

Authorship

The Malleus Maleficarum is credited to the authorship of two Dominican inquisitors, Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, though historians now believe that it was written by Kramer, by far the more zealous of the two and one of the most zealous participants in the entire Inquisition. Kramer and Sprenger were empowered by Pope Innocent VIII in his bull of December 9, 1484, to prosecute witches throughout northern Germany. The papal edict was intended to quell Protestant opposition to the Inquisition and to solidify the case made in 1258 by Pope Alexander IV for the prosecution of witches as heretics. It was the opinion of the church that the secular arm, the civil courts, were not punishing enough witches solely on the basis of their evildoing.

Both Kramer and Sprenger were prolific writers. Kramer, also known as Institoris, the Latinized version of his name, rose to power as an inquisitor and was known to have framed some of his victims. He was violently opposed to witchcraft and seemed also to harbour hatred against women, whom he viewed as inherently weak and evil. He sought to establish a direct connection between women and diabolic witchcraft. Some historians also think that Kramer was reacting to broader sentiments of the time that were responses to the influences of holy women and mystics such as St. Catherine of Siena, a powerful figure consulted by royalty and heads of state. He did praise the saintliness of certain holy women who were able to resist the lustful temptations indulged in by witches, in his view.

Sprenger was a distinguished friar, and he may have allowed Kramer to use his name in Kramer’s virulent anti-witch treatise, Apologia auctoris in Malleus Maleficarum, written by 1485. He had some association with Kramer in trials of accused witches.

Kramer’s treatise was absorbed into the Malleus Maleficarum. After its publication, evidence surfaced that Kramer may have fabricated one of the official letters authorizing the work. Relations between Kramer and Sprenger became strained. After Sprenger died in 1496, his colleagues attempted to distance his legacy from Kramer.
Little is known about Kramer’s activities after the publication of the Malleus in 1487 until his death in 1505. He remained an inquisitor. In 1500, Pope Alexander VI appointed him papal nuncio and inquisitor of Bohemia and Moravia. He was pursuing witches and heretics in Bohemia at the time of his death.

The Malleus is based on the biblical pronouncement “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18) and draws on Scripture and the works of Aristotle, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas as support. It maintains that because God acknowledged witches, to doubt witchcraft is heresy. The book is divided into three parts and organized as questions answered by opposing arguments. Part 1 concerns how the Devil and his witches, with “the permission of Almighty God,” perpetrate a variety of evils upon men and animals, including succubi and incubi, instilling hatred, obstructing or destroying fertility, and causing the metamorphosis, or shape-shifting, of human beings into beasts. God permits these acts; otherwise, the Devil would have unlimited power and destroy the world.

Part 2 describes how witches cast spells and bewitchments and do their evil and how these actions can be prevented or remedied. Particular emphasis is given to Devil’s Pacts, a key to proving heresy. The existence of witches and their maleficia is treated as unassailable fact, and wild stories of Sabbats and other abominations are presented as truth. Most of the stories are from the inquisitions conducted by Sprenger and Kramer and from material of other ecclesiastical witchcraft writers.

Part 3 sets forth the legal procedures for trying witches, including the taking of testimony, admission of evidence, methods of interrogation and torture, and guidelines for sentencing. Judges are instructed to allow hostile witnesses because everyone hates witches. Torture is to be applied if the accused do not confess voluntarily. Judges are permitted to lie to the accused, promising them mercy if they confess, a tactic readily employed by Kramer. This, the text argues, is all done in the best interest of society and the state. The Malleus allows for light sentences of penance and imprisonment in certain cases but urges execution of as many witches as possible. Most of the instructions on sentencing pertain to death.

Some questions are not answered clearly and contradictions abound. For example, the authors say that the Devil, through witches, mainly afflicts good and just people, then says only the wicked are vulnerable. At one point, judges are said to be immune to the bewitchments of witches; at another, witches cast spells over judges with the glance of an eye, and judges are admonished to protect themselves with salt and sacraments. The Malleus Maleficarum was refuted by Johann Weyer.