Malleus Maleficarum - The Hammer of Witches (eBook)

Heinrich Kramer (1430 – 1505), also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institor, was a German Dominican friar and a notorious inquisitor. His most infamous contribution to literature is 'Malleus Maleficarum' (The Hammer of Witches), a guidebook for the identification, trial, and extermination of witches, first published in 1487. Kramer wrote the work in collaboration with another inquisitor, Jacob Sprenger, although historical debate questions Sprenger's involvement. The 'Malleus Maleficarum' is considered one of the main texts that fueled the witch-hunt hysteria in Europe during the late 15th and the 16th centuries, leading to the persecution and execution of thousands of accused individuals. Kramer's literary style in the 'Malleus' is punitively pedagogical, with legalistic and theological underpinnings aiming to educate magistrates and ecclesiastical authorities on the 'wretchedness' of witchcraft and the means of combating it. The work is often characterized as misogynistic, reflecting Kramer's belief in female susceptibility to demonic influences. While the 'Malleus Maleficarum' was not officially sanctioned by the Catholic Church, it nevertheless became widely influential and continued to be reprinted well into the 17th century, demonstrating the pervasive and persistent anxieties regarding witchcraft during the early modern period. Kramer's legacy is deeply tied to this treatise, which remains a disturbing yet historically significant lens into the witch trials that spread across Europe.