History Literature / MalleusMaleficarum

Although some writers have claimed that the book was pretty much the cornerstone of the major anti-witchcraft movement and inquisitors and priests all over Europe had a copy, and thus is associated with the image of the Inquisition being a torture-fest, it's DatedHistory and it is not regarded to be nearly as officially endorsed as once thought. The book's author initially ''did'' have the support of Pope Innocent VIII in his bull ''Summis desiderantes affectibus'', but the resultant manual fell out of a favor three years after it was first published, being then officially banned by the Catholic Church [[EveryoneHasStandards due to its perceived excesses]]. As of [[TheCavalierYears the mid-1600s]] [[https://books.google.it/books?id=13ZaAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PR100&ots=gEvk7knAYH&dq=malleus%20maleficarum%20index%20librorum%20prohibitorum&hl=it&pg=PR112#v=onepage&q=malleus%20maleficarum%20index%20librorum%20prohibitorum&f=false it was included]] in the ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'', turning the very act of reading it into a sin for a good Catholic. Most theologians of Kramer's time condemned the book for recommending unethical and even outright illegal procedures, as well for being inconsistent with established Christian dogma on demonology, while the various Inquisitions had higher standards for evidence and ethics (the Inquisition established the modern [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisitorial_system Inquisitorial system]] used today) than the book proposed. However, it had conversely a strong effect in laymen, who neither knew nor cared much about theological affairs, and by 1669 it was still being printed at its 36th edition, with a very tangible presence in both Catholic and Protestant witch hunts.

[[caption-width-right:326:{{Witch|WithACapitalB}}es [[Music/DrDre ain't shit]][[WaxingLyrical but tricks and treats.]]]]

* HornyDevils: It was Kramer's firm belief that demons take special pleasure in raping human women.

* StalkerWithATestTube: According to the Malleus, this was how demons reproduced in the human realm, being unable to do so normally. A succubus would seduce a human male to get his seed, then pass it on to an incubus who would use it to impregnate a human woman, resulting in a half-demon called a cambion. Anyone with a modern high school education (and specifically knowledge of how genetics work which wasn't available back in Kramer's day) would know why this would not work and why the kid produced would be completely human instead, though believers in this would most likely posit that something supernatural took place in order to alter the semen to be demonic in nature.

* AlliterativeTitle

* StalkerWithATestTube: According to the Malleus, this was how demons reproduced in the human realm, being unable to do so normally. A succubus would seduce a human male to get his seed, then pass it on to an incubus who would use it to impregnate a human woman, resulting in a half-demon called a cambion. Anyone with a modern high school education (and knowledge of how genetics work which wasn't available back in Kramer's day) would know why this would not work and why the kid produced would be completely human instead, though believers in this would most likely posit that something supernatural took place in order to alter the semen to be demonic in nature.

* StalkerWithATestTube: According to the Malleus, this was how demons reproduced in the human realm, being unable to do so normally. A succubus would seduce a male to get his seed, then pass it on to an incubus who would use it to impregnate a woman, resulting in a half-demon called a cambion. Anyone with a modern high school education (and knowledge of how genetics work which wasn't really available back in Kramer's day) would know why this would not work and why the kid produced would be completely human instead, though believers in this would most likely posit that something supernatural took place in order to alter the semen to be demonic in nature.

* StalkerWithATestTube: According to the Malleus, this was how demons reproduced in the human realm, being unable to do so normally. A succubus would seduce a male to get his seed, then pass it on to an incubus who would use it to impregnate a woman, resulting in a half-demon called a cambion.

* TautologicalTemplar: Kramer again. He uses such "[[InsaneTrollLogic reasoning]]" as a proof that the witches do actually fly on broomsticks and cast evil spells, rather than it happens in their imagination, as per some more reasonable claims. It goes like this: "If they didn't do those things in reality, there'd be no reasons for us to burn them. But we couldn't possibly be wrong on this accord, hence they do fly on broomsticks in reality. BurnTheWitch!"

* StalkerWithATestTube: According to the Malleus, this was how demons reproduced in the human realm, being unable to do so normally. A succubus would seduce a male to get his seed, then pass it on to an incubus who would use it to impregnate a woman, resulting in a half-demon called a cambion. [[ScienceMarchesOn Anyone with a modern high school education]] would know why the result would be a completely human baby, not a half demon (they would probably say a supernatural influence took place).[[note]]Of course, when the "Witch's Hammer" was written, Gregor Mendel's work on genetics was nearly 400 years into the future.[[/note]]

* StalkerWithATestTube: According to the Malleus, this was how demons reproduced in the human realm, being unable to do so normally. A succubus would seduce a male to get his seed, then pass it on to an incubus who would use it to impregnate a woman, resulting in a half-demon called a cambion.
** ScienceMarchesOn: Anyone with a high school education would know why the result would be a completely human baby, not a half demon (they would probably say a supernatural influence took place).[[note]]Of course, when the "Witch's Hammer" was written, Gregor Mendel's work on genetics was nearly 400 years into the future.[[/note]]
* StayInTheKitchen : Not only is the original work based on the assumption that any woman who is not subject to a man, or has her own living made is on the devil's team, but the translation by Rev. Montague Summers says straight out in the introduction that the translation is "intended to counter the current destructive age of feminism where it seems that the sexes are confounded."

Although some writers have claimed that the book was pretty much the cornerstone of the major anti-witchcraft movement and inquisitors and priests all over Europe had a copy, and thus is associated with the image of the Inquisition being a torture-fest, it's DatedHistory and it is not regarded to be nearly as officially endorsed as once thought. The book's author initially ''did'' have the support of Pope Innocent VIII in his bull ''Summis desiderantes affectibus'', but the resultant manual fell out of a favor three years after it was first published, being then officially banned by the Catholic Church [[EveryoneHasStandards due to its perceived excesses]]. As of [[TheCavalierYears the mid-1600s]] [[https://books.google.it/books?id=13ZaAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PR100&ots=gEvk7knAYH&dq=malleus%20maleficarum%20index%20librorum%20prohibitorum&hl=it&pg=PR112#v=onepage&q=malleus%20maleficarum%20index%20librorum%20prohibitorum&f=false it was included]] in the ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'', turning the very act of reading it into a sin for a good Catholic. Most theologians of Kramer's time condemned the book for recommending unethical and even outright illegal procedures, as well for being inconsistent with established Christian dogma on demonology, while the various Inquisitions had higher standards for evidence and ethics (the Inquisition established the modern [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisitorial_system Inquisitorial system]] used today) than the book proposed. However, it had conversely a strong effect in laymen, who knew and cared much less about theological affairs, and by 1669 it was still being printed at its 36th edition, with a very tangible presence in both Catholic and Protestant witch hunts.

* EvilRedhead: "Those whose hair is red, of a certain peculiar shade, are unmistakably [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]]." This was a common belief then, along with redheads being [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]].

* TheDarkArts: As the power came from TheDevil, all witchcraft was this.

-->-- '''[[WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions Red]]''', basically stating her opinion on the author

-->-- "[[WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions Red]], basically stating her opinion on the author"

->''[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Judge Claude Frollo]] WISHES he had what this guy had!''

Although some writers have claimed that the book was pretty much the cornerstone of the major anti-witchcraft movement and inquisitors and priests all over Europe had a copy, and thus is associated with the image of the Inquisition being a torture-fest, it's DatedHistory and it is not regarded to be nearly as officially endorsed as once thought. The book's author initially ''did'' have the support of Pope Innocent VIII in his bull ''Summis desiderantes affectibus'', but the resultant manual fell out of a favor three years after it was first published, being then officially banned by the Catholic Church [[EveryoneHasStandards due to its perceived excesses]]. Most theologians of Kramer's time condemned the book for recommending unethical and even outright illegal procedures, as well for being inconsistent with established Christian dogma on demonology, while the various Inquisitions had higher standards for evidence and ethics (the Inquisition established the modern [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisitorial_system Inquisitorial system]] used today) than the book proposed. However, it had conversely a strong effect in laymen, who knew and cared much less about theological affairs, and by 1669 it was still being printed at its 36th edition, with a very tangible presence in both Catholic and Protestant witch hunts.

The ''Malleus Maleficarum'' (The Hammer of the Witches) is a witch-hunting manual written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer, an Inquisitor of the Catholic Church, and first published in Germany, where it is known as ''Der Hexenhammer'', in 1487. Jacob Sprenger's name is also attached to the book, though it is unclear if he did anything more than endorse it. The work also has an alleged approval and endorsement from a prestigious German university of the time, an endorsement that was very likely forged by Kramer. The book is [[StrawMisogynist virulently misogynistic]], though it acknowledges that both men and women can be witches. It encouraged the use of torture to extract confessions in ways that were not actually legal under the laws of the Inquisition.

It should be also said that the ''Malleus'' wasn't truly seminal by the time it was written. The witch-hunting ideas spoused in its pages had been already made popular in treatises like Johannes Nider's ''Formicarius'' (1435) and Alonso de Espina's ''Fortalitium Fidei'' (1458), and Kramer only [[LoonyFan followed their wake with more enthusiasm]]. This current had never been given a lot of credit, as witchcraft was not something the Church fathers were especially interested in prosecuting (the prevalent view since AD 900 was that witchcraft was ''not'' real and that practitioners were instead [[HappinessInMindControl heretics deluded by the Devil into believing they manifested arcane powers]], therefore most punishments were light, either penances given in Confession, a spell in the city stocks, or at worst excommunication). However, the ''Malleus'' would have the effect of re-popularizing all those doctrines, which, combined with the Church's awkward silence about it in the Council of Trent, effectively caused a snowball of similar works, among them those of Jean Bodin, Nicholas Rémy, and Benedict Carpzov, influencing the general thought. Notorious witch hunter Matthew Hopkins and his book, ''The Discovery of Witches'', would become the spiritual successor to the ''Malleus'', and bring the witch-craze to the New England colonies, with the Salem Witch Trials using Hopkins's methodology.

It should be also said that the ''Malleus'' wasn't truly seminal by the time it was written. The witch-hunting ideas spoused in its pages had been already made popular in treatises like Johannes Nider's ''Formicarius'' (1435) and Alonso de Espina's ''Fortalitium Fidei'' (1458), and Kramer only [[LoonyFan followed their wake with more enthusiasm]]. This current had never been given a lot of credit, as witchcraft was not something the Church fathers were especially interested in prosecuting (the prevalent view since AD 900 was that witchcraft was ''not'' real and that practitioners were instead [[HappinessInMindControl heretics deluded by the Devil into believing they manifested arcane powers]], therefore most punishments were light, either penances given in Confession, a spell in the city stocks, or at worst excommunication). However, the ''Malleus'' would have the effect of re-popularizing all those doctrines, which, combined with the Church's awkward silence about it in the Council of Trent, effectively caused a snowball of similar works, among them those of Jean Bodin, Nicholas Rémy, and Benedict Carpzov, influencing the general thought. Notorious witch hunter Matthew Hopkins and his book, ''The Discovery of Witches'' would become the spiritual successor to the ''Malleus'', and bring the witch-craze to the New World, with the Salem Witch Trials using Hopkins's methodology.

It should be also said that the ''Malleus'' wasn't truly seminal by the time it was written. The witch-hunting ideas spoused in its pages had been already made popular in treatises like Johannes Nider's ''Formicarius'' (1435) and Alonso de Espina's ''Fortalitium Fidei'' (1458), and Kramer only [[LoonyFan followed their wake with more enthusiasm]]. This current had never been given a lot of credit, as witchcraft was not something the Church fathers were especially interested in prosecuting (the prevalent view since AD 900 was that witchcraft was ''not'' real and that practitioners were instead [[HappinessInMindControl heretics deluded by the Devil into believing they manifested arcane powers]], therefore most punishments were light, either penances given in Confession, a spell in the city stocks, or at worst excommunication). However, the ''Malleus'' would have the effect of re-popularizing all those doctrines, which, combined with the Church's awkward silence about it in the Council of Trent, effectively caused a snowball of similar works, among them those of Jean Bodin, Nicholas Rémy, Benedict Carpzov, and notorious witch hunter Matthew Hopkins, influencing the general thought.

It should be also said that the ''Malleus'' wasn't truly seminal by the time it was written. The witch-hunting ideas spoused in its pages had been already made popular in treatises like Johannes Nider's ''Formicarius'' (1435) and Alonso de Espina's ''Fortalitium Fidei'' (1458), and Kramer only [[LoonyFan followed their wake with more enthusiasm]]. This current had never been given a lot of credit, as witchcraft was not something the Church fathers were especially interested in prosecuting (the prevalent view since AD 900 was that witchcraft was ''not'' real and that practitioners were instead [[HappinessInMindControl heretics deluded by the Devil into believing they manifested arcane powers]], therefore most punishments were light, either penances given in Confession, a spell in the city stocks, or at worst excommunication). However, the ''Malleus'' would have the effect of re-popularizing all those doctrines, which, combined with the Church's awkward silence about it in the Council of Trent, effectively caused a snowball of similar works, among them those of Jean Bodin, Nicholas Rémy and Benedict Carpzov, influencing the general thought.

It should be also said that the ''Malleus'' wasn't truly seminal by the time it was written. The witch-hunting ideas spoused in its pages had been already made popular in treatises like Johannes Nider's ''Formicarius'' (1435) and Alonso de Espina's ''Fortalitium Fidei'' (1458), and Kramer only [[LoonyFan followed their wake with more enthusiasm]]. This current had never been given a lot of credit, as witchcraft was not something the Church fathers were especially interested in prosecuting (the prevalent view since AD 900 was that witchcraft was ''not'' real and that practitioners were instead [[HappinessInMindCOntrol heretics deluded by the Devil into believing they manifested arcane powers]], therefore most punishments were light, either penances given in Confession, a spell in the city stocks, or at worst excommunication). However, the ''Malleus'' would have the effect of re-popularizing all those doctrines, which, combined with the Church's awkward silence about it in the Council of Trent, effectively caused a snowball of similar works, among them those of Jean Bodin, Nicholas Rémy and Benedict Carpzov, influencing the general thought.

Although some writers have claimed that the book was pretty much the cornerstone of the major anti-witchcraft movement and inquisitors and priests all over Europe had a copy, and thus is associated with the image of the Inquisition being a torture-fest, it's DatedHistory and it is not regarded to be nearly as officially endorsed as once thought. The book's author initially ''did'' have the support of Pope Innocent VIII in his bull ''Summis desiderantes affectibus'', but the resultant manual fell out of a favor three years after it was first published, being then officially banned by the Catholic Church [[EveryoneHasStandards due to its perceived excesses]]. Most theologians of Kramer's time condemned the book for recommending unethical and illegal procedures, as well for being inconsistent with established Christian dogma on demonology, while the various Inquisitions had higher standards for evidence and ethics (the Inquisition established the modern [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisitorial_system Inquisitorial system]] used today) than the book proposed. However, it had conversely a strong effect in laymen, who knew and cared much less about theological affairs, and by 1669 it was still being printed at its 36th edition, with a very tangible presence in both Catholic and Protestant witch hunts.

It should be also said that the ''Malleus'' wasn't truly seminal by the time it was written. The witch-hunting ideas spoused in its pages had been already made popular in treatises like Johannes Nider's ''Formicarius'' (1435) and Alonso de Espina's ''Fortalitium Fidei'' (1458), and Kramer only [[LoonyFan followed their wake with more enthusiasm]]. This current had never been given a lot of credit, as witchcraft was not something the Church fathers were especially interested in prosecuting (the prevalent view since AD 900 was that witchcraft was ''not'' real and that practitioners were instead [[HappinessInMindCOntrol heretics deluded by the Devil into believing they manifested arcane powers]], therefore most punishments were light, either penances given in Confession, a spell in the city stocks, or at worst excommunication). However, the ''Malleus'' would have the effect of re-popularize all those doctrines, which, combined with the Church's awkward silence about it in the Council of Trent, effectively caused a snowball of similar works, among them those of Jean Bodin, Nicholas Rémy and Benedict Carpzov, influencing the general thought.

Although some writers have claimed that the book was pretty much the cornerstone of the major anti-witchcraft movement and inquisitors and priests all over Europe had a copy, and thus is associated with the image of the Inquisition being a torture-fest, it's DatedHistory and it is not regarded to be nearly as officially endorsed as once thought. The book's author initially ''did'' have the support of Pope Innocent VIII in his bull ''Summis desiderantes affectibus'', but the resultant manual fell out of a favor three years after it was first published, being then officially banned by the Catholic Church [[EveryoneHasStandards due to its perceived excesses]]. Most theologians of Kramer's time condemned the book for recommending unethical and illegal procedures, as well for being inconsistent with established Christian dogma on demonology, while the various Inquisitions had higher standards for evidence and ethics (the Inquisition established the modern [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisitorial_system Inquisitorial system]] used today) than the book proposed. However, it had conversely a strong effect in laymen, who knew and cared much less about theological affairs, and by 1669 it was still being printed at its 36th edition, with a very tangible presence in the European witch hunts of this period.

It should be also said that the ''Malleus Malleficarum'' wasn't truly seminal by the time it was written. The witch-hunting ideas spoused in its pages had been already made popular in treatises like Johannes Nider's ''Formicarius'' (1435) and Alonso de Espina's ''Fortalitium Fidei'' (1458), and Kramer only [[LoonyFan followed their wake with more enthusiasm]]. This current had never been given a lot of credit, as witchcraft was not something the Church fathers were especially interested in prosecuting (the prevalent view since AD 900 was that witchcraft was ''not'' real and that practitioners were instead [[HappinessInMindCOntrol heretics deluded by the Devil into believing they manifested arcane powers]], therefore most punishments were light, either penances given in Confession, a spell in the city stocks, or at worst excommunication). However, the ''Malleus'' would have the effect of re-popularize all those doctrines, which, combined with the Church's awkward silence about it in the Council of Trent, effectively caused a snowball of similar works that contributed to the general thought.

Although some writers have claimed that the book was pretty much the cornerstone of the major anti-witchcraft movement and inquisitors and priests all over Europe had a copy, and thus is associated with the image of the Inquisition being a torture-fest, it's DatedHistory and it is not regarded to be nearly as officially endorsed as once thought. The book's author initially ''did'' have the support of Pope Innocent VIII in his bull ''Summis desiderantes affectibus'', but the resultant manual fell out of a favor three years after it was first published, being then officially banned by the Catholic Church due to its perceived excesses. Most theologians of Kramer's time condemned the book for recommending unethical and illegal procedures, as well for being inconsistent with established Christian dogma on demonology, while the various Inquisitions had higher standards for evidence and ethics (the Inquisition established the modern [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisitorial_system Inquisitorial system]] used today) than the book proposed. However, it had conversely a strong effect in laymen, who knew and cared much less about theological affairs, and by 1669 it was still being printed at its 36th edition, with a very tangible presence in the European witch hunts of this period.

It should be also said that the ''Malleus Malleficarum'' wasn't truly seminal by the time it was written. The witch-hunting ideas spoused in its pages had been already made popular in treatises like Johannes Nider's ''Formicarius'' (1435) and Alonso de Espina's ''Fortalitium Fidei'' (1458), and Kramer only followed their wake with more enthusiasm. This current had never been given a lot of credit, as witchcraft was not something the Church fathers were especially interested in prosecuting (the prevalent view since AD 900 was that witchcraft was ''not'' real and that practitioners were instead heretics deluded by the Devil into believing they manifested arcane powers, therefore most punishments were light, either penances given in Confession, a spell in the city stocks, or at worst excommunication). However, the ''Malleus'' would have the effect of re-popularize all those doctrines, which, combined with the Church's awkward silence about it in the Council of Trent, effectively caused a snowball of similar works that contributed to the general thought.