The Malleus Maleficarum (“Hammer of the witches”), of Heinrich Kramer (alias Henri Institoris) and Jacques Sprenger, published in 1486, is the treaty which the inquisiteurs to identify, confuse and persecute the Sorcière S, or more precisely the women than they used liked it to call thus.

It acts for the major part of the text of a coding of Croyance S preexistent, often drawn from older texts like the Directorium Inquisitorum of Nicolas Eymerich (1376), and the Formicarius of Johannes Nider (1435). The invention of Gutenberg made it possible to diffuse the handbook with large scales for the time. The work was republished many times, and largely used in Western Europe in spite of its prohibition by the Catholic church shortly after its publication, in 1490.

The first part of the book treats nature of sorcery. A good part of this section explains why the women, because of their weakness and of inferiority of their intelligence by nature would be predisposed to yield to temptations Satan. The title even of the book presents the word malefic' a' rum (with the vowel of the termination to female) and the authors declare (in an erroneous way) that the word femina (woman) drift of Fe + washout (minor faith). The handbook supports that some of the acts confessed by the witches, such as for example the fact of transforming itself into animals or in monsters, are only illusions caused by the Diable, while other actions, such as for example the possibility of flying to the Sabbat, of causing storms or of destroying harvests are really possible. The authors insist moreover in a morbid way on the licencieux aspect of the sexual relations which the witches would have with the demons.

The second and last part explains how to proceed to the capture, to inform the lawsuit, to organize the detention and the elimination of the witches. This part treats also confidence which one can grant or not to the declarations witnesses, whose charges are often uttered by desire or desire of revenge; the authors affirm however that the indiscretions and the public rumor are sufficient to lead a person in front of the courts and that a too vehement defense of a lawyer proves that this one is bewitched. The handbook gives indications on the manner of preventing with the authorities being prone to sorcery and reassure the reader on the fact that the judges, as representatives of God, are immunized against the capacity of the Sorcière S. a great part is dedicated to the illustration of the techniques of Extorsion of the Confession S and to the practice of the Torture during the interrogations: it is in particular recommended to use the iron reddened with fire for the shaving of the body in its entirety of the defendants, in order to find famous “the mark of the Devil”, which would prove their culpability.

See too

Internal bonds

• Hunting for the witches

External bonds

• http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org