Malleus Maleficarum

The Hammer of Witches

Malleus Maleficarum, usually translated as The Hammer of Witches, is the best known treatise on witchcraft.

It was written by the German Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer, and first published in the German city of Speyer in 1486. It has been described as the compendium of literature in demonology of the 15th century.

The top theologians of the Inquisition at the Faculty of Cologne condemned the book as recommending unethical and illegal procedures, as well as being inconsistent with Catholic doctrines of demonology. The Malleus elevates sorcery to the criminal status of heresy, and recommends that secular courts prosecute it as such.

The Malleus suggests torture to effectively obtain confessions, and the death penalty as the only certain remedy against the evils of witchcraft. At the time of its publication, heretics were frequently sentenced to be burned alive at the stake, and the Malleus encouraged the same treatment of witches.

Despite its condemnation by the clergy, the book enjoyed a period of popularity among literate laymen.

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