The Malleus Maleficarum [The Hammer of Witchcraft - Maleficas, & earum hæresim, ut phramea potentissima conterens.] [The Hammer of Witches]

260 pp. Edited and translated by Peter Maxwell-Stuart. A treatise on the prosecution of witches (or, at least, those accused of witchcraft), written by a German Catholic clergyman named Heinrich Kramer, but rejected by the clergy at the University of Cologne. The common English translation of the title is The Hammer of Witches. A posthumous author credit has been given to Jakob Sprenger, though there is cause to believe this is an erroneous attribution. Whatever the case, its publication exacerbated the proliferation of witch trials over the next two centuries, and its advocacy of torture and deception to obtain convictions in these trials is partly responsible for the frequently brutal nature of inquiries and punishments. "In 1487, the zealous inquisitor Heinrich Kramer wrote a treatise that would have a remarkable influence on European history. Blaming women for his own lust, and frustrated by official complacency before what he saw as a monstrous spiritual menace, Kramer penned a practical guide to aid law officers in the identification and prosecution of witches. Fusing theology, lurid anecdotes and advice for those engaged in combating sorcery, The Malleus Maleficarum transports the reader into the dark heart of medieval belief - where fear and the supernatural converged in a gripping struggle for understanding and control. The book led to the burning of numerous heretics and 'witches' and had a lasting impact on the popular image of witchcraft. This edition offers a clear, readable translation and an introduction that lays out the context of late-medieval Europe, a time of spiritual paranoia when powerful men suspected women's sexuality was a tool of the Devil."