Malleus Maleficarum

Malleus Maleficarum, or The Hammer of Witches, is a treatise on witchcraft written by Heinrich Kramer and first published in 1486. This English edition was translated by Montague Summers.

The book presents a detailed discussion of witchcraft, alleged demonic practices, and methods of identifying witches. It argues that witchcraft was a serious religious and social threat and attempts to provide theological and legal justification for its prosecution.

Divided into three main sections, the work examines the supposed nature and powers of witches, describes alleged forms of sorcery, and outlines procedures for investigating, trying, and punishing people accused of witchcraft. Its arguments reflect the religious beliefs, legal practices, and misogynistic attitudes of late medieval Europe.

Malleus Maleficarum became one of the most notorious works associated with European witch persecutions. Today it is primarily studied as a historical document that reveals the fears, prejudices, and ideas surrounding witchcraft and heresy during the early modern period.

"Whether the belief that there are such beings as witches is so essential a part of the Catholic faith that obstinately to maintain the opposite opinion manifestly savours of heresy. And it is argued that a firm belief in witches is not a Catholic doctrine: see chapter 26, question 5, of the work of Episcopus. "