The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger (Dover Occult)

by Montague Summers, Heinrich Kramer, James Sprenger, et al.

Book Overview

For nearly three centuries Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches' Hammer) was the professional manual for witch hunters. This work by two of the most famous Inquisitors of the age is still a document of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486228029
• Release Date: June 1971
• Publisher: Dover
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.3" x 0.8" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Inquisitorial Manual

The Malleus Maleficarum is simply a magnificent piece of work. There are different ed. of the malleus maleficarum but this book is the original version written by Kramer and Sprenger, the two master inquisitors of that time. The book itself is written in a old and difficult languade, so it takes a lot of time reading, but it's worth it. If you wish to have a look into the Inquisition, their methods and the truth behind it all, this book will surely take you far.

to the reviewer of "Their Mother's Sons and Daughters"

I find this book a difficult one to actually evaluate, but decided to give it five stars on the basis that it is a historical text that accurately documents the beliefs of the Catholic Church during the witch hunt era. (It is important to note, however, that not all Catholics at this time subcribed to these beliefs). This book is very significant in explaining the origin of witch hunts and persecutions of witches throughout history. The text was written originally by two Catholic priests, in which they fabricated evil practices of witches and ways to identify them and eradicate them. On the contrary, in the Pre-Christian era a witch was originally the doctor, spiritual healer, counselor-"everything woman" of her village. She was highly respected as the village's "wise woman," which is the original meaning of the word "witch." When the Catholic Church developed and began to gain more power, its higher members recognized the political power of these women and feared their pagan influence, and so the Malleus Maleficarum was born. Most of the accusations it makes are highly off base and ridiculous. I myself, do not practice Wicca, but am a born-again Christian. Therefore, I was very offended and upset by the comments made in the review entitled "Their Mother's Sons and Daughters," if this was even a sincere review. The reason neo-paganists are so offended by this book is not because it rings true to their beliefs, but because it was used for centuries as the justification for the death and torture of thousands of their predecessors and other innocents. Those who practice Wicca, in particular, do not even believe that Satan exists, therefore would never worship him or use him as a channel for evil purposes. Their religion, although I do not accept it as truth, is fundamentally peace-loving just as Christianity is. The comments that were made in this particular review I speak of and similar prejudices are ignorant, narrow-minded, and no doubt, are part of the reason for the widespread misunderstanding of Christianity in our modern society.

The Hammer of The Witches: A Classic of Ignorance

Rating the MALLEUS MALEFICARUM is an exercise is frustration. One cannot "enjoy" this book; like MEIN KAMPF, one reads it for its historical importance. This book should form a part of every thinking person's library as a warning beacon, if for no other reason that it is a seminal textbook on the inhumanity of humanity. First written in 1484 by the Friars Kramer and Sprenger, (and reprinted endlessly), the MALLEUS was immediately given the imprimatur of the Holy See as the most important work on witchcraft, to date. And so it remains. The MALLEUS MALEFICARUM is a compendium of fifteenth century paranoias, all the more frightening for its totalitarian modernity. ("Anything that is done for the benefit of the State is Good.") In form, it is a "how to" guide on recognizing, capturing, torturing, and executing witches. In substance, it is a diatribe against women, heretics, independent thinkers, romantic lovers, the sensitive passions, human sexuality, and compassion. "Vanity of vanities" indeed. In writing the MALLEUS, Kramer and Spenger claimed to be doing "God's work"; these men, and those who followed them worshiped only their own arrogance. Read it and Be Afraid, my friends.Forming a portion of every working law library for 300 years, there is no estimate of how many women and men were put to death through the mechanism of this benighted book. Some historians estimate that the numbers may run into the millions. The text is rife with "caselaw" examples of witchcraft, some of which are clearly delusional and some downright silly, or would be, if they hadn't ended in gruesome deaths for the accused. Take the case of the poor woman who was burned for offering the opinion that "it might rain today" shortly before it did. Of note are Kramer and Spenger's assertions that prosecutors are (conveniently) "immune" to witchcraft, and their instructions to Judges to tell the truth to the witch that there will be mercy shown (with the mental reservation that death is a mercy to those prisoner to the devil). Such twisted logic is the cornerstone of the MALLEUS. The translator, Rev. Montague Summers, waxes rhapsodic on the "learning" and "wisdom" of the authors of the MALLEUS. He was apparently of a mind with Kramer and Spenger, and wrote two embarrassingly effusive and bigoted introductions (in 1928 and 1946), praising the "brillance" of this work and its importance in this "feministic" era. Summers' commentary is as frightening as anything Kramer and Spenger wrote in the text proper, the more so for being 20th century, and particularly post-World War Two. Like the Papal Bull of VIII which is now considered integral with the MALLEUS, future commentators will make much of the statements of Summers, a "modern" man. In short, the MALLEUS MALEFICARUM was a license to kill. And it was used far too often and far too freely.Kramer and Spenger's madness did not die with them; but how many have died with their madness