The Malleus Maleficarum was written by the Inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger in 1494 and was used by professional witch hunters as the guide to tracking down witches, obtaining confessions with and without torture and prosecuting and executing those individuals accused of witchcraft. This book was used for nearly three centuries for the express purpose of rooting out and destroying witchcraft and women were the primary targets.
Any way of life or activity deemed contradictory to the strict Christian
dogma was suspect and individuals who were "socially undesirable", including
the poor, the old, the outcast and nearly every woman lived in a constant
state of fear. The authors went into great detail about the supposed rituals,
behaviors, deeds and beliefs of witches and heretics and upon reading
this book today one can not understand why people accepted, without question,
the validity of the bizarre and impossible feats mentioned throughout
the book.
Even when taken into the context of the day it is difficult to accept the unwavering beliefs and fears people held about these fantastical activities, such as: cooking infants to obtain their fat for ointments, how witches can make a man's member "disappear" before his very eyes and how a wise woman can raise a tempest by being suspended above the ground by her thumbs.
Without question, there was a severe mistrust of women and women were considered to be particularly prone to entering into a pact with Satan. Starting with PART ONE, question vi, Kramer and Sprenger explain why women are more susceptible to becoming involved with witchcraft then men. It is an unsettling fact that many of the superstitions and beliefs from the Malleus Maleficarum are still perpetrated by the church today and are attributed to modern witchcraft practices.
These antiquated beliefs are still rampant in our society...Amazing,
isn't it?
The Malleus Maleficarum
Why Superstition is chiefly found in Women
PART ONE, QUESTION VI
Paragraph 2
For some learned men propound this reason; that there are three things in nature, the tongue, and Ecclesiastic and a Woman which know no moderation in goodness or vice; and when they exceed the bounds of their condition they reach the greatest heights and the lowest depths of goodness and vice. When they are governed by a good spirit, they are most excellent in virtue; but when they are governed by an evil spirit, they indulge the worst possible vices.
Paragraph 9
Now the wickedness of women is spoken of in Ecclesiasticus XXV: There is no head above the head of a serpent: and there is no wrath above the wrath of a woman. I had rather dwell with a lion and a dragon than to keep house with a wicked woman. And among much which in that place precedes and follows about a wicked woman, he concludes: All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman.
Wherefore St. John Chrysostom says on the text, "It is not good to marry" (S. Matthew xix): What else is a woman but a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature, painted with fair colours! Therefore if it be a sin to divorce her when she ought to be kept, it is indeed a necessary torture; for either we commit adultery by divorcing her, or we must endure daily strife. Cicero in his second book of The Rhetorics says: "The many lusts of men lead them into one sin, but the one lust of a woman leads them into all sins; for the root of all woman's vices is avarice." And Seneca says in his Tragedies: "A woman either loves or hates; there is no third grade. And the tears of a woman are deception, for they may spring from true grief, or they may be a snare. When a woman thinks alone, she thinks evil."
Paragraph 13, 14, 16 & 17 (excerpts)
The second reason is that women are naturally more impressionable and more ready to receive the influence of a disembodied spirit. (paragraph 13) The third reason is that they have slippery tongues, and are unable to conceal from their fellow-women those things, which by evil arts they know; and since they are weak, they find an easy and secret manner of vindicating themselves by witchcraft. (paragraph 14) That since they are feebler both in mind and body, it is not surprising that they should come more under the spell of witchcraft. (paragraph 16)
Paragraph 18 (excerpts)
But the natural reason (as to why women are more inclined to be involved with witchcraft) is that she is more carnal than a man, as is clear from her many carnal abominations. And it should be noted that there was a defect in the formation of the first woman, since she was formed from a bent rib, that is, a rib of the breast , which is bent as it were in a contrary direction to man. And since through this defect she is an imperfect animal, she always deceives.
Paragraph 24
And indeed, just as through the first defect in their intelligence they are more prone to abjure the faith; so through their second defect of inordinate affections and passions they search for, brood over and inflict various vengeance's, either by witchcraft or by some other means. Wherefore it is no wonder that so great a number of witches exist in this sex.
...And it continues on about the various "weaknesses" and "defects" of the female sex, digging deeper the dank hole that all women will find themselves in during this period of time. PART TWO deals with "Treating of the methods by which witchcraft is inflicted, ands how it may be auspiciously removed". PART TWO goes into painstaking detail of how witches injure cattle, raise hailstorms and how midwives kill children and offer them to devils...among other nefarious activities.
The concept of "hereditary witchcraft " is discussed in detail: "Finally,
we know from experience that the daughters of witches are always suspected
of similar practices, as imitators of their mother's crimes; and that indeed
the whole of a witch's progeny is infected." This is a very destructive
concept, for it damns whole generations and the children of suspected witches,
and their children, and so on, were destined to be outcast from society
and were often times jailed and/or executed.
PART THREE
deals with "Relating to the judicial proceeding in both the ecclesiastical and civil courts against all witches and indeed heretics" PART THREE establishes the following guidelines:
Who are the fit and proper judges in the trial of witches?
The method of initiating a process
Of the number of witnesses
Of the quality and condition of witnesses... excerpt "And it is clear
from the same chapter of the Canon that the testimony of men of
low repute and of servants against their masters, is admitted; for it says:
So great is the plague of heresy that, in an action involving this crime,
even servants are admitted as witnesses against their masters, and any
criminal evildoer may give evidence against any person soever. (part three,
question v)
Whether mortal enemies may be admitted as witnesses
How the trial is to be proceeded with and continued. And how the
witnesses are to be examined in the presence of four other persons,
and how the accused is to be questioned in two ways... excerpt "In
considering the method of proceeding with a trial of a witch in
the
cause of the faith, it must first be noted that such cases must
be
conducted in the simplest and most summary manner, without the
arguments and contentions of advocates." (part three, question vi)
In which various doubts are set forth with regard to the foregoing
questions and negative answers. Whether the accused is to be
imprisoned, and when she is to be considered as manifestly taken
in the foul
heresy of witchcraft.
Whether the witch is to be imprisoned, and of the method of taking her.
What is to be done after the arrest, and whether the names of the
witnesses should be made known to the accused.
What kind of defense may be allowed, and of the appointment of an
advocate...excerpt "It should be noted that an advocate is not to
be
appointed at the desire of the accused, as if he may choose which
advocate he will have."
What course the advocate should adopt when the names of the
witnesses are not revealed to him
Of the same matter, declaring more particularly how the question
of
personal enmity is to be investigated.
Of the points to be observed by the judge before the formal
examination in the place of detention and torture
Of the method of sentencing the accused to be questioned, and how she must be questioned on the first day, and whether she may be promised her life...excerpt "While the officers are preparing for the questioning, let the accused be stripped; or if she is a woman, let her first be led to the penal cells and there stripped by honest women of good reputation. And the reason for this is that they should search for any instrument of witchcraft sewn into her clothes; for they often make such instruments, at the instruction of devils, out of the limbs of unbaptized children. And when such instruments are disposed of, the Judge shall use his own persuasions and those of other honest men zealous for the faith to induce her to confess the truth voluntarily; and if she will not, let him order the officers to bind her with cords and apply her to some engine of torture; and then let them obey at once but not joyfully, rather appearing to be disturbed by their duty...And while she is being questioned about each several point, let her be often and frequently exposed to torture.
Of the continuing of torture and of the devices and signs by which the judge can recognize a witch; and how he ought to protect himself from their spells. Also how they are to be shaved in those parts where they use to conceal their devil's masks and tokens together with the due setting forth of various means of overcoming their obstinacy in keeping silence and refusal to confess...excerpt "If she be a witch she will not be able to weep: although she will assume a tearful aspect and smear her cheeks and eyes with spittle to make it appear that she is weeping...The hair should be shaved from every part of her body. The reason for this is the same as that for stripping her of her clothes, which we have already mentioned; for in order to preserve their power of silence they are in the habit of hiding some superstitious object in their clothes or in their hair, or even in the most secret parts of their bodies which must not be named. (part three, question xv)
Of the fit time and of the method of the second examination.
Which is the last part of the work: how the process is to be concluded
by the pronouncement of a
definite and just sentence
Of common purgation and especially of the trial by red-hot iron,
to which witches appeal...excerpt "For
in the territory of the Counts of Furstenburg and the Black Forest
there was a notorious witch who had been the subject of much public complaint.
At last, as the result of a general demand, she was seized by the Count
and accused of various evil works of witchcraft. When she was being
tortured and questioned, wishing to escape from their hands, she appealed
to the trial by red-hot iron; and the Count, being young and inexperienced,
allowed it. And she then carried the red-hot iron, not only for the
stipulated three paces, but for six, and offered to carry it even farther.
Then, although they ought to have taken this as manifest proof that she
was a witch, (since none of the Saints dared to tempt the help of God in
this manner) she was released from her chains and lives to the present
time, not without grave scandal to the Faith in those parts. (Part three,
question xvii)
Of the manner of pronouncing a sentence which is final and definitive
Of the various degrees of overt suspicion which render the accused
liable to be sentenced
And it continues on with methods for passing sentence in various
circumstances. This book speaks for itself and offers a glimpse
into
Medieval Christianity.
Part I... 
Part II...
Part III...
~*~NEVER
AGAIN
THE
BURNING
TIMES~*~
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