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The Witches Hammer By Heinrich Kramer And Jacob Sprenger

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The Witches Hammer is a treatise that was written in 1486 and first published in Germany in 1487 on the prosecution of witches. Also named the Malleus Maleficarum, it was written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger both of whom were clergy in the Dominican Order. Kramer wrote the book to explain his views on witchcraft and to challenge arguments against the existence of witchcraft. It is believed that Sprenger got involved with the project because Kramer wanted to have more official authority in its background. The preface of the Malleus Maleficarum was a Papal Bull, which is a type of letter issued by a Pope intended to authenticate a publication. This Papal Bull written by Pope Innocent VIII, addressed Kramer and Sprenger’s title of …show more content…

The book offered that witches performed carnal acts with the devil and questions the roles of incubi and succubi in pregnancies. During this time, people were prone to “see” witches in just about anyone. It was common practice to torture a person until they confessed to being a witch. This included the use of thumbscrews, racking, denying of food and water and sleep deprivation. I believe that most people confessed to being a witch just to stop the pain. The jails that people accused of witchcraft were kept in, had horrible conditions. Small confined spaces packed with too many people, no food or water and no good sanitation. A lot of people died in these deplorable …show more content…

The king declared that a confession under torture could not be trusted so he outlawed the torture of witches. He also stated that there had to be a devil’s mark on a person’s body, which was said to look like either a mole or an age spot. Having this kind of procedure to follow stopped a lot of people from being wrongly accused, and some of the time people were not executed. Kramer wanted to disprove the argument that witchcraft did not exist. In 1484 Kramer was expelled from the city of Innsbruck for his failed attempt at prosecuting so-called witches. The local Bishop dismissed him as a “senile old man”. In the Malleus Maleficarum Kramer states that three essentials are needed for witchcraft, the evil intentions of the witch, the permission of god, and the aid of the

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