The European witchcraft trials of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had their foundations in both medieval and Christian theologies. In 1487 Heinrich and James Spencer, published what became the definitive text on the subject of witchcraft, called The Malleus Maleficarum or The Hammer of Witches. Within fifty years, the barney put forth by the treatise became widely accepted and was soon the guidebook for judges prosecuting witchcraft trials. Did the treatise reflect what people thought at the time believed about witches, or was it a departure of learned and political thought? About two hundred years after publication, the Salem Witch Trials exploded in the Puritan colony of Massachusetts. In examination of this event concludes that the judges and the Institoris are in complete disagreement for what constitutes as witchcreaft.
The Hammer of Witches translated by Christopher S Mackay was originally published in 1486 by James Spencer and Heinrick Kramer titled the Malleus Maleficarum. Separated into three parts or chapters, the Hammer of Witches serves multiple purposes. The first part is organized to provide the correct method of preaching the reality of sorcery and his presence within select members of society. It directly conflicted with the preaching’s of praise who deny witchcraft. Though it may have been taught to many priests despite personal belief differences, the target audience is assumed to be all those prosecuting which cases. Part two addresses how the sorcery is conducted in the proper way to counteract.
Jacobus Sprenger joined the Dominican convent in 1452 at the age of fifteen. He later on went to become a professor of theology, serving as an administrator, and in overall important figure in the Dominican Order. By actively promoting a reform movement within the Order, he advocated a return to a simpler way of life among city residents of the Dominican convent. He was appointed to the status of Inquisitor in 1481 in the Rhineland yet...