The Malleus Maleficarum: The Relation Between Witchcraft And Religion

During on a time when the Church was in control of everything with Europe and where people are a superstitious cowardly lot, the idea of magic and witchcraft was something the Church have condemned as the influential work of the devil. During the 15th century, accusation of witchcraft started to rise and some within or related to the Church were jumping on the chance to prosecute any accused witches. One of these early prosecutors was Heinrich Kramer, an inquisitor who as expelled due to his senile actions. He would later be joined by German bishop Jacob Sprenger to prosecute those in question of dealing in witchcraft. And in 1487, Kramer wrote a treatise called the Malleus Maleficarum which was about his belief in witchcraft and how to refute any claims against its existence. While many sections of the Bible and other written work are featured, many of these sections are missing key parts or were manipulated to generate more evidence in favor of the
While introducing the methods used by the devil, Kramer had the flow of his writing to focus of how the devil achieve his grasps on women through sexual means. He wrote “on the part of the devil; first, of what element the body is made that he assumes; secondly, whether the act is always accompanied by the injection of semen received from another…; fourthly, whether the act is invisible to any who may be standing by” (41). Although he listed all the methods the devil use to cause women to begin a life of witchcraft, the author failed to explain why the devil choose these method or when choose these women. Kramer also does not address the alternative tactics the devil could employ, bring more attention to the sexual ways as if the devil was raping these women into witchcraft. Kramer does not only blame the devil though as he also place the blame on the women