The Hammer of the Witches

[kudzu]

The Hammer of the Witches


One of the most controversial and infamous texts of all time, The Hammer of the Witches put many innocent people to death.


THE HAMMER

The witch hunter’s bible was referred to in Latin as the Malleus Maleficarum, which translates to mean The Hammer of the Witches.

This text was written in 1486, published in 1487, and consisted of 256 pages of facts proving that witches were real and must be killed.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, researchers speculate that over 30,000 copies were in circulation throughout Europe, during which an estimated 60,000 “witches” were put to death.

The text contains three separate sections: the first is a philosophical explanation of witches’ existence, the second is a clergy guide to recognize a witch, and the third is a legal manual for the accusation, persecution, and death penalty for witchcraft.

THE MAN WITH THE HAMMER

A man named Heinrich Kramer, one of the most infamous witch hunters in history, eventually became the author of The Hammer of the Witches. His initial motivation for writing the text was to prove his theory to many of his critics because he had, thus far, failed as a witch hunter.

The most powerful endorsement the Hammer ever saw was the Papal Bull, a document signed by the Pope himself stating an official church opinion, making it the only book on witchcraft to receive this approval.

It is said that in order to persuade the Pope to condone the Hammer of the Witches, Kramer brought him a sum of money.

Kramer’s favorite punishment for witchcraft is called the “strappado,” which is a device that attaches to the wrists and pulls upward, hanging its victims by their arms until they dislocate.

In Kramer’s first successful trial, he implements this type of torture until two women confess to committing acts of demonic sorcery; for this, they were burned alive.

THE HAMMER'S STRATEGY

The text’s two objectives are to warn the general public against the danger of witches and to give Kramer official authority to hunt them.

The Hammer of the Witches put fear into the general public by warning them that witches were accomplices of the devil.

The text also convinced its readers that witches were a sign of the apocalypse.

The book attempted to persuade its audience that female sexual seduction is another sign of witchcraft.

Often women were blamed for conjuring a hailstorm with the intention of destroying the area's crops.

According to the Hammer, the weak are the most dangerous; it condemned women who were poverty-stricken, mentally ill, and even those who simply practiced herbal medicine.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/the-hammer-of-the-witches.aspx

[kudzu]

Before 1400 it was rare for anyone to be persecuted for witchcraft, but the increasingly common persecution of heresy and failure to fully defeat those heretics paved the way for later criminal prosecution of witchcraft.[

By the 15th century belief in witches was widely accepted in European society. Previously, those convicted of witchcraft typically suffered penalties no more harsh than public penances such as a day in the stocks, but their persecution became more brutal following the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, as witchcraft became widely accepted as a real and dangerous phenomenon. The most vigorous persecutions took place between years 1560 and 1630, ending in Europe around 1780.

Particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries an intense discourse on the nature of witches preoccupied demonologists across Europe and they published many printed sermons, books and tracts. The Catholic Church played an important role in shaping of debate on demonology, but the discourse was not much affected by the Reformation.

Martin Luther was also convinced about the reality and evil of witches, and facilitated development of Protestant demonology. Catholic and Protestant demonologies were similar in their basic beliefs about witches and most writers agreed on the severity of the crime of witchcraft.

It was accepted by both Catholic and Protestant legislatures and witch-hunting was undeniably sponsored by both Protestant and Catholic governments. Witches became heretics to Christianity and witchcraft became the greatest of crimes and sins. Within continental and Roman Law witchcraft was the crimen exceptum, a crime so foul that all normal legal procedures were superseded.

During the Age of Enlightenment, belief in the powers of witches to harm began to die out in the West. For the post-Enlightenment Christians, the disbelief was based on a belief in rationalism and empiricism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum

[kudzu]

Rules for church sanctioned witch burnings.

[Jack]

Punishment for Witches in Modern Day Saudi Arabia:

"Witchcraft"
"Muree bin Ali bin Issa al-Asiri, who was found in possession of talismans, was executed in the southern Najran province in June 2012. A Saudi woman, Amina bin Salem Nasser,[31] was executed for being convicted of practising sorcery and witchcraft in December 2011 in the northern province of Jawf, and a Sudanese man (Abdul Hamid Bin Hussain Bin Moustafa al-Fakki) was executed in a car park in Medina for the same reason in September 20, 2011.[32][33][34] In 2014, Mohammed bin Bakr al-Alawi was beheaded on 5 August for allegedly practicing black magic sorcery[35]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Saudi_Arabia





The Hammer of the Witches


One of the most controversial and infamous texts of all time, The Hammer of the Witches put many innocent people to death.


THE HAMMER

The witch hunter’s bible was referred to in Latin as the Malleus Maleficarum, which translates to mean The Hammer of the Witches.

This text was written in 1486, published in 1487, and consisted of 256 pages of facts proving that witches were real and must be killed.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, researchers speculate that over 30,000 copies were in circulation throughout Europe, during which an estimated 60,000 “witches” were put to death.

The text contains three separate sections: the first is a philosophical explanation of witches’ existence, the second is a clergy guide to recognize a witch, and the third is a legal manual for the accusation, persecution, and death penalty for witchcraft.

THE MAN WITH THE HAMMER

A man named Heinrich Kramer, one of the most infamous witch hunters in history, eventually became the author of The Hammer of the Witches. His initial motivation for writing the text was to prove his theory to many of his critics because he had, thus far, failed as a witch hunter.

The most powerful endorsement the Hammer ever saw was the Papal Bull, a document signed by the Pope himself stating an official church opinion, making it the only book on witchcraft to receive this approval.

It is said that in order to persuade the Pope to condone the Hammer of the Witches, Kramer brought him a sum of money.

Kramer’s favorite punishment for witchcraft is called the “strappado,” which is a device that attaches to the wrists and pulls upward, hanging its victims by their arms until they dislocate.

In Kramer’s first successful trial, he implements this type of torture until two women confess to committing acts of demonic sorcery; for this, they were burned alive.

THE HAMMER'S STRATEGY

The text’s two objectives are to warn the general public against the danger of witches and to give Kramer official authority to hunt them.

The Hammer of the Witches put fear into the general public by warning them that witches were accomplices of the devil.

The text also convinced its readers that witches were a sign of the apocalypse.

The book attempted to persuade its audience that female sexual seduction is another sign of witchcraft.

Often women were blamed for conjuring a hailstorm with the intention of destroying the area's crops.

According to the Hammer, the weak are the most dangerous; it condemned women who were poverty-stricken, mentally ill, and even those who simply practiced herbal medicine.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/the-hammer-of-the-witches.aspx

[Phantasmal]

The Hammer of the Witches


One of the most controversial and infamous texts of all time, The Hammer of the Witches put many innocent people to death.


THE HAMMER

The witch hunter’s bible was referred to in Latin as the Malleus Maleficarum, which translates to mean The Hammer of the Witches.

This text was written in 1486, published in 1487, and consisted of 256 pages of facts proving that witches were real and must be killed.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, researchers speculate that over 30,000 copies were in circulation throughout Europe, during which an estimated 60,000 “witches” were put to death.

The text contains three separate sections: the first is a philosophical explanation of witches’ existence, the second is a clergy guide to recognize a witch, and the third is a legal manual for the accusation, persecution, and death penalty for witchcraft.

THE MAN WITH THE HAMMER

A man named Heinrich Kramer, one of the most infamous witch hunters in history, eventually became the author of The Hammer of the Witches. His initial motivation for writing the text was to prove his theory to many of his critics because he had, thus far, failed as a witch hunter.

The most powerful endorsement the Hammer ever saw was the Papal Bull, a document signed by the Pope himself stating an official church opinion, making it the only book on witchcraft to receive this approval.

It is said that in order to persuade the Pope to condone the Hammer of the Witches, Kramer brought him a sum of money.

Kramer’s favorite punishment for witchcraft is called the “strappado,” which is a device that attaches to the wrists and pulls upward, hanging its victims by their arms until they dislocate.

In Kramer’s first successful trial, he implements this type of torture until two women confess to committing acts of demonic sorcery; for this, they were burned alive.

THE HAMMER'S STRATEGY

The text’s two objectives are to warn the general public against the danger of witches and to give Kramer official authority to hunt them.

The Hammer of the Witches put fear into the general public by warning them that witches were accomplices of the devil.

The text also convinced its readers that witches were a sign of the apocalypse.

The book attempted to persuade its audience that female sexual seduction is another sign of witchcraft.

Often women were blamed for conjuring a hailstorm with the intention of destroying the area's crops.

According to the Hammer, the weak are the most dangerous; it condemned women who were poverty-stricken, mentally ill, and even those who simply practiced herbal medicine.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/the-hammer-of-the-witches.aspx
Yikes, as a person who likes natural remedies, I would have been a suspect.

[kudzu]

Yikes, as a person who likes natural remedies, I would have been a suspect.

I know.. can you imagine... and it was church sanctioned!

[Phantasmal]

I know.. can you imagine... and it was church sanctioned!
Isn’t it always. Look whose pushing most of the hate towards others these days, the evangelicals.

[Nomad]

Yikes, as a person who likes natural remedies, I would have been a suspect.

You would have been a cinder.

[kudzu]

Isn’t it always. Look whose pushing most of the hate towards others these days, the evangelicals.

Don't ever tell me that human beings cannot go collectively crazy!

"Between the 16th and 17th centuries, researchers speculate that over 30,000 copies of Hammer of the Witches were in circulation throughout Europe, during which an estimated 60,000 “witches” were put to death."

[Phantasmal]

Don't ever tell me that human beings cannot go collectively crazy!

"Between the 16th and 17th centuries, researchers speculate that over 30,000 copies of Hammer of the Witches were in circulation throughout Europe, during which an estimated 60,000 “witches” were put to death."

I believe they can, our nation did, we have Trump.

[kudzu]

I believe they can, our nation did, we have Trump.

There was a Pope who declared that cats were the "familiars" of Satan.. So he had all the cats killed and the result was waves of Bubonic plague.. Another example of the role of superstition and ignorance.

[Phantasmal]

There was a Pope who declared that cats were the "familiars" of Satan.. So he had all the cats killed and the result was waves of Bubonic plague.. Another example of the role of superstition and ignorance.
This I knew, the effects of extremism, crazy, huh

[kudzu]

This I knew, the effects of extremism, crazy, huh

The story of the Emperor's New Clothes is a good illustration of that collective madness.

[kudzu]

The story of the Emperor's New Clothes is a good illustration of that collective madness.Yes and collective madness is alive and well in 2019.

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[jimmymccready]

Some of you above are exhibiting an unhealthy fascination with the subject.

[kudzu]

Some of you above are exhibiting an unhealthy fascination with the subject.Mass hysteria is not new.

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[headsup]

I am not sure about that one?