This page intentionally left blank THE HAMMER OF WITCHES TheMalleusMaleficarum,firstpublishedin1486,isthestandard medieval text on witchcraft and it remained in print throughout theearlymodernperiod.Itsdescriptionsoftheevilactsofwitches and the ways to exterminate them continue to contribute to our knowledge of early modern law, religion and society. Mackay’s highlyacclaimedtranslation,basedonhisextensiveresearchand detailed analysis of the Latin text, is the only complete English versionavailable,andthemostreliable.Nowavailableinasingle volume,thiskeytextisatlastaccessibletostudentsandscholars ofmedievalhistoryandliterature.Withdetailedexplanatorynotes andaguidetofurtherreading,thisvolumeoffersauniqueinsight into the fifteenth-century mind and its sense of sin, punishment andretribution. Christopher S. Mackay isProfessorintheDepartmentof HistoryandClassicsattheUniversityofAlberta.Heistheauthor of,amongmanybooksandarticles,AncientRome:AMilitaryand PoliticalHistory(CambridgeUniversityPress,2005). THE HAMMER OF WITCHES A Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum CHRISTOPHER S. MACKAY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521747875 © Christopher S. Mackay 2006, 2009 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2009 ISBN-13 978-0-511-53982-4 eBook (EBL) ISBN-13 978-0-521-74787-5 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Kelliaemeae Coniugiatqueadiutrici optimae Contents Maps pageviii Introduction 1 Authors 2 Purposeofthework 6 Compositionandpublicationofthework 7 Outlineofthework 12 Sources 16 Disputedquestions 17 Intellectualcontext 19 Roleofwomeninsorcery 25 Historicalbackground 27 OverallassessmentoftheMalleus 31 Suggestionsforfurtherreading 39 Notesonthetranslation 42 (a) Methodofmakingreferencestothetext 42 (b) Sourcesnotfromcanonlaw 42 (c) Citationsofcanonlaw 52 (d) Outliningofthedisputedquestions 55 (e) Remarksoncertainwordsinthetranslation 56 (f) Difficultieswithgrammaticalgender 58 the hammer of witches (malleus maleficarum)59 vii N N N °50 °48 °46 °14E °14E hov urg AdriaticSea c b Ta ns Map1 °°°°12E10E8E6EHESSECologneüttichMarburgAachenLiège)Rhine ellesoMMain MeuNurembergSEE DETAILse RohrbachMetzRegeWiesenthalLendelbrunn erabsIunaLandshutDStrasburgFreisingAugsburgSchlettstadthcneLnlIlFreiburgLakeIConstanceeFüssennôLindauaSBasel InnsbruckEinsiedelnBerne BrixenBoltigennLausanneBormio/emmiWormserbadSGenevaTrent SAVOYComo Etsch 50100150200250 km 50100150 miles°°10E12E SouthernGermanyandsurroundingareas L( 0 0 °4E enôhR N N N N °4E °50 °48 °46