The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger (Paperback)

~ Montague Summers (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Full text of most important witchhunter's "bible," used by both Catholics and Protestants. First published in 1486, the book includes everything known at the time about cults, illicit sex, dealings with the devil, and more.

Language Notes

Text: English, Latin (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 278 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; New edition (June 1, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486228029
• ISBN-13: 978-0486228020
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #216,352 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

237 of 262 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hammer of The Witches: A Classic of Ignorance, November 25, 1999

By	J. H. Minde "Can you keep up?" (Boca Raton, Florida and Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Rating the MALLEUS MALEFICARUM is an exercise is frustration. One cannot "enjoy" this book; like MEIN KAMPF, one reads it for its historical importance. This book should form a part of every thinking person's library as a warning beacon, if for no other reason that it is a seminal textbook on the inhumanity of humanity.

First written in 1484 by the Friars Kramer and Sprenger, (and reprinted endlessly), the MALLEUS was immediately given the imprimatur of the Holy See as the most important work on witchcraft, to date. And so it remains.

The MALLEUS MALEFICARUM is a compendium of fifteenth century paranoias, all the more frightening for its totalitarian modernity. ("Anything that is done for the benefit of the State is Good.") In form, it is a "how to" guide on recognizing, capturing, torturing, and executing witches. In substance, it is a diatribe against women, heretics, independent thinkers, romantic lovers, the sensitive passions, human sexuality, and compassion.

"Vanity of vanities" indeed. In writing the MALLEUS, Kramer and Spenger claimed to be doing "God's work"; these men, and those who followed them worshiped only their own arrogance. Read it and Be Afraid, my friends.

Forming a portion of every working law library for 300 years, there is no estimate of how many women and men were put to death through the mechanism of this benighted book. Some historians estimate that the numbers may run into the millions.

The text is rife with "caselaw" examples of witchcraft, some of which are clearly delusional and some downright silly, or would be, if they hadn't ended in gruesome deaths for the accused. Take the case of the poor woman who was burned for offering the opinion that "it might rain today" shortly before it did.

Of note are Kramer and Spenger's assertions that prosecutors are (conveniently) "immune" to witchcraft, and their instructions to Judges to tell the truth to the witch that there will be mercy shown (with the mental reservation that death is a mercy to those prisoner to the devil). Such twisted logic is the cornerstone of the MALLEUS.

The translator, Rev. Montague Summers, waxes rhapsodic on the "learning" and "wisdom" of the authors of the MALLEUS. He was apparently of a mind with Kramer and Spenger, and wrote two embarrassingly effusive and bigoted introductions (in 1928 and 1946), praising the "brillance" of this work and its importance in this "feministic" era.

Summers' commentary is as frightening as anything Kramer and Spenger wrote in the text proper, the more so for being 20th century, and particularly post-World War Two. Like the Papal Bull of VIII which is now considered integral with the MALLEUS, future commentators will make much of the statements of Summers, a "modern" man.

In short, the MALLEUS MALEFICARUM was a license to kill. And it was used far too often and far too freely.

Kramer and Spenger's madness did not die with them; but how many have died with their madness?

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing but valuable text for students of the European witch hunt., January 13, 2006

By	Ms. H. Sinton "dragondrums" (Ingleby Barwick. U.K.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This infamous text is essential for any serious student of witchcraft in early modern Europe. Jakob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer were two Dominican monks who wrote this `guide' to witchcraft in 1486. It served as a guide book for inquisitors during the Inquisition, providing information on identifying witches, wringing confessions from them and discussing suitable punishment of offenders.
This text has become the definitive example of misogyny in the witch-hunts. Throughout the book there are negative references to women such as `When a woman thinks alone she thinks evil', `She is a liar by nature', `she is more carnal than a man as shown by her carnal abominations'. It also goes on to describe women as defective, weak, and basically claims any misfortune from illness through to crop failure was due to malign magic. Nothing had a natural cause in their view. Witches, according to Kramer and Sprenger, were responsible for all this plus infanticide, cannibalism, consorting with demons and any other abominable behaviour they could imagine.
Putting the misogyny aside, this text gives an in depth, if somewhat harrowing, view of what was involved when identifying, interrogating and punishing the unfortunate accused. It is not a comfortable read to say the least, showing as it does mankind's complete inhumanity to fellow man during this period. This is no lightweight, quick read but it is divided into manageable sections that make it less onerous to study and an excellent contents section makes it very simple to find particular topics. As a primary source it is an invaluable study aid and is a book that is a `must have' on any historians bookshelf.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Personal opinion aside, it's still primary source material, May 22, 2002

By	tr0g (Deer Park, TX United States) - See all my reviews

I really must admit that I'm amazed at the people who either are horrified that this book exists or think it's the absolute truth. This book was written nearly 400 years ago, and needs to be viewed in context, which too many of the reviewers are incapable of doing. But enough of the soapbox, on to the book...

First off,... ignore the introduction. Rev. Summers has some truly bizarre and unsupportable beliefs about the prevalence and organization of witchcraft in the middle ages. Fifth column working to overthrow the whole of Christendom? ...

Once you get past the oddly humourous intro, the book begins to bog. It's a slow, dull read. However, the material is vital in getting an understanding of the Church's then-current philosophy on dealing with witchcraft. You're not going to get a better picture unless you read the original Latin, which I doubt few of us are prepared for anymore. How much of this is necessary to the casual reader is debatable. There are multitudes of general histories written with a slant towards any position you favor that cover the same ground. They also don't get into as much detail as this, but then, how much do you need? It's primary source material for the truly dedicated.

Taken for what it is, a historical document, it gets 5 stars. Take off a half-star for the sometime ...[bad] printing you get from Dover. Take off another half-star for lingering doubts about the translation. Anybody with as much of an axe to grind as the Rev. Montague Summers may have 'aided' the translation a bit, but that is simply speculation on my part.