This episode dives into the history behind one of the most significant texts in the history of the early modern witch hunts that took hold across several European countries, the Malleus Maleficarum. This consequential text defined what constituted a witch, the depravity of witches and their practices, and ultimately served as a guide through the legal processes one would need to pursue in order to secure a conviction and an execution of such a witch. This book retains one of the bloodiest legacies in history. Take a listen to learn where it came from, and what effect it had on the expansive waves of witch hunts in early modern European history.
Sources:
Pope Innocent VIII, Summis desiderantes affectibus (December 5, 1484), from George L. Burr, ed., The Witch-Persecutions Vol. 3, No. 4 (1896).
Heinrich Kraemer, Malleus Maleficarum, English translation by Rev. Montague Summers (1928).
Reginald Scot, The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), republished by Dover Publications, 1972.
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Arran Birks, “The ‘Hammer of Witches’: An Earthquake in the Early Witch Craze,” The Historian (January 24, 2020).
Hans Peter Broedel, “The Malleus Maleficarum and the Construction of Witchcraft: Theology and Popular Belief,” in Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe, edited by Merry E. Wiesner (2007).
Joni Creed, “King James VI and I: Witch-Hunter and Protector of the Realm,” MA Thesis (2020).
Maral Deyrmenjian, “Pope Innocent VIII (1484-1492) and the Summis desiderantes affectibus” (2020).
Vera Hoorens, Hans Renders, “Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Witchcraft: A Reappraisal,” The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring 2012): 3-18.
Lois Martin, A Brief History of Witchcraft (Running Press, 2010).
Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne
Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer
Additional featured music:
By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com):
"SCP-x1x"
"Satiate Percussion"
"Metaphysik"
"Crowd Hammer"
"Danse of Questionable Tuning"
"Heavy Heart"
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