Europe 1450-1750: Malleus Maleficarum

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What ideas are left out?

I would say this hardly serves the purpose that it is trying to have. The indirect vocabulary does not give objective measures in order to properly identify and persecute a witch. We know now that witches are not real and therefore the information in the manual is meaningless. But even if one believed that witches are real, there is no direct guide to prove someone is a witch rather than a normal person. The manual could contain objective punishment but the excerpt does not mention it. The table of contents image shows the various methods of punishment but they are all different. It is not uncommon to have laws in place to prosecute witches.This manual does not actually serve its purpose.

What are the big ideas?

The historical context describes it best when it says, "The Malleus Maleficarum outlines the process by which one became a witch, the signs of witchcraft, and the most effective methods rooting out witches from the community." Those are the ideas that a covered generally and specific topics such as "What is to be done after the Arrest, and whether the Names of the Witnesses should be made Known to the Accused." are mentioned in the Table of Contents.

How does the author communicate ideas?

The authors wrote this manual to have literal meaning but we do see some metaphors and other literary devices in the writing. For example, "For they kill them by emptying their purses, consuming their strength, and causing them to forsake God..." Of course strength is not consumable but the wording is used to draw caution to witches and make sure that you can spot one when they are in your presence.

Who wrote it? Why?

Before Martin Luther wrote the Ninety Five Theses, Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, who were German monks, wrote this source. The historical context does a good job of summarizing the reason for writing the manual. The quote is "The Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of Witches, was essentially a manual designed to help Christian authorities identify and prosecute witches." The context goes on to mention the genuine worry about witches which seems absurd to us but was a large issue for people in that time period.

What does it look like?

The source appears to be a sort of list of characteristics to describe the nature of witches. The list does not contain numbers but each new paragraph talks about witches and warns people about them. For example, "Let us consider also her gait, posture, and habit, in which is vanity of vanities. There is no man in the world who studies so hard to please the good God even as ordinary woman studies by her vanities to please men..." This quote is a part of the list that states what to look out for when looking for witches and how to avoid their tricks.

What does it reveal about the values and beliefs of the past?

This source reveals how uneducated people of the time could be so easily persuaded. The ideas in the manual are laughable yet they were very believable to many in those times. Of course witches were viewed as opposing the church which was the most popular religion in Europe at the time. Anything opposing the church was bad and anything or anyone that did was evil.

Did it result in change?

The impact is not exactly known like mentioned in the context but this source shows how this was an important idea for many. These beliefs would eventually die off and science would prove that witches were indeed not real. Witches are known today as being a part of Halloween which is a holiday for fake monsters. The idea that witches are real was popular from 1450-1750 but even kids today know that witches are not real. Witches are rather irrelevant today except for that one day a year. The events regrading witches do matter anymore which means that there was a change in belief but it did not make a large impact.

Which questions can this source help me answer? Which can it not?

This source can help me answer some questions about the popular ideas and who followed them. If the educated believed witches were fake then that leaves those who are not educated to believe they are. Education was not available to everyone which meant that some basic critical thinking skills were not common for most people. This source does not answer how this radical idea started and how it gained popularity. I would also like to know some more of the effects that it had on people. We know now that everyone was wrongfully prosecuted of witchcraft but what did that do to civilization and how to functioned?

Whose perspectives are omitted?

The historical context mentions "Some Christians believed that witches were nothing but superstitions and folklore; in fact, this had been the dominant view among the educated and rulers throughout most of the Middle Ages." It is interesting to note that the educated opposed the idea that witches are real. That could be important to realize that witches are indeed not real. This manual was not created in opposition of something but I would predict that it was due to following the trends of popularity at the time.

Whose perspective does it reflect?

The topic of this manual was very popular. The historical context states, "The belief in witches became so widespread that, in 1603, English King James I published his own work outlining the different kinds of witches and demons that threatened humanity." People of power such as Kings controlled a lot of the belief of their people. For most people, witches were a real issue and identifying them was very important therefore making this manual very popular.