The Misogyny of Witchcraft Main Menu Introduction Heinrich Kramer (1430-1505) and Malleus Malleficarum A noble science? Witchcraft and mental illness The beginning of the end List of works in the exhibition Further reading

Malleus Maleficarum and Misogyny

41401
Historically, witches were believed to be people who had become agents of the Devil and given magic powers, and could be either male or female. “Witchcraft” was evidenced by two things: a pact with the Devil to harm the Church, and the performing of evil deeds (malefici). These deeds were identified as either of harm to Christians and designed to break their faith, or so enjoyable to Christians as to seduce them away from their faith.

Malleus Maleficarum argues that women were more susceptible to demonic temptations because they are the weaker of the sexes—weaker in faith and more disposed to carnality than men. Even the title of the book utilizes the feminine tense—maleficarum rather than maleficorum. Kramer’s theory of witchcraft suggested that the only way to rid the world of the evils of witchcraft was by eliminating those who practiced it, i.e. women.

While later works on witchcraft did not always agree with Kramer’s ideas, none of them challenged the view that women were more inclined than men to be witches and to practice witchcraft. Almost exclusively, many of these works refer to tropes like the witches’ sabbath, or to witches copulating with the devil, all of which assume witches to be women. These ideas were so firmly engrained in the common imagination that no other authors on the subject felt the need to explain why most witches were women.

Almost all of the 16th and 17th century authors writing on witchcraft continued, and thus reinforced, the relationship between witchcraft and women.
 

Contents of this path:

  1. Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516)
  2. Jean Bodin (c. 1529-1596)
  3. Martin Antoine Del Rio (1551-1608)
  4. Joseph Glanvill (1636-1680)

This page references: