What is the cult treatise "Hammer of the Witches" about?

First letter "d"

Second letter "e"

Third letter "m"

The last beech is the letter "I"

Answer to the question "What is the cult treatise "Hammer of the Witches" about?", 11 letters:
demonology

Alternative questions in crossword puzzles for the word demonology

Science and religious practice that focuses on supernatural beings called demons, spirits, or geniuses

Belief in evil spirits

Word definitions for demonology in dictionaries

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The meaning of the word in the dictionary Great Soviet Encyclopedia
(from demon and ... logic), in a number of religions the doctrine of evil spirits, historically dating back to the primitive belief in spirits. D. is most significant in religions with a dualistic division of the universe into the world of good and the world of evil—in Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism. In later religions...

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov The meaning of the word in the dictionary Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. D.N. Ushakov
demonology, pl. no, w. (from the Greek daimon - deity and logos - teaching). The system of mythical ideas about evil spirits (ethnol.). The scientific discipline that studies these mythical representations. The branch of medieval theology that dealt with evil spirits (historical)....

Wikipedia The meaning of the word in the Wikipedia dictionary
Demonology is a common name for heterogeneous myths about demons. The name is used by analogy with modern scientific directions. The main directions in demonology are usually the study of demons, the description of the behavior of demons, the description of invocation rites ...

New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova. The meaning of the word in the dictionary New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.
well. Teachings about Demons (2), existing in some religions.

Examples of the use of the word demonology in the literature.

He not only goes completely into demonology, he does not for a moment forget the theoretical philosophy of his teacher and tries, as it were, to test demonological practice with the help of purely theoretical philosophies.

Now he was looking for literature on witchcraft and wizardry, the occult and demonology, and when the Providence libraries ran out of steam he took a train to Boston to rummage through the riches of the great library at Coplay Square, the Harvard and Zinon Research Libraries, where rare biblical works were available.

This demonology illustrated by several curious stories about the Magi and magicians in Russia of that time and parallel biblical examples.

This demonology widely used quotations from Western anti-Semitic sources - the writings of Hitler or Rosenberg in Germany, Fox or Jordan in England, ancient Muslim sources, these were also imitations of Western witty anti-Semitic jokes, sometimes even from Jewish sources.

According to Trachtenberg, Christian influence may have affected demonology, or the science of demons, occupied a less significant place than angelology, or the science of angels.

Hello dear readers of the site Sprint Response. Today in this article you can see the questions in the crossword No. 19 "AiF" 2017 and the answers to them. Answers to the crossword puzzle in the newspaper Arguments and Facts No. 19 for 2017 can be seen below, the number of letters in the word and the place of the word in the crossword grid are indicated in brackets. Answers to the crossword can be viewed at the bottom of the article in a compact form.

Horizontally:

1. Fuel for bahval (14 word horizontally).
4. Square-nested ... planting potatoes (6 word horizontally).
9. Who “provides immortality after death” for our smaller brothers? (12 word horizontally).
10. Language transformation (7th word horizontally).
12. Soap, but not opera (4th word horizontally).
13. The art of hitting notes with movements (5th word horizontally).
14. “Rush ... on a dolphin, blowing a silver horn” (5th word horizontally).
16. How much compensation did Ostap Bender receive from Alexander Koreiko? (7 word horizontally).
20. Who is appointed over the monks? (6 word horizontally).
22. "Aspen weapon" against vampires (3rd word horizontally).
23. "No need to frown, ...!" (4 word horizontally).
27. Blank for bouncer (5th word horizontally).
28. In which of our regional centers does the way through abroad lie? (11 word horizontally).
31. Where mice will definitely not be left without food? (5th word horizontally).
32. Which Martha became the third wife of Ivan the Terrible? (8 word horizontally).
34. Surname of Pope John Paul 2 (7th word horizontally).
35. Which flower is associated with the goddess Diana? (6 word horizontally).
39. Crisp for a sweet tooth (4 word horizontally).
40. “In big trouble and ... thicker” (5th word horizontally).
41. "Artificial interruption" of power (word 9 horizontally).
42. Skirt on Sean Connery for special occasions (word 4 horizontally).
43. “Who has hands in manure, on his lips ...” (Finnish proverb) (3rd word horizontally).
45. A fabulous hard worker who repaid his employer for his stinginess (5th word horizontally).
46. ​​Cartoon lion who went on vacation to Africa (word 9 horizontally).
47. Where is Raymond Pauls from? (4 word horizontally).
48. Which lizard was once Australia's top predator? (5th word horizontally).
49. What is listed on the stock exchange? (5th word horizontally).
50. "Taxi driver without a license" in driver's jargon (7th word horizontally).
51. "Guarantee" that you will keep your mouth shut (4 word horizontally).
52. Game of throwers (5 word horizontally).

Vertically:

1. Loss "in a state of passion" (12th word vertically).
2. Table protector (8 word vertically).
3. Russian artist who had a hand in the creation of Budyonovka (8 word vertically).
5. The cult film "... the Jurassic period" (4 word vertically).
6. What metal did alchemists associate with Saturn? (6 word vertically).
7. Who plays the saxophone in the film Silver Lily of the Valley? (6 word vertically).
8. “Pass us by and forgive us our happiness” (classic novel) (5th word vertically).
11. Which European country has the world's longest maritime border with Canada? (5 word vertically).
12. Heat in hell (5 word vertically).
15. Night state of a healthy brain (5th word vertically).
17. Artistic enamel (7th word vertically).
18. An employee who helps to "settle scores" (word 9 vertically).
19. A bird that swallows prey without removing its beak from the mud (5th word vertically).
21. "Bloody Steel" from Pushkin's "Black Shawl" (5th word vertically).
22. “Area of ​​an official” (7th word vertically).
24. What is the theme of the cult treatise "Hammer of the Witches"? (11 word vertically).
25. Smoke over boiling water (3rd word vertically).
26. Muscat thickets (11th word vertically).
28. From what swamp plant do magicians make the "rod of the ruler of the sublunar world"? (5 word vertically).
29. Venetian ruler (3rd word vertically).
30. "French Spencer Tracy", who had a stormy affair with Marlene Dietrich (5th word vertically).
33. Who “brings light to people”? (8 word vertically).
36. "Salo in a frying pan" (7th word vertically).
37. How are the croupiers paid? (3 words vertically).
38. Which vegetable should not be eaten for kidney problems? (7 word vertically).
39. "Golden capital" of Siberia (7th word vertically).
41. What do they put on “looking at night”? (6 word vertically).
44. Which Tom was played by Matt Damon in Anthony Minghella's crime drama? (5 word vertically).
46. ​​Braid decor (4th word vertically).

Witches and sorcerers gathered for games with their infernal lovers at midnight: in the mountains, on forest lawns, in gardens or around the gallows. When they met, they ate and drank without knowing the measure, blasphemed, made noise, boasted of their villainy and insidious plans, beat the muddler and glorified Satan. But the main place at these gatherings was given to wild dances, during which naked men and women with torches in their hands, pressed back to back, furiously writhed and bawled obscene songs. These wild dances ended in the predawn hour with wild lustful games in which demons, women and men, indiscriminately copulated with each other. In contrast to such frequent night gatherings, the Sabbath was in the nature of a festive satanic mass. Sabbaths were arranged for the most part on church holidays, mainly on Walpurgis Night and the night of Ivan Kupala. The main thing here was Satan himself, at the appearance of which those present had to bow their knees and glorify him with a prayer: “Our Satan, who are in hell ...” After such a greeting, witches and sorcerers laid gifts at his feet, mainly the bodies of murdered babies. After the new members of the sect were introduced to Satan, the feast began. During it, not simple human dishes were served (as at ordinary witch gatherings), but the most vile ones: fried human meat, crow stew, boiled moles and frogs.

Then a dance began, during which, to the deafening sounds of flutes and drums, the participants of the gathering, obscenely writhing, jumped backwards until their ranks closed, and then the most unbridled orgy began.

The culmination of the Sabbat was the solemn worship of Satan, who during this ceremony sat on his throne, turning into a huge shaggy goat with flaming eyes and horns glowing with icy light. All those present were to come close to him on their knees in order to kiss him under the tail; and from time to time it emitted fetid winds. The satanic mass ended with a solemn reviling of God and the trampling of crosses and consecrated hosts. When Satan left the coven, the witches still had to settle many different things: cook an ointment for themselves, talk about their immediate plans. At dawn, the assembled people set off on their return journey.

Hans Baldung Green

The famous painting by the German Northern Renaissance artist Hans Baldung Green (1485-1545) depicts two witches bringing bad weather. They flew on a goat, which lay down between them. With the help of spells and witchcraft broth, witches prepare bad weather, and now blood-red thunderclouds appear in the sky.

Accusing witches and sorcerers of "damaging witchcraft at the instigation of the Devil", they were credited with the most heinous crimes.

The judges diligently noted all the magical means used by sorcerers: conspiracies and spells, painted or scratched signs, dolls depicting people who were spoiled, a wide variety of poisons, tinctures and ointments, magic wands and magic needles, poisonous worms and insects, poisoned spirit and the notorious "evil eye". These and many other means were used by witches, building their machinations against people, animals and everything that exists.

Most often, witches were accused of causing sickness. Even today, the name of sudden pain in the lower back reminds of this: "witch's backache." They were also blamed for male impotence, female infertility, congenital deformities, sudden clouding of the eyes, and various mental illnesses. Under torture, the accused confessed to even more heinous crimes, such as poisoning pregnant women or strangling newborns, whose bodies were needed to prepare an ointment that allows you to fly, or a decoction from which vineyards wither.

Damage to livestock was also among the favorite devilish machinations. Witch hunters immediately began to look for the culprits if the cows suddenly turned sour milk. After all, witches and sorcerers mix poison into the grass and send damage to the cattle!

Once the witches rubbed the magic ointment on the animals, they could be paralyzed. And then: the peasants now and then found bloody carcasses of animals in the pasture, torn to pieces by witches or sorcerers who turned into wolves. In addition, treatises on witches said that the hatred of the witch sect is directed not only at people and animals, but also at all the creations of the Lord. Hence the corrosive questions of the judges: did the accused encroach on the established world order? Did they not cause, for example, a thunderstorm by blowing a whip on the water? Were hailstones made of water and stones? Did they overturn the pot, causing frost to destroy the plants and fruits under it? Didn't they happen, at the instigation of the Devil, to revive mice, rats, midges and other pests of the fields from dirt and sewage, thus causing hunger? The inquisitors worked tirelessly until the suspected witch under torture "repented" of all these, and even much worse sins.

Medieval engraving

In the second half of the 15th century, witch-hunts gradually spread to the entire north of Europe, first to southern Germany, then to the Rhineland and northern Germany. The most zealous advocates of this persecution were the learned Dominican monks Heinrich Kramer (lat. Heinrich Institoris) and Jacob Sprenger. However, both met with misunderstanding and resistance from the German bishops, princes and city authorities.

Then the enraged Institoris, who since 1479 had been acting inquisitor of Upper Germany, went to Rome to seek help from the pope himself. His trip was a success. On December 5, 1484, Pope Innocent VIII (1484-1492) issued the so-called "Bulla on Witchcraft" ("Summis desiderantes affectibus" - "With all the thoughts of the soul"). In it, he unconditionally repeated everything that the fanatical Institoris had assured him of: witches now bred throughout Germany; The Church and the Christian faith are in danger of death. He, the supreme shepherd of all Christians, calls on all those in power to strongly support the "beloved sons" of Institoris and Sprenger in the matter of exposing and eradicating the diabolical conspiracy. Bulla, propagated thanks to printing, received the widest distribution and attracted everyone's attention.

Sprenger and Institoris skillfully took advantage of this circumstance, supplementing the papal word with a huge treatise on witches, published in 1487 under the title "" ("Malleus maleficarum"). This pernicious book, consisting of 3 parts, 42 chapters and 35 questions, has combined all the knowledge of scholars-theologians about witches and all the practical experience of dealing with them. The efforts of the authors have justified themselves: over the course of two centuries, the Hammer of the Witches was published 29 times, becoming a kind of bible for witch hunters.

Pope Innocent VIII
author of the Bull of Witchcraft

Pope Innocent VIII, author of the infamous Witchcraft Bull, urged the German authorities to persecute and mercilessly exterminate witches. The monks Sprenger and Institoris, on the basis of the bull, published a treatise called The Hammer of the Witches. Today it is difficult for us to understand the reasons for the success of this book, for, even if we forgive the authors for all the superstitions of the time, The Hammer of the Witches will remain one of the most disgusting creations of world literature. He is disgusting in the first place with his obsession. Under the cover of theological learning, the authors indulge in descriptions of the most vile debauchery and perversions. Disgusting is the endless hatred of the authors of this "pious work" towards women. With what contempt these “imperfect creatures” are described in it, stupid, lustful, treacherous, vain, curious, talkative, deceitful, unstable in faith - well, what a prey for the Devil! Finally, the fanatical ruthlessness of the authors is disgusting. Sprenger and Institoris teach spiritual and secular judges to resort to the most unthinkable meanness and cruelty in order to hunt down and exterminate witches and sorcerers. In this case, in their opinion, even deliberately false promises are good. However, it was not the "Witch Hammer" that caused the announced witch hunt: these reasons, as we could see, were already enough. The appearance of this treatise only marked that historical moment when the stronghold of reason finally fell and the obsession with witchcraft, like a poisoned cloud, hung over the Christian world of the West. And this happened not in the era of the "gloomy Middle Ages", as many believe, but already at the dawn of the New Age, the time of the birth of the ideas of freedom and the first great victories of the inquisitive human mind!

Paintings on the subject of "Witches and the Inquisition"

Great secrets and mysteries of the Middle Ages Verbitskaya Anna

"Hammer of the Witches" - the bloody bible of the Inquisition

"Hammer of the Witches"... This monstrous work sent thousands of innocent people to the stake for the glory of God. What is this book? Why has there been so much controversy around it for more than 500 years?

So, get acquainted - the table book of the inquisitors "Hammer of the Witches". Be warned, reading is not for the faint of heart. In this medieval "bestseller" you will find descriptions of witches intercourse with Satan, and eating children and male genital organs, and causing storms, hail, plague, and bloody human sacrifices, and the ability to kill with a glance, predict and fly ... Compared to this " Masterpiece” fades all the horrors of Stephen King, Dean Koontz and other writers of the horror genre.

This truly legendary composition "Hammer of the Witches" (German Hexenhammer, Latin Malleus Mcdeficarum) was published in 1486 in the city of Speyer. Its authors were two Dominican monks, Jacob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer (also known as Heinrich Institoris), denunciators of heretics in the Rhineland, located in northern Germany. From the chronicles of that time, one can learn that the pastors were not distinguished by exemplary holiness, and the inhabitants of the region repeatedly complained about them to the bishops. Let's talk in more detail about the authors of "The Hammer".

Heinrich Kramer began his activities in Tyrol, where he quickly set against himself the entire local population. Rumor has it that in order to justify the need for a witch hunt, he persuaded a harlot to hide in a furnace, pretending that the devil had settled there. Her voice blamed many of the people Kramer brutally tortured. Having received numerous complaints, the Bishop of Brixen expelled Cramer, but he received a reward for his labors from Archduke Sigismund. Jacob Sprenger, co-author of Kramer's work, obtained the approval of The Hammer and secured a letter from the theological faculty of the University of Cologne dated 1487. However, the fact is that only four professors from the entire university signed this approval and their support was limited to the statement that parts I and VI were not contradict the Bible and other canonical books, and the last, practical, part is credible due to the evidence given in it. But it has not been published anywhere else and made public. Thus, we can conclude that the letter is a fake, adding prestige to the book. Another interesting fact testifies to the "authority" of the writers of the Hammer of the Witches. Colleagues of Sprenger at the university after his death on December 6, 1495 did not celebrate the funeral mass. There could be two reasons. The first - the deceased bequeathed his property outside of Cologne, and the second - such an attitude could be due to Sprenger's academic dishonesty. However, Pope Innocent VIII supported the activities of the authors of the Hammer. But already in 1491, the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, Thomas Torquemada, recognized the Hammer of the Witches as a heresy. Why did this happen? It turns out that the Inquisition contradicts itself?

The "Holy Department of Heretical Sinfulness", despite the many terrible tales that people who do not know history very well, is not the most bloody phenomenon in the annals of mankind, although not every tyrant was able to compare with it in senseless cruelty. The Hammer was the most popular manual for medieval witch hunters. In the XV century. women were considered not at all the beautiful and weaker sex, but dangerous and insidious messengers of the devil. At best, their lot was children, the church and the kitchen. And if a woman was beautiful and smart, she was accused of witchcraft and fell on the fire. Many of our compatriots, having visited Western Europe, note that there are very few beautiful women there. Spaniards also amaze with a strange love for black clothes, which are worn both on weekdays and on holidays. And this is not an accident - this is a scar left by the "hammer of witches" on the psychology and gene pool of European states.

What caused the birth of the terrible weapon of the Inquisition? Created in 1204, the Inquisition, by law, had the right to inherit the property of convicted heretics, which they used. Cathars, Marans, Hussites were a reliable source of replenishment of the treasury of the Church. When the largest heretical sects were defeated, gaping holes appeared in the budget of the Vatican, which had to be urgently “patched”. Besides, the Inquisition was a comfortable, tried and tested machine with great power. To slow down her work was not only impossible, but also dangerous. The holy fathers began to look for a new source of income - and found it. They became "sorcerers" and "witches". The reason for the accusation of witchcraft could be a rumor, a hint, an anonymous letter. Anyone could fall victim to libel: an artisan, a merchant, and an aristocrat. In the inquisitorial court, all accusations were admitted - the testimony of other convicts, passers-by and even children, which even in those days was not recognized as worthy of trust in ordinary courts. It should be taken into account that the general mental health of the majority of the inhabitants of medieval Europe left much to be desired: for centuries people were frightened by the omnipotent, omnipresent God, who mercilessly punished sinners. To determine who this very sinner and servant of the devil was, the “Hammer of the Witches” was called upon - the most authoritative treatise on demonology in those days, the authenticity of which was confirmed by the Pope himself in his bull. The authors of the publication were well versed in the subject, it was not difficult for them to combine ancient legends and church knowledge in order to compile detailed instructions for identifying witches and fighting them. The consequences of applying the Hammer's recommendations are truly nightmarish.

In just six years, the archbishop - Elector of Trier - burned 368 witches, that is, more than one witch per week died at the stake. In two German villages, women aroused such serious suspicions among the inquisitors that only one woman remained alive in each of them. In three months, 500 imaginary witches were sent to the stake by the Bishop of Geneva. In Savoy, over 800 people were burned on charges of witchcraft. According to the records of the inquisitors themselves, in different parts of Europe for 150 years, about 30 thousand witches were shamefully executed at the stake. The church has always been more than prone to misogyny. It was a real crusade against women, and the bible of its participants was the Hammer of the Witches, which consists of three parts. Each part includes several chapters - in full accordance with the canons of oratory. The chapter, as a rule, begins with a question, and then the authors give a series of arguments and examples, and at the end they give an answer to the question posed. The authors use the texts of the Holy Scriptures, the Canon of Episcopi (Bishop's Canon), the teachings of Aristotle, as well as the "Divine Church and Civil Law" as arguments and evidence of their correctness, although from the point of view of modern psychology this work can be an excellent illustrative material for Freud's theory of sexual deviations. A vivid proof of this is the interpretation by the authors of the word "woman" (femina), which comes from two words - "faith" and "small". No less paradoxical is the interpretation of the word "devil" (diabolus) given in the book. According to the monks, it comes from the words "two" and "death". This symbolizes that the devil kills the physical and spiritual beginning of a person - soul and body. In The Hammer, the most ridiculous prejudices about magic and witchcraft were approved.

The first part of the book tells about the three forces that make up witchcraft, namely: the devil, the sorcerer and God's allowance. It says here that the devil exists, can do supernatural things and witches help him. And God allows it! At the same time, the Church calls witchcraft the worst of crimes. Therefore, the ministers of the Church must fully realize the vileness of divination, which is the essence of renunciation of the Catholic faith, devotion and worship to the Devil, offering gifts to him: the sacrifice of unbaptized children and carnal intercourse. Among the most unreliable were women endowed with beauty. Beauty, as you know, was created by the devil to tempt people. At all times, the owners of an attractive appearance and a sharp mind attracted people and ... had envious people, and most importantly - envious women. Therefore, the spouses, jealous and not shining with beauty and intelligence, often wrote denunciations of pretty charming neighbors - just in case. The inquisitors, all men without exception, could not help but succumb to the charm of their beautiful prisoners. And this was another proof of their diabolical nature and witch gift. Oddly enough, midwives were considered witches. Why? Yes, because women believed them much more than local priests, who could only help a sick woman or a woman in labor with a prayer and knew absolutely nothing about gynecology. The female body seemed to them so unclean and terrible that over time the priests became convinced that a witch could grow fangs in a causal place. Another argument of the inquisitors is that midwives could dedicate babies to the devil or even sacrifice them to him. The inquisitors did not bypass the seduced and abandoned women: “The fallen maidens, abandoned by their lovers, to whom they gave themselves for the sake of a promise to marry them, having lost all hope and from everywhere meeting only shame and shame, turn to the help of the devil.” At the same time, the male seducer was in no way condemned.

With such an enumeration of the amazing talents and deeds of witches, it was believed that disbelief in their abilities was heresy: ... Following the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas, where he spoke about the sabotage of witches, some tried to argue that sorcery does not exist in the world and that it lives only in the imagination of people who attribute to the machinations of witches natural phenomena, the cause of which is hidden. Others recognized the existence of witches, but believed that they only act on the imagination and fantasy with their witchcraft. These false teachings will be exposed and refuted in what follows.

The Bible says that witches exist, and yet "anyone who does not believe in the teachings of Holy Scripture is a heretic." The authors argue that the power of the devil manifests itself most strongly during carnal intercourse. The Hammer explicitly states that "all sorcery comes from the carnal lusts of insatiable women." Witches are divided into three types: those who are engaged in all sorts of sabotage; those who have only healing abilities; those who have both of these witchcraft gifts. There was supposedly a higher category of witches who possessed great power. They drew it from the bodies of devoured babies. Since these sins were great, even criminals excommunicated from the Church, false witnesses, prostitutes, foreigners were allowed to testify against witches in court. The second part of the treatise by Sprenger and Kramer talks about the methods of witchcraft and how it can be removed. Here, not theoretical calculations are already given, but an analysis of practical magic. The authors describe in detail how witches conjure and how you can protect yourself from their spells. Most of the chapters, oddly enough, describe the sexual intercourse of witches with the devil, succubi, incubus, ways of seducing men with the help of witchcraft, removing their genitals and delaying childbearing in women. Other types of witchcraft are also told: turning oneself and other people into an animal, sending diseases, including plague and leprosy, spoiling crops, moving into someone else's body, controlling the forces of the elements ... The authors describe in detail the course of witchcraft rites, for example, sprinkling with water to cause rain, or piercing a wax figurine symbolizing sacrifice with needles. If the witch wanted to steal milk, she pretended to milk a knife stuck in the wall, while telling the devil which cow to milk. Also in the second chapter, eighteen sections are devoted to ways to combat witch sabotage. Among the means of curing spells are offered: pilgrimage to holy places, full confession, exorcism. But only a witch who committed witchcraft, or her death, can return the sexual organ or human appearance. To resist crop failure, natural disasters and diseases, believers must go around the damned places in a procession.

This chapter also mentions categories of people who are not subject to the spells of witches: inquisitors, fighters against witches, people protected by sacred rites and angels. A separate chapter is devoted to male sorcerers.

The basis of the third part of the treatise was the commandment: "Do not leave the fortune tellers alive." The whole procedure is described in detail here: ways to identify witches, bring charges, persuasion, torture, and ways to get a confession.

Silence under torture automatically enrolled the victim in the ranks of the witches. Many inquisitors promised a pardon in exchange for a confession and received it in this way: people believed the promises, and later they were invariably tortured. The inquisitors had to extract a guilty plea from the accused - according to the law, a witch or sorcerer could not be convicted without a confession. This part consists of 35 questions and answers. Oddly enough, most of them are considering acquittal and mitigation. But in reality, the victims rarely managed to escape the fire.

A variety of ways to identify witches have been proposed. This procedure was very important for the indictment. What only means did not come up with fanatics! The witch was recognized by the flight of a knife with the image of a cross thrown over her. A priest could identify all the witches in his parish by bringing an Easter egg into the church. By the way, not all witch hunters dared to carry out this "feat". The legend said that if the witch had time to snatch the egg from him and crush it, then the person who started the test would break his heart. It was believed that children's shoes brought to the church, previously lubricated with fat, could immobilize the sorceress. One of the most common was the water test. In the presence of witnesses, the executioner or the person performing his role tied the right hand of the witch to the left leg, and the left hand to the right, after which the witch was thrown into the water. If she began to sink, then there was no fault on her, and if she floated, it meant that the water did not accept the sinner. Then the fathers-inquisitors had no doubts - a woman definitely serves Satan. There was also an opinion that since the witch could fly, it meant that she weighed less than other people. Thus, people accused of witchcraft were also checked by weighing. These methods were widespread among the people.

Please note that the common people did not share the opinion of the Inquisition regarding witches. If the priests considered women to be the main accomplices of the devil, then the peasants or townspeople were guided in determining the sorcerers not by gender, but by the appearance and behavior of a person. Lonely, unsociable, evil, physically handicapped, as well as those who did not observe local customs, neglected moral standards, or suddenly became rich, could turn out to be sorcerers.

As a rule, they were not touched until something extraordinary happened. Then the search for a sorcerer or witch who caused damage began.

But these methods were used until the 15th century. When the witch hunt gained pan-European proportions, only one procedure began to be widely used for identification - pricking with a needle. Suspicious spots, moles, marks and scars were looked for on the body of those accused of witchcraft and a needle was stuck into them. If the wound did not bleed and the accused did not experience pain, the judges came to the conclusion that this was the mark of the devil, therefore, the person had connections with the unclean.

However, The Hammer of the Witches called into question both this and all previous methods of identifying the devil's accomplices. The authors of the book argued that only a judge can say for sure about the guilt of a witch. It was actually a sentence for all those who fell into the hands of the inquisitors, since the fanatics were not inclined to justify anyone. The only hope of salvation for those against whom direct accusations were not made was the renunciation of heretical thoughts, that is, the recognition of the existence of witches! After all, the Inquisition sentenced witches to be burned not for magic, but for heresy - an agreement with the devil and serving him.

By law, a witch could not be tried without providing her with a lawyer and having her confession in relations with the devil, which the inquisitors quite easily managed to beat out from the victim during torture. The accused could not find out the names of the scammers and witnesses who confirmed the denunciation. In other words, it follows from the book that the woman is guilty before the Church in that she was born. Her connection with the devil, therefore, is almost inevitable and does not even require special proof. Therefore, she has no right to life.

Guided by these considerations, the Inquisition destroyed, according to various sources, from several tens to hundreds of thousands of women - the most beautiful, smart, talented, rich. Since then, The Hammer of the Witches, which caused their death, has been considered the darkest and most terrible book in history. It has been reprinted 29 times! This is a record for the Middle Ages! The Hammer of the Witches became the source of inspiration for the authors of all subsequent manuals and the main manual of the Inquisition.

Since its inception, this "scientific work" has caused a lot of rave reviews. Famous Dutch lawyer of the XVI century. Jodocus Damgooder, in his then popular study "The Practice of Criminal Cases," wrote: "This book has the force of law for the world." The brilliant artist Albrecht Dürer dedicated his talent to depicting the stories described in the book. The creators of the Bavarian Code of Maximilian proceeded in compiling the section for the punishment of heretics From the provisions of the book of Kramer and Sprenger. Popes Alexander VI, Leo X and Adrian VI repeatedly pointed out the correctness and infallibility of all the postulates of the Hammer of the Witches. Modern scholars characterize the intellectual level of the book as follows: "Her pathetic style, in its monotony reminiscent of an aimless, confusing endless walking from place to place, is a wandering thought, incapable of concentration and ready to follow any obsessive idea." Of course, it is illogical to judge the ideas of medieval mystics from the point of view of modern science, but the reason and common sense inherent in enlightened people of all eras prompts the thought: this fatal book for mankind threw back the development of civilization several hundred years ago.

From the book Secret Societies and Sects [Cult Killers, Freemasons, Religious Unions and Orders, Satanists and Fanatics] author Makarova Natalya Ivanovna

1. "Witch Hunt" The evolution of magic and diabolism is inseparable from the evolution of church ideas about this burning issue. Early Christianity took a half-hearted position in relation to the evil principle. Having formally recognized its existence, and having introduced this provision into a dogma, it

From the book World Revolution. Essay on the New American Imperialism author Fay Guillaume

2. THE BIBLE AND BUSINESS A. The return of biblical messianism to American politics. This is a kind of naive return to the origins. America is new

From the book Passage Yards author Khrutsky Eduard Anatolievich

Bloody "thaw" On the former Pushkinskaya, and now Bolshaya Dmitrovka, new Russian senators densely tumbled out of the building of the Federation Council, similar to bath attendants who went out for a walk on a day off. Security pushed passers-by from the sidewalk, fearing for a priceless life

From the book How to Save a Hostage, or 25 Famous Releases author Chernitsky Alexander Mikhailovich

BLOODY EXCURSION The day began on May 15, 1974 - Wednesday. A telephone message about an incident in the Upper Galilee found the chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces in the bathroom doing a completely routine task: brushing his teeth. But that didn't stop him from cursing

From the book Notes on Mikhail Bulgakov author Yanovskaya Lydia Markovna

The Bible on Mikhail Bulgakov's desktop There was a Bible in Hebrew in Mikhail Bulgakov's home library. The library itself, alas, has not been preserved. Elena Sergeevna sold most of it at the turn of the 40s and 50s. She kept the manuscripts prayerfully, sacredly, and sold the library.

From the book Knight and his armor [Plate vestments and weapons (litres)] by Oakeshott Ewart

Chapter 3 Axe, Mace and Hammer The types of weapons that I want to introduce in this chapter can be called the auxiliary weapons of the medieval knight. It will be about an ax, a mace and a hammer. This weapon was worn like a sword and a spear, as part of a full armament. Of course there were

From the book Great Mysteries and Mysteries of the Middle Ages the author Verbitskaya Anna

Witch Hunt - Medieval Sanitation? Witch trials are one of the darkest and most mysterious pages in the history of the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. What are the reasons for the insane fear of evil spirits, witchcraft that swept Western Europe in the 15th century? Wave

From the book Global Cooling is Coming author Sapunov Valentin Borisovich

Volcanoes, the Bible and Atlantis The riddle of Atlantis is one of the oldest mysteries of world science. The world learned about it from the ancient Greek philosopher Plato (427–347 BC). According to his information, 12 thousand years ago (from our era, and, accordingly, 9.5 thousand from it) in the Atlantic,

From the book Monologue about Myself in Asia author Nikolaeva Maria Vladimirovna

The bloody wrong side of the masquerade Today is the ceremony of consecration of equipment ... All cars will drive in colors, and this pleasure is not cheap. The offering is expensive - and every year the treasured box becomes more expensive. But now I ask a priest I know if I will need again

From the book The Great Delusions of Mankind. 100 Immutable Truths Everyone Believed In author Mazurkevich Sergey Alexandrovich

The burning of witches These were representatives of precisely those circles of society that for many years resisted the dark harassment of the church and now suddenly converted to the "true faith" and eagerly began to seek and denounce witches. German historian Gerhard Prause

From the book The world could be different. William Bullitt in an attempt to change the twentieth century author Etkind Alexander Markovich

Chapter 13 Witch and Homosexual Hunts At the end of the war, Bullitt found an enemy whom he could blame for his own and everyone else's failures. It was career diplomat Sumner Welles, Roosevelt's confidant and distant relative. Married to a very rich heiress eight years older

From the book The Hammer and the Pear Tree. Murders at Ratcliffe author James Phyllis Dorothy

CHAPTER THREE The Hammer “The brutal murders caused a wide sensation,” wrote The Times on Wednesday, December 11th. “The desire of curious people to look at the crime scene has become so strong that yesterday until ten in the morning the Ratcliffe Highway was almost impossible to pass because of the crowds.”

From the book The Magnificent Four. Warner brothers author Steinberg Alexander

FAMILY BATTLES AND "WITCH HUNT" However, obtaining paternal consent was not easy. Jack the father did not have any warm paternal feelings for Jack the son. It was obvious, he didn't even try to hide it. “He reminds me too much of Irma,” said Jack.

From the book Hollywood Raja. Louis Meyer author Steinberg Alexander

"WITCH HUNT" AND OTHER TROUBLES The exact date of the appearance of Hollywood "black lists" is known - November 26, 1947. On this day, at the New York Waldorf Astoria, American producers signed a statement that included the words: “We will not hire anyone

From the book Legends of Mysterious Petersburg author Asadova Nargiz

Hammer and chisel These are the tools of labor of real masons, masons, builders. But Freemasons give these tools a special meaning. The chisel and hammer become tools of self-improvement. The metaphysical meaning of the concept of "working on a wild stone" is reduced to the desire from

From the author's book

Hammer and sickle Yes, this symbolism is related not only to the USSR, but also to the Freemasons. The hammer and sickle for Freemasons has a much deeper meaning than the Soviet union of a worker and a peasant woman. This is a victory over the forces of space and time. The hammer gives power over space, the hammer

Treatise on the fight against witchcraft, written in 1486 by the inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger. It was the "Hammer of the Witches" that became the reason for the mass persecution of the Inquisition against persons suspected of being connected with dark forces.

The book consists of three parts, each of which is aimed at solving a specific problem. Its influence on European minds turned out to be so great that the Pope himself issued the bull "With all the powers of the soul", calling for the destruction of witches and sorcerers. In total, during the period of the witch hunt, which lasted about two centuries, more than one hundred thousand trials took place, as a result of which at least 50 thousand people suffered. The main number of victims fell on Germany, France and Switzerland. Even in America there were several high-profile processes, for example, events in a town called Salem.

The history of witch trials goes back to ancient times. Even two thousand years BC. The Code of Hammurabi required the death penalty for witchcraft.

Kramer and Sprenger's book was fairly well structured. In its first part, built in the form of questions and answers, it was proved in detail that witchcraft actually exists, that witches are directly connected with evil forces, and their atrocities are monstrous and unforgivable. Here witches are credited with human sacrifice, eating babies and many other monstrous deeds. The first part of The Hammer of the Witches was intended to excite the maximum hatred of sorcerers and witches from both church authorities and secular ones.

The second part is devoted to a detailed description of all the ways in which witches can harm people, as well as methods to counteract witchcraft, to which, in particular, pilgrimage, penance, prayers and exorcisms. This section of the book lists the categories of people against whom witches are powerless, and deals with the use of witchcraft by persons of the sex.

The last execution of a woman on official charges of witchcraft took place in Switzerland in 1782, but witches became victims of lynching later.

The final part of the "Hammer of the Witches" is a code describing the technology of conducting trials of women convicted or suspected of witchcraft. The methods for collecting evidence, the necessary and, categories of possible witnesses, as well as the grounds on which a particular decision is made are listed.

The book is in fact a detailed instruction on the trial of, and it is compiled in such a way that the issuance of a guilty verdict does not cause any difficulties. Cramer questions the effectiveness of various tests that have traditionally tested women for involvement in witchcraft, leaving the decision on guilt to the judge personally.