Malleus Maleficarum cover art

Malleus Maleficarum

The Hammer of Witches

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Malleus Maleficarum

By: Heinrich Kramer
Narrated by: Graham Dunlop
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Malleus Maleficarum, usually translated as The Hammer of Witches, is the best known treatise on witchcraft.

It was written by the German Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer, and first published in the German city of Speyer in 1486. It has been described as the compendium of literature in demonology of the 15th century.

The top theologians of the Inquisition at the Faculty of Cologne condemned the book as recommending unethical and illegal procedures, as well as being inconsistent with Catholic doctrines of demonology. The Malleus elevates sorcery to the criminal status of heresy, and recommends that secular courts prosecute it as such.

The Malleus suggests torture to effectively obtain confessions, and the death penalty as the only certain remedy against the evils of witchcraft. At the time of its publication, heretics were frequently sentenced to be burned alive at the stake, and the Malleus encouraged the same treatment of witches.

Despite its condemnation by the clergy, the book enjoyed a period of popularity among literate laymen.

Public Domain (P)2023 Adultbrain Publishing
Christianity History Magic Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts Witchcraft Magic Users

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Witch cover art
The Three Magical Books of Solomon: The Greater Key of Solomon, The Lesser Key of Solomon & The Testament of Solomon cover art
The Trials of Life cover art
Xenos cover art
Magick in Theory and Practice cover art
No reviews yet