Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

A look at the early modern textbook for dealing with witchcraft

Malleus Maleficarum: How to Torture a Witch

The Malleus Maleficarum ('Hammer of Witches') was the handbook to the inquisition and torture of suspected witches during the 16th and 17th centuries, and was used by witch-hunters and inquisitors to elicit confessions and otherwise punish those unfortunates accused of the crime during what is sometimes referred to as 'the Burning Times' (although witches were mostly burnt in mainland Europe--in Britain and America they were primarily hanged).

The text can be found in several places online, including http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/, which is both able to be browsed and searched.

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