From the Hebrews, who were firm believers in witchcraft and sorcery, this superstition was handed down to the early Christians, and with the extension of Christianity, it affected all other European nations. The earliest ecclesiastical decree against witchcraft appears to have been that of Ancyra, 315 A. D., condemning soothsayers to five years’ penance. In canon law the Decretum subjected them to excommunication as idolators and enemies of Christ. And in accordance with the command of Moses: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” all women suspected of witchcraft were killed.
Later on the Popes John XXII. and Eugene IV. issued bulls exhorting all Christians to greater diligence “against heretics as well as the human agents of the Prince of Darkness, and especially against those who have the power to produce bad weather.” To exterminate these enemies of the Holy Faith all fighting forces of the church were set in motion, among them an institution, which had been founded in Spain during the 12th Century: the Inquisition.
As its name, derived from the Latin “inquirere,” indicates, it was the office of this institution to inquire about, or spy into all sins committed against the Holy Faith and the authority of the church, and to deliver witches as well as heretics to the proper authorities for punishment.
Confirmed and sanctioned by the Popes, this Inquisition had already performed excellent work during the crusades against the Albigenses and Waldenses. But the most vigorous crusade against witchcraft began when in 1484 Pope Innocent VIII. published his bull “Summis desiderantes affectibus,” of which Andrew D. White in his “History of the Warfare of Science with Theology” has said that of all documents, ever issued, this has doubtless caused the greatest shedding of innocent blood.
By this bull several professors of theology were appointed as inquisitors for large parts of Germany, with full power to prevent the further spread of heresy and witchcraft. The clergy as well as all other authorities were warned that these inquisitors must not be hindered in any way nor by anyone. “All who try to do so, will be, whatever office they may hold, subdued by excommunication, suspension, interdict and other still more terrible punishments, without any appeal: and if necessary, they shall be turned over to the civil authorities. It shall not be permitted to anyone to act wantonly contrary to our message. Whoever may try to do so, should know that he directs upon himself the wrath of Almighty God as well as of the Apostles Peter and Paul.”
Under the authority of this bull the inquisitors opened in Germany not only a systematic crusade against witchcraft, but at the same time prepared a manual, the Malleus Maleficarum, or “the Witch-Hammer,” which became the great text-book on procedure in all witchcraft cases. Never before had a volume been published that contained an equal amount of idiotic superstition. And never before nor after has any book caused more unnecessary suffering, misery, and disaster. When J. Scherr, one of the foremost historians of Germany, said that this bungling composition was written with the venom of monks, who had become crazy with violent fanaticism, voluptuousness, avarice and the passion for cruelty, he spoke only too true.
Of the unfortunate human beings, who fell victims to this madness, the overwhelming majority were women.
In fact, the authors of the “Witch-Hammer” boldly asserted, that witchcraft is more natural to women than to men, on account of the inherent wickedness of their hearts. “What else is woman but a necessary evil, a domestic danger, an attractive temptation, and a natural mischief, painted with nice colors? According to her mind woman seems to belong to another species than man. She is more voluptuous, as is proven by many immodest and lustful acts. This fault became apparent in the creation of the first woman, who was formed out of a crooked rib.”
The inquisitors go on to explain: “Witchcraft is the most unpardonable among all acts of heresy and sins. Generally heretics are punished very severely. If they do not recant, they are burned. If they change for the better, they are imprisoned for life. But such dealing is not rigorous enough for witches. They must be annihilated, even if they regret their sins and announce their readiness to return to our Christian faith. Because the sins of the witches are far greater than the sins of the fallen angels and of the first men.”
After having made these statements, the authors of the “Witch-Hammer” explain what witches are able to do to their unsuspecting fellow-men in violation to the rules of the church.