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Malleus Maleficarum: Hammer of Witches
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Tonight we’re burning books! Well. Just one book. And it started it.
We’re opening the pages of the “Malleus Maleficarum”, or Hammer of Witches, a 15th-century treatise on identifying, trying, and punishing witches. We get into the origins of the book and its misogynistic zealot of an author, Heinrich Kramer.
I’m not saying Kramer's obsession with women's sexuality and his book's endorsement of torture and execution led directly to the deaths of tens of thousands of women… but it definitely found an enthusiastic audience among the people who were responsible for massive witch hunts. On tonight’s episode, we’ll also talk about the tumultuous socio-political landscape of early modern Europe, exploring the theories behind this devastating moral panic.
And we’re not done discussing the ways Kramer’s legacy has echoed throughout history. Join me next week right here for part two – the “Malleus Maleficarum” and the incels.
Key moments
- 0:58 – A neighbourly dispute
- 7:18 – Heinrich Kramer and Helena Scheuberin in Innsbruck
- 11:10 – Kramer writes the Malleus Maleficarum
- 13:17 – Why are witches female?
- 19:09 – The early modern witch trials pop off
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View all my sources for each episode and read the episode transcipt here.
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Chapters
1. Content warning (00:00:00)
2. A neighbourly dispute (00:00:58)
3. Welcome to the party! (00:05:21)
4. Heinrich Kramer and Helena Scheuberin in Innsbruck (00:07:18)
5. Kramer writes the Malleus Maleficarum (00:11:10)
6. Why are witches female? (00:13:17)
7. Spreading the word about witches (00:16:30)
8. The early modern witch trials pop off (00:19:09)
9. Did religious tension cause the witch hunts? (00:20:03)
10. Did capitalism cause the witch hunts? (00:21:10)
11. Did male doctors cause the witch hunts? (00:23:40)
12. Did climate change cause the witch hunts? (00:24:03)
13. Trick questions – it was all of those things, probably (00:25:14)
14. An attack on women (00:26:02)
15. Narratives matter (00:28:03)
16. Outro (00:28:30)
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