Pope Issues Witch-Hunting Bull: The Malleus Maleficarum Follows
Heinrich Kramer had just been kicked out of Innsbruck for railroading witch trials. The bishop called him senile. So Kramer went straight to Rome and got Pope Innocent VIII to issue Summis desiderantes—a papal bull backing him and James Sprenger to hunt witches across Germany. The bull gave them full authority to ignore local clergy who thought the whole thing was absurd. Kramer published it as the preface to his Malleus Maleficarum two years later, the manual that would fuel witch hunts for two centuries. Over 50,000 executions followed across Europe. One bishop's "no" became 50,000 deaths because Kramer knew where to shop for a better answer.
December 5, 1484
542 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Germany
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papal bull
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Inquisition
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witchcraft
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Pope Innocent VIII
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Summis desiderantes
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Heinrich Kramer
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James Sprenger
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Pope Innocent VIII
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Summis desiderantes affectibus
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Papal bull
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Heinrich Kramer
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Jacob Sprenger
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Inquisition
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Witchcraft
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Pope
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Caza de brujas
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Hexenlehre
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Canon Episcopi
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Ausculta fili
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Pope Boniface VIII
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Philip IV of France
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Partikularkonzil
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Papal legate
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Pope Adrian IV
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Sede vacante
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Pope Anastasius IV
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Inthronisation
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