Malleus Maleficarum

Timeline

1. 1486Speyer · GermanyAfter his witch-hunting efforts in the Rhineland met with setbacks, Kramer wrote this book, published in the German lands under the Latin title Malleus Maleficarum, systematically discussing the existence of witches, methods of identification, and interrogation procedures.
2. 1487–1500Cologne · RhinelandThe book included Pope Innocent VIII's bull Summis desiderantes, sparking long scholarly debate over the authenticity and scope of the approval; it was reprinted multiple times in Germany and the Low Countries from the late 15th to early 16th century.
3. c. 1500–1650Holy Roman Empire · Holy Roman EmpireAs printing spread, the book became an important reference for inquisitors and secular courts, promoting the proceduralization of witch-hunting accusations and the justification of torture-based evidence, mutually reinforcing Europe's witch-hunting waves of the 16th–17th centuries.
4. c. 1600–1700Europe · EuropeGerman, French, and other translations appeared in succession; since the Enlightenment, scholars have critiqued its evidentiary logic from legal, theological, and human rights perspectives, and after the witch-hunting movement subsided the book has mainly become a research document for the history of the Inquisition and gender violence.