Heinrich Kramer

Malleus Maleficarum in a 1669 edition.

Heinrich Kramer (c. 1430 – 1505, aged 74-75), also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institor,[a][1] was a German churchman and inquisitor. With his widely distributed book Malleus Maleficarum (1487), which describes witchcraft and endorses detailed processes for the extermination of witches, he was instrumental in establishing the period of witch trials in the early modern period. Professor Malcolm Gaskill has described Kramer as a "superstitious psychopath."[2][3]


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  1. ^ Paul Hinschius. Das Kirchenrecht der Katholiken und Protestanten in Deutschland. Band VI. 1897. Reprint Guttentag, 1959.
  2. ^ Gaskill, Malcolm (2010). Witchcraft: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-19-923695-4. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  3. ^ Greg Jenner (29 August 2020). "You're Dead to Me: The Witch Craze" (Podcast). BBC. Retrieved 29 May 2024.