Brutkey

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist
Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

One of the most famous books written against these campaigns was the Cautio Criminalis (1631) of Friedrich von Spee, a Jesuit priest who had acted as a confessor to those about to be burned alive for sorcery. The work is a general denunciation of the legal abuses that led to convictions, and while Spee does not deny the existence of sorcery, he notes his disbelief that any of those supposed sorceresses for whom he acted as confessor had actually been guilty.
got another book lol

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

it is easy to adopt an attitude of smug self-satisfaction when considering the widespread adherence to views that now seem (for most people) to be incompatible with a rational understanding of the world, it is preferable to understand the work in its own context. ... And as for being caught up in a frenzy of seemingly irrational behavior on the basis of some delusional belief in a demonic conspiracy, one does not have to go back to the anti-semitic madness of Nazi Germany to find a parallel phenomenon in the modern world. Less than thirty years ago in the United States, an unwarranted belief that satanic cults were abusing children, combined with an anxiety that children were being mistreated in daycare centers, led to egregious miscarriages of justice in highly publicized trials involving completely unbelievable accusations and testimony. In fact, one famous victim of such a trial (Gerald Amirault) was released only in 2004 after spending eighteen years in prison following his conviction for accusations that had not the least merit. So perhaps what can be said for the modern world is that it takes only a few years to dispel the sort of frenzy that went on for a century and a half in early modern Europe.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

One of the most famous books written against these campaigns was the Cautio Criminalis (1631) of Friedrich von Spee, a Jesuit priest who had acted as a confessor to those about to be burned alive for sorcery. The work is a general denunciation of the legal abuses that led to convictions, and while Spee does not deny the existence of sorcery, he notes his disbelief that any of those supposed sorceresses for whom he acted as confessor had actually been guilty.
got another book lol

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

me every time a book is mentioned

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

The major significance of the Malleus lies in the role it played in the dissemination and widespread acceptance of the elaborated theory of witchcraft. Certainly, the basic elements of this theory – sorcery, heresy and Satan’s attempt to undermine God’s world order – had existed since antiquity, as had the notion that Satan was involved to greater or lesser degree in both sorcery and heresy. What was new was the notion that sorcery by itself represented a special form of heresy that played an important part in Satan’s plans for the Final Days ... in the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it was the works of other authors (e.g. Jean Bodin and Martin del Rio) that whipped up the frenzy for witch hunting, those works were effective only because of the shift in paradigm that the Malleus had brought about in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

Translator mentions in passing a book called The Structure of Scientific Revolutions which actually sounds fascinating.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist
This might be one of the funniest footnotes I've read in awhile

In an email, I was taken to task by a devout Catholic for seeming to cast doubt, in the introduction to the bilingual edition, on the view presented in the Malleus that the world is “a place where demons inhabit [the area above] the earth . . . and plot to ensnare humans . . . guide them in their evil-doing and have sex with them.” I was then invited to a “Catholic Charismatic Prayer Breakfast” at which “personal testimony” would be given in proof of the reality of such demonic intervention in the world.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

The major significance of the Malleus lies in the role it played in the dissemination and widespread acceptance of the elaborated theory of witchcraft. Certainly, the basic elements of this theory – sorcery, heresy and Satan’s attempt to undermine God’s world order – had existed since antiquity, as had the notion that Satan was involved to greater or lesser degree in both sorcery and heresy. What was new was the notion that sorcery by itself represented a special form of heresy that played an important part in Satan’s plans for the Final Days ... in the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it was the works of other authors (e.g. Jean Bodin and Martin del Rio) that whipped up the frenzy for witch hunting, those works were effective only because of the shift in paradigm that the Malleus had brought about in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

A major distinction of magical practices in the medieval period concerns a division on the basis of the status of the practitioners. There was a sort of “high” magic that involved the educated, which in medieval reality tended to mean renegade priests. This magic was practiced with grimoires or books of learned enchantments. The Malleus indicates overtly (91C) that it does not deal with this sort of magic. Instead, it treats the variety of magic practiced by illiterate, mostly female members of the lower orders of society. To some extent this refers to the peasantry, as is indicated by the many incidents involving farm activities in Pt. 2. On the other hand, the amatory sorcery involving impotence and related phenomena that figures prominently in the Malleus is often an aspect of urban life.
So basically if you are a rich, educated dude, magic is cool but if you are a poor woman who does magic you should be put to death.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist
This might be one of the funniest footnotes I've read in awhile

In an email, I was taken to task by a devout Catholic for seeming to cast doubt, in the introduction to the bilingual edition, on the view presented in the Malleus that the world is “a place where demons inhabit [the area above] the earth . . . and plot to ensnare humans . . . guide them in their evil-doing and have sex with them.” I was then invited to a “Catholic Charismatic Prayer Breakfast” at which “personal testimony” would be given in proof of the reality of such demonic intervention in the world.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist
cw mention of torture

Apparently the Roman law that they used was that if you could endure two rounds of torture without confessing you would have to be absolved of your crime and let go.

Apparently inquisitors didn't like this "technicality" (because obviously witches have spells that can keep them from feeling pain) and portions of this book argue that conjecture is a better tool for determining guilt.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

A major distinction of magical practices in the medieval period concerns a division on the basis of the status of the practitioners. There was a sort of “high” magic that involved the educated, which in medieval reality tended to mean renegade priests. This magic was practiced with grimoires or books of learned enchantments. The Malleus indicates overtly (91C) that it does not deal with this sort of magic. Instead, it treats the variety of magic practiced by illiterate, mostly female members of the lower orders of society. To some extent this refers to the peasantry, as is indicated by the many incidents involving farm activities in Pt. 2. On the other hand, the amatory sorcery involving impotence and related phenomena that figures prominently in the Malleus is often an aspect of urban life.
So basically if you are a rich, educated dude, magic is cool but if you are a poor woman who does magic you should be put to death.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist
cw mention of torture

Apparently the Roman law that they used was that if you could endure two rounds of torture without confessing you would have to be absolved of your crime and let go.

Apparently inquisitors didn't like this "technicality" (because obviously witches have spells that can keep them from feeling pain) and portions of this book argue that conjecture is a better tool for determining guilt.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

The use of torture arose in conjunction with the revival of Roman law that started in the eleventh century in Italy and gradually spread to the north.
I swear everything horrible that European authorities have done over the centuries has some direct inspiration from Rome.

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

Oh something worth noting, the translator intentionally chooses to not translate whatever word (cant remember right now) as witches but as sorceress because in his mind the word witch would bring modern connotations that don't fit.

which(witch heh), fair, maybe.

but also we are talking about a book that inspired the witch trials so I think its kinda a weird choice

Aster
@asterism@ni.hil.ist

Mildly amusing that the latin word we get "inquistor" from literally means "investigator"