Malleus Maleficarum
Από τη Βικιπαίδεια, την ελεύθερη εγκυκλοπαίδεια
To Malleus Maleficarum («Το Σφυρί των Μαγισσών» ή "Hexenhammer") είναι αναμφίβολα η πιο σημαντική πραγματεία σχετικά με τον διωγμό των μαγισσών που προήλθε από την υστερία κατά των μαγισσών στη διάρκεια της Αναγέννησης. Αποτελεί έναν περιεκτικό οδηγό του κυνηγού μαγισσών, το οποίο εκδόθηκε για πρώτη φορά στην Γερμανία το 1487 και γνώρισε επανειλημμένες επανεκδόσεις σε όλη την Ευρώπη. Έπαιξε βασικό ρόλο στις δίκες των μαγισσών στην Ευρώπη για πάνω από 200 χρόνια. Το διαβόητο αυτό βιβλίο χρησιμοποιήθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια της μαζικής υστερίας των διώξεων των μαγισσών που έφτασε στο αποκορύφωμά της από τα μέσα του 16ου έως τα μέσα του 17ου αιώνα.
Πίνακας περιεχομένων |
[Επεξεργασία] Ιστορικό του Malleus Maleficarum
Το έργο αυτό συντάχθηκε από δύο Δομινικανούς ιεροεξεταστές, τον Χάινριχ Κράμερ και τον Γιάκομπ Σπρένγκερ, οι οποίοι ισχυρίζονταν μέσα στο βιβλίο ότι είχαν εξουσιοδοτηθεί από τον Πάπα Ιννοκέντιο Η' να ασκήσουν διώξεις κατά των μαγισσών σε όλη τη Γερμανία μέσω ενός παπικού διατάγματος της 5ης Δεκεμβρίου 1484. Στην πραγματικότητα, αυτό το διάταγμα είχε εκδοθεί πριν την συγγραφή του βιβλίου και πριν γίνουν γνωστές οι σχεδιαζόμενες μέθοδοί τους.
Kramer and Sprenger submitted the Malleus Maleficarum to the University of Cologne’s Faculty of Theology on May 9, 1487, hoping for its endorsement. Instead, the clergy at the University condemned it as both illegal and unethical. [1] Kramer nevertheless inserted a forged claim of support from the University into subsequent printed editions of the book. The date of 1487 is generally accepted as the date of publication, although earlier editions may have been produced in 1485 or 1486. The Church banned the book shortly after, placing it on the "Index of Forbidden Works". Despite this, however, between the years 1487 and 1520, the work was published thirteen times. After about fifty years, it was again published between the years 1574 to the Lyon edition of 1669 a total of sixteen times. The alleged endorsements which appear at the beginning of the book contributed to its popularity by giving the illusion that it had been granted approval.
In all, the text was so popular that it sold more copies than any other work, apart from the Bible, until John Bunyan’s Pilgrim's Progress was published in 1678.
The effects of the Malleus Maleficarum spread far beyond Germany, greatly impacting France and Italy and, to a lesser extent, England.
Despite popular belief that the Malleus Maleficarum was the classic Roman Catholic text on witchcraft, it was never officially used by the Catholic Church and was, in fact, condemned by the Inquisition in 1490. In addition, it was used by Protestants as well, in some of their witch trials.
[Επεξεργασία] Πλαστογραφίες και μεταφράσεις του Malleus Maleficarum
Το Malleus Maleficarum περιλάμβανε αρχικά στον πρόλογό του την παπική βούλα Summis desiderantes που είχε εκδόσει ο Πάπας Ιννοκέντιος Η' στις 5 Δεκεμβρίου 1484, η οποία αποτελούσε το βασικό έγγραφο σχετικά με τη μαγεία. Αναφέρει ονομαστικά τους Σπρένγκερ και Κράμερ (ως Γιάκομπους Σπρένγκερ [Iacobus Sprenger] και Ενρίκι Ινστιτόρις [Henrici Institoris]) και τους δίνει οδηγίες για την καταπολέμηση της μαγείας στη Βόρεια Γερμανία.
Η έκδοση του βιβλίου δεν έγινε κατόπιν εντολής της Ρωμαιοκαθολικής Εκκλησίας. Οι συγγραφείς είχαν περιλάβει σε αυτό μια επιστολή έγκρισης από το Πανεπιστήμιο της Κολωνίας που εμφάνιζε ότι είχε υπογραφεί από τέσσερις καθηγητές του. Εντούτοις, η επιστολή ήταν πλαστή. Το Πανεπιστήμιο όχι μόνο δεν είχε εγκρίνει το βιβλίο αλλά μάλιστα το είχε καταδικάσει λόγω της χρήσης αντιδεοντολογικών νομικών διαδικασιών και λόγω του ότι η δαιμονολογία του δεν ήταν σύμφωνη με το Καθολικό δόγμα. Ο Κράμερ καταδικάστηκε από την Ιερά Εξέταση το 1490, αλλά το βιβλίο συνέχισε να εκδίδεται, προωθούμενο από την αυξανόμενη λαϊκή δίψα για γιατροσόφια κατά της μαγείας.
Σύγχρονες μεταφράσεις αυτών των έργων περιλαμβάνουν μια γερμανική μετάφραση των καθηγητών Γιέρουστσεκ (Jerouscheck) και Μπέχρινγκερ (Behringer), με τον τίτλο Der Hexenhammer (η μετάφραση του Σμίτ (Schmidt) του 1906 θεωρείται πολύ χαμηλής ποιότητας) και μια αγγλική μετάφραση του Μόνταγκ Σάμερς (Montague Summers) το 1928, η οποία ανατυπώθηκε το 1948 και είναι σήμερα διαθέσιμη η ανατύπωσή της του 1971 από τις εκδόσεις Dover Publications (ISBN: 0-486-22802-9).
[Επεξεργασία] Περιεχόμενα του Malleus Maleficarum
The book is divided into three sections, each of which raises specific questions and purports to answer them through opposing arguments. There is little original material in the book; it is mainly a codification of existing beliefs and practices with substantial parts taken from earlier works such as Nicolau Aymerich's Directorium Inquisitorum (1376), or Johannes Nider's Formicarius (1435).
Part I seeks to prove that witchcraft or sorcery existed. It details how the Devil and his followers, witches, perpetrate a variety of evils with “the permission of the Almighty God”. Rather than explaining this as punishment, as many church authorities of the time did, the authors of this book claim that God permits the acts so that the Devil might not gain unlimited power and destroy the world.
Part of this section explains why women, by their weaker nature and inferior intellect, were supposedly naturally more prone to the lure of Satan than men. The book title itself contains the word maleficarum, the female form of the noun, and the writers (incorrectly) declare that the word femina (woman) is a derivation of fe+minus, faithless.
Part II of the Malleus Maleficarum describes the actual forms of witchcraft. This section details how witches cast spells and how their actions can be prevented or remedied. Strong emphasis is given to the Devil’s Pact and the existence of witches is presented as fact. Many of the book’s reports of spells, pacts, sacrifice, and copulation with the Devil were gained from inquisitions performed by Sprenger and Kramer.
Part III details the methods for detecting, trying, and sentencing or destroying witches. Torture in the detection of witches is dealt with as a matter-of-course; if the accused witch did not voluntarily confess their guilt, torture was to be applied as incentive to confess. Judges are instructed to mislead the accused if necessary, promising mercy for confession.
This section also covers how much belief to place in witnesses' testimonies and the need to eliminate malicious accusations, but also states that public rumor is sufficient to bring a person to trial and that a too vigorous a defense is evidence that the defender is bewitched. There are rules on how to prevent the authorities becoming bewitched and the reassurance that, as representatives of God, investigators are shielded from all of the witch's powers.
[Επεξεργασία] Summary of Beliefs in the Malleus Maleficarum
Both Kramer and Sprenger were prolific writers, and part of the Malleus Maleficarum is an absorption of a comprehensive manuscript on witchcraft written by Kramer in 1485. Generally based on the biblical pronouncement, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18), the book also draws on the works of Aristotle, the Scriptures, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas for support. The sexism of the Malleus can’t be denied; the authors' belief that women were inferior, weak, and easily corruptible creatures is emphasized often throughout the writing.
Taken as a whole, the Malleus Maleficarum declares that some things confessed by witches, such as animal transformations, were mere delusions induced by the devil to ensnare them, while other acts, such as flight, causing storms and destroying crops, were real. The book dwells at length on the licentious acts of witches, their ability to create impotence in men and even gives space to the question of whether demons could father children of witches. The writing style is serious and utterly humorless – even the most hard to believe statements are presented as reliable information.
[Επεξεργασία] Malleus-Based Works
An anti-clerical story contained in the book was the basis for the Norwegian and British "operamusical" Which Witch that describes the trial and persecution of an innocent Italian woman who is burned at the stake by conspirators in Germany because of her relations with an influential German bishop. It alludes to its original source in the chilling opening number titled "Malleus Maleficarum". It was given lukewarm to harsh reviews, and has been deemed as "the worst musical of all time", despite a growing cult following in the United Kingdom. The music was composed by Benedicte Adrian and Ingrid Bjørnov, with Adrian in the role as well.
In 1963 Václav Kaplický, a Czech writer, wrote a novel called Kladivo na čarodějnice (Malleus maleficarum in Czech) and in 1969 (a year after Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia) Otakar Vávra made a film based on the novel that became symbol of the era of normalisation and was soon prohibited.
[Επεξεργασία] See also
- Christian views on witchcraft
- The Lesser Key of Solomon, a 17th century grimoire on demonology.
[Επεξεργασία] External links
- History of the Malleus Maleficarum - Essay by historian Jenny Gibbons, presenting the accepted view among scholars.
- Malleus Maleficarum - Online version of latin text and scanned pages of Malleus Maleficarum published in 1580.