THE
MALLEUS MALEFICARUM
PART I.
QUESTION XI.
That Witches who are Midwives in Various Ways Kill the Child Conceived
in the Womb, and Procure an Abortion; or if they do not this Offer
New-born Children to Devils.
Here is set forth the truth concerning four horrible crimes which devils
commit against infants, both in the mother's womb and afterwards. And since
the devils do these things through the medium of women, and not men, this
form of homicide is associated rather with women than with men, And the
following are the methods by which it is done.
The Canonists treat more fully than the Theologians of the obstructions due
to witchcraft; and they say that is is witchcraft, not only when anyone is
unable to perform the carnal act, of which we have spoken above; but also
when a woman is prevented from conceiving, or is made to miscarry after she
has conceived. A third and fourth method of witchcraft is when they have
failed to procure an abortion, and then either devour the child or offer it
to a devil.
There is no doubt concerning the first two methods, since, without the help
of devils, a man can by natural means, such as herbs, savin for example, or
other emmenagogues, procure that a woman cannot generate or conceive, as has
bee mentioned above. But with the other two methods it is different; for
they are effected by witches. And there is no need to bring forward the
arguments, since very evident instances and examples will more readily show
the truth of this matter.
The former of these two abominations is the fact that certain witches,
against the instinct of human nature, and indeed against the nature of all
beasts, with the possible exception of wolves, are in the habit of devouring
and eating infant children. And concerning this, the Inquisitor of Como,
who has been mentioned before, has told us the following: that he was
summoned by the inhabitants of the County of Barby to hold an inquisition,
because a certain man had missed his child from its cradle, and finding a
congress of women in the night-time, swore that he saw them kill his child
and drink its blood and devour it. Also, in one single year, which is the
year now last passed, he says that forty-one witches were burned, certain
others taking flight to the Lord Archduke of Austria, Sigismund. For
confirmation of this there are certain writings of
John Nider in his Formicarius, of
whom, as of those events which he recounts, the memory is still fresh in
men's minds; wherefore it is apparent that such things are not incredible.
We must add that in all these matters witch midwives cause yet greater
injuries, as penitent witches have often told to us and to others, saying:
No one does more harm to the Catholic Faith than midwives. For when they do
not kill children, then, as if for some other purpose, they take them out of
the room and, raising them up in the air, offer them to devils. But the
method which they observe in crimes of this sort will be shown in the
Second Part, which we must soon approach. But first one more question must
be inquired into, namely, that of the Divine permission. For it was said at
the beginning that three things are necessary for the effecting of
witchcraft: the devil, a witch, and the Divine permission.
Page 1 of 1
Question XII
This chapter was transcribed by Wicasta Lovelace.
HTML Scripting Copyright ©
1998-2000 by the Windhaven Network, Inc..
All Rights Reserved.