The Author’s Defense of the Hammer of Witches

Among the calamities of this declining age—which, alas, we do not merely read about but experience everywhere—the old East The "old East" likely refers to the fall of the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople in 1453, which many 15th-century Christians viewed as a sign of the approaching end of the world. has been dissolved by the ruin of an irreversible loss. Meanwhile, the Church, which the "New East" original: "nouus oriens"; a title for Christ, often referencing the rising sun., the man Christ Jesus, made fruitful by the shedding of His blood, has never ceased to be infected by the contagions of various heresies from its very beginning. Yet, it is especially at this time that the enemy strives against her, now that the world’s evening is declining toward its setting and the malice of men is overflowing. For he knows, as John testifies in the Apocalypse The Book of Revelation 12:12., that he has but a short time. Therefore, he has caused a certain unusual heretical depravity to grow in the Lord’s field: I speak of the heresy of witches, thus designated from the principal mouth in which it is known to flourish. While this heresy is seen to be workable through countless schemes and is hateful to all the Christian faithful, it is fulfilled through wealth. For they submit themselves to a most foul servitude to fulfill their depraved filthiness, having "made a pact with hell and a covenant with death" A reference to Isaiah 28:15.. Furthermore, there are those evils which, by God's permission and the concurrent power of demons, are brought by them upon men, cattle, and the fruits of the earth in daily hardships.

James Sprenger Amidst these evils, we inquisitors, James Sprenger, together with a beloved associate This refers to Heinrich Kramer (Institoris), though Sprenger is the one named here. appointed by the Apostolic See for the extermination of such a pestilential heresy—though we are the least among those professing the divine word in the ranks of the Order of Preachers The Dominicans.—have nevertheless, with a pious and mournful heart, considered what remedy or what comfort might be administered to mortals as a healing antidote. We have judged it worthy to submit our pious shoulders to this work above all other remedies, trusting in the honey-sweet generosity of Him who gives abundantly to all. We trust that He, who touches and cleanses the lips with a coal taken from the altar An allusion to the purification of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:6-7)., will lead all things as the Overseer to the desired end. Truly, since nothing in the works of men is made so useful and lawful that some harm cannot be inflicted upon it, and since our modest wits do not reach the sharpness of truth unless they are thoroughly rubbed by the file of another's depravity, we confidently step forward to challenge anyone who thinks we should be rebuked for the novelty of this work. Let such a person know that this work is both new and old at the same time, likewise brief and lengthy. It is certainly old in its subject matter and authority, but new in its compilation and the gathering together of these things. It is brief because it restricts many authors into a short space, yet it is long because of the immense multitude of the subject matter and the unsearchable malice of witches. Nor do we say this to presumptuously disparage the writings of other authors or to boastfully and vainly extol our own work, since few or almost no things have been added from our own ingenuity. Thus, it should be regarded not as our work, but rather the work of those from whose sayings almost every single part is woven. For the same reason, we have not undertaken to compose poems or expand upon sublime theories; but proceeding in the manner of an excerptor Someone who compiles excerpts or summaries from other sources., for the honor of the most High Trinity and the undivided Unity, we approach the treatise titled The Hammer of Witches, divided into three principal parts: the origin, the progress, and the end. We leave the gathering of the work to our associate, but the execution to those upon whom a most harsh judgment looms; for they are seen to be established by God for the punishment of the wicked and the praise of the good. To Him be all honor and glory, world without end original: "in secula seculorum". Amen.

of the ages