Heinrich Kramer
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Heinrich Kramer
(ca. 1430-1505)
Dominican inquisitor who played a leading part in the great witchcraft persecutions as author of the infamous Malleus Maleficarum, (literally, the Witches' Hammer), the authoritative sourcebook for inquisitors, judges, and magistrates.
Born at Schlettstadt, in Lower Alsace, near Strasbourg, Kramer entered the Dominican order, where he progressed so rapidly that he was appointed prior to the Dominican House in Schlettstadt while still a young man. He became preacher-general and master of sacred theology (two Dominican Order distinctions) and around 1474 was appointed inquisitor for the districts of Tyrol, Salzburg, Bohemia, and Moravia. He received praise from Rome and from the archbishop of Salzburg, becoming spiritual director of the Dominican church in Salzburg.
In 1484 Pope Innocent VIII was responsible for the famous bull Summis desiderantes affectibus of December 9, which deplored the power of the witch organization and redefined witchcraft in such a way as to bring it into the scope of the Inquisition. The pope also delegated Kramer and Sprenger as inquisitors throughout northern Germany, especially in Mainz, Cologne, Treves, Salzburg, and Breman.
In 1485 Kramer wrote a treatise on witchcraft that initially circulated in manuscript; it was published in 1486 as Malleus Maleficarum, , with the name of his colleague Jacob Sprenger added as coauthor. This became the working manual for inquisitors, judges, and magistrates in the great witchcraft persecutions and went into many editions in French, Italian, and English, as well as in German.
Kramer resided for a period at the priory of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (X. Zanipolo), returning to Germany in 1497, where he lived at the convent of Rohr, near Regensburg. On January 31, 1500, he was appointed nuncio and inquisitor of Bohemia and Moravia by Alexander VI and empowered to proceed against the Waldenses and Picards as well as witches. He died in Bohemia in 1505.
Sources:
Robbins, Rossell Hope. The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology. New York: Crown Publishers, 1959.
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Heinrich Kramer
Heinrich Kramer (c. 1430, Sélestat, Alsace–1505, Brünn or Olmütz) also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institoris,[1][2] was a German churchman and inquisitor.
Born in Sélestat, Alsace, he joined the Dominican Order at an early age and while still a young man was appointed Prior of the Dominican house of his native town.
At some date before 1474 he was appointed Inquisitor for the Tyrol, Salzburg, Bohemia and Moravia. His eloquence in the pulpit and tireless activity received recognition at Rome and he was the right-hand man of the Archbishop of Salzburg. By the time of the Bull Summis desiderantes of Pope Innocent VIII in 1484 he was already associated with Jacob Sprenger to make an inquisition for witches and sorcerers. In 1485 he drew up a treatise on witchcraft which was incorporated in the Malleus Maleficarum (literally "The Hammer of Witches").
Kramer failed in his attempt to obtain endorsement for this work from the top theologians of the Inquisition at the Faculty of Cologne, and they condemned the book as recommending unethical and illegal procedures, as well as being inconsistent with Catholic doctrines of demonology.
In 1495 he was summoned to Venice to give public lectures, which were very popular. In 1500 he was empowered to proceed against the Waldensians and Picards.
He died in Bohemia in 1505.
Major works
- Malleus Maleficarum
- Several Discourses and Various Sermons upon the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, Nuremberg, 1496
- A Tract Confuting the Errors of Master Antonio degli Roselli, Venice, 1499
- The Shield of Defence of the Holy Roman Church Against the Picards and Waldenses, c. 1500
Notes
- ^ "Institoris" is the Latin genitive case of "Institor" ("retailer"). It was a common practice in those times to take the genitive of the father's name for latinization, but this genitive was used as nominative in Latin texts ("Venerabilis & religiosus frater Henricus institoris"). In German texts this name was abridged to "Institor", according to the custom of omitting Latin endings in translations (cf. "Iuvenalis" - "Juvenal").
- ^ Paul Hinschius. Das Kirchenrecht der Katholiken und Protestanten in Deutschland. Band VI. 1897. Reprint Guttentag, 1959.
External links
- Reinhard Tenberg (1990). Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm. ed (in German). Institoris, Heinrich. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). 2. Hamm. cols. 1307–1310. ISBN 3-88309-032-8. http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/i/Institoris.shtml.
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Gale Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology
Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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