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Excerpt from the Malleus Malificarum by
H.Kramer and J.Sprenger (1486 AD), translated by Montague Summers, London 1928;
reprinted by Dover Publications, New York 1971, here pgs. 43-47.
Unfortunately, the Malleus Malificarum had an
enormous influence on the Church for at oleast three
centuries.
Part I. Question 6
Why is it that women are chiefly addicted to evil
superstitions?
. . .
Others again have propounded other reasons why there are more superstitious
women found than men. And the first is that they are more credulous; and since
the chief aim of the devil is to corrupt faith, therefore he rathers attacks
them. See Ecclesiasticus xix: He that is quick to believe is
light-minded, and shall be diminished.
The
second reason is, that women are naturally more impressionable, and more ready
to receive the influence of a disembodied spirit; and that when they use this
quality well they are very good, but when they use it ill they are very evil.
The
third reason is that they have slippery tongues, and are unable to conceal from
their fellow-women those things which by evil arts they know; and, since they
are weak, they find an easy and secret manner of vindicating themselves by
witchcraft. See Ecclesiasticus as quoted above: I had rather dwell with
a lion and a dragon than to keep house with a wicked woman. All wickedness is
but little to the wickedness of a woman. And to this may be added that, as they
are very impressionable, they act accordingly.
There
are also others who bring forward yet other reasons, of which preachers should
be very careful how they make use. For it is true that in the Old Testament the
Scriptures have much that is evil to say about women, and this because of the
first temptress, Eve, and her imitators; yet afterwards in the New Testament we
find a change of name, as from Eva to Ave (as S.Jerome says), and the whole sin
of Eve taken away by the benediction of MARY. Therefore preachers should always
say as much praise of them as possible.
But
because in these times this perfidy is more often found in women than in men,
as we learn by actual experience, if anyone is curious as to the reason, we may
add to what has already been said the following: that since they are feebler
both in mind and body, it is not surprising that they should come more under
the spell of witchcraft.
For
as regards intellect, or the understanding of spiritual things, they seem to be
of a different nature from men; a fact which is vouched for by the logic of the
authorities, backed by various examples from the Scriptures. Terence* says:
Women are intellectually like children. And Lactantius (Institutiones,
III): No woman understood Philosophy except Temeste.t And Proverbs xi,
as it were describing a woman, says: As a jewel of gold in a swine’s
snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
But
the natural reason is that she is more carnal than a man, as is clear from her
many carnal abominations. And it should be noted that there was a defect in the
formation of the first woman, since she was formed from a bent rib, that is, a
rib of the breast, which is bent as it were in a contrary direction to a man.
And since through this defect she is an imperfect animal, she always deceives.
For Cato says: When a woman weeps she weaves snares. And again: When a woman
weeps, she labours to deceive a man. And this is shown by Samson’s wife,
who coaxed him to tell her the riddle he had propounded to the Philistines, and
told them the answer, and so deceived him. And it is clear in the case of the
first woman that she had little faith; for when the serpent asked why they did
not eat of every tree in Paradise, she answered: Of every tree, etc. —lest
perchance we die. Thereby she showed that she doubted, and had little faith in
the word of God. And all this is indicated by the etymology of the word; for
Femina comes from Fe and Minus, since she is ever weaker
to hold and preserve the faith. And this as regards faith is of her very
nature; although both by grace and nature faith never failed in the Blessed
Virgin, even at the time of Christ’s Passion, when it failed in all men.
Therefore a wicked woman is by her nature quicker to waver in her faith, and
consequently quicker to abjure the faith, which is the root of witchcraft.
And
as to her other mental quality, that is, her natural will; when she hates
someone whom she formerly loved, then she seethes with anger and impatience in
her whole soul, just as the tides of the sea are always heaving and boiling.
Many authorities allude to this cause. Ecclesiasticus xxv: There is no
wrath above the wrath of a woman. And Seneca ( Tragedies, VIII): No
might of the flames or of the swollen winds, no deadly weapon, is so much to be
feared as the lust and hatred of a woman who has been divorced from the
marriage bed.
This
is shown too in the woman who falsely accused Joseph, and caused him to be
imprisoned because he would not consent to the crime of adultery with her
(Genesis xxx). And truly the most powerful cause which contributes to
the increase of witches is the woeful rivalry between married folk and
unmarried women and men. This is so even among holy women, so what must it be
among the others? For you see in Genesis xxi. how impatient and envious
Sarah was of Hagar when she conceived: how jealous Rachel was of Leah because
she had no children (Genesis xxx): and Hannah, who was barren, of the
fruitful Peninnah (I. Kingsi): and how Miriam (Numbers xii) murmured and
spoke ill of Moses, and was therefore stricken with leprosy: and how Martha was
jealous of Mary Magdalen, because she was busy and Mary was sitting down (S.
Luke x). To this point is Ecclesiasticus xxxvii: Neither consult
with a woman touching her of whom she is jealous. Meaning that it is useless to
consult with her, since there is always jealousy, that is, envy, in a wicked
woman. And if women behave thus to each other, how much more will they do so to
men.
Valerius Maximus tells how, when Phoroneus, the king of the Greeks, was dying,
he said to his brother Leontius that there would have been nothing lacking to
him of complete happiness if a wife had always been lacking to him. And when
Leontius asked how a wife could stand in the way of happiness, he answered that
all married men well knew. And when the philosopher Socrates was asked if one
should marry a wife, he answered: If you do not, you are lonely, your family
dies out, and a stranger inherits; if you do, you suffer perpetual anxiety,
querulous complaints, reproaches concerning the marriage port~on, the heavy
displeasure of your relations, the garrulousness of a mother-in-law, cuckoldom,
and no certain arrival of an heir. This he said as one who knew. For S. Jerome
in his Contra Iovinianum says: This Socrates had two wives, whom he
endured with much patience, but could not be rid of their contumelies and
clamorous vituperations. So one day when they were complaining against him, he
went out of the house to escape their plaguing, and sat down before the house;
and the women then threw filthy water over him. But the philosopher was not
disturbed by this, saying, “I knew that the rain would come after the
thunder.”
There
is also a story of a man whose wife was drowned in a river, who, when he was
searching for the body to take it out of the water, walked up the stream. And
when he was asked why, since heavy bodies do not rise but fall, he was
searching against the current of the river, he answered: “When that woman
was alive she always, both in word and deed, went contrary to my commands;
therefore I am searching in the contrary direction in case even now she is dead
she may preserve her contrary disposition.”
And
indeed, just as through the first defect in their intelligence they are more
prone to abjure the faith; so through their second defect of inordinate
affections and passions they search for, brood over, and inflict various
vengeances, either by witchcraft, or by some other means. Wherefore it is no
wonder that so great a number of witches exist in this sex.
Women
also have weak memories; and it is a natural vice in them not to be
disciplined, but to follow their own impulses without any sense of what is due;
this is her whole study, and al] that she keeps in her memory. So Theophrastus
says: If you hand over the whole management of the house to her, but reserve
some minute detail to your own judgement, she will think that you are
displaying a great want of faith in her, and will stir up strife; and unless
you quickly take counsel, she will prepare poison for you, and consult seers
and soothsayers; and will become a witch.
But
as to domination by women, hear what Cicero says in the Paradoxes. Can
he be called a free man whose wife governs him, imposes laws on him, orders
him, and forbids him to do what he wishes, so that he cannot and dare not deny
her anything that she asks? I should call him not only a slave, but the vilest
of slaves, even if he comes of the noblest family. And Seneca, in the character
of the raging Medea,* says: Why do you cease to follow your happy impulse; how
great is that part of vengeance in which you rejoice? Where he adduces many
proofs that a woman will not be governed, but will follow her own impulse even
to her own destruction. In the same way we read of many women who have killed
themselves either for love or sorrow because they were unable to work their
vengeance.
S.
Jerome, writing of Daniel, tells a story of Laodice, wife of Antiochus king of
Syria; how, being jealous lest he should love his other wife, Berenice, more
than her, she first caused Berenice and her daughter by Antiochus to be slain,
and then poisoned herself. And why? Because she would not be governed, but
would follow her own impulse. Therefore S. John Chrysostom says not without
reason: O evil worse than all evil, a wicked woman, whether she be poor or
rich. For if she be the wife of a rich man, she does not cease night and day to
excite her husband with hot words, to use evil blandishments and violent
importunations. And if she have a poor husband she does not cease to stir him
also to anger and strife. And if she be a widow, she takes it upon herself
everywhere to look down on everybody, and is inflamed to all boldness by the
spirit of pride.
If we
inquire, we find that nearly all the kingdoms of the world have been overthrown
by women. Troy, which was a prosperous kingdom, was, for the rape of one woman,
Helen, destroyed, and many thousands of Greeks slain. The kingdom of theJews
suffered much misfortune and destruction through the accursed Jezebel, and her
daughter Athaliah, queen of Judah, who caused her son’s sons to be killed,
that on their death she might reign herself; yet each of them was slain. The
kingdom of the Romans endured much evil through Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, that
worst of women. And so with others. Therefore it is no wonder if the world now
suffers through the malice of women.
And
now let us examine the carnal desires of the body itself, whence has arisen
unconscionable harm to human life. Justly may we say with Cato of Utica: If the
world could be rid of women, we should not be without God in our intercourse.
For truly, without the wickedness of women, to say nothing of witchcraft, the
world would still remain proof against innumerable dangers. Hear what Valerius
said to Rufinus: You do not know that woman is the Chimaera, but it is good
that you should know it; for that monster was of three forms; its face was that
of a radiant and noble lion, it had the filthy belly of a goat, and it was
armed with the virulent tail of a viper. And he means that a woman is beautiful
to look upon, contaminating to the touch, and deadly to keep.
Let
us consider another property of hers, the voice. For as she is a liar by
nature, so in her speech she stings while she delights us. Wherefore her voice
is like the song of the Sirens, who with their sweet melody entice the
passers-by and kill them. For they kill them by emptying their purses,
consuming their strength, and causing them to forsake God. Again Valerius says
to Rufinus: When she speaks it is a delight which flavours the sin; the flower
of love is a rose, because under its blossom there are hidden many thorns. See
Proverbs v, 3-4: Her mouth is smoother than oil; that is, her speech is
afterwards as bitter as absinthium. [Her throat is smoother than oil. But her
end is as bitter as wormwood.]
Let
us consider also her gait, posture, and habit, in which is vanity of vanities.
There is no man in the world who studies so hard to please the good God as even
an ordinary woman studies by her vanities to please men. An example of this is
to be found in the life of Pelagia, a worldly woman who was wont to go about
Antioch tired and adorned most extravagantly. A holy father, named Nonnus, saw
her and began to weep, saying to his companions, that never in all his 1ife had
he used such diligence to please God; and much more he added to this effect,
which is preserved in his orations.
It is
this which is lamented in Ecclesiastes vii, and which the Church even
now laments on account of the great multitude of witches. And I have found a
woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter’s snare, and her heart is
a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her; but
he that is a sinner shall be caught by her. More bitter than death, that is,
than the devil: Apocalypse vi, 8, His name was Death. For though the
devil tempted Eve to sin, yet Eve seduced Adam. And as the sin of Eve would not
have brought death to our soul and body unless the sin had afterwards passed on
to Adam, to which he was tempted by Eve, not by the devil, therefore she is
more bitter than death.
More
bitter than death again, because that is natural and destroys only the body;
but the sin which arose from woman destroys the soul by depriving it of grace,
and delivers the body up to the punishment for sin.
More
bitter than death, again, because bodily death is an open and terrible enemy,
but woman is a wheedling and secret enemy.
And
that she is more perilous than a snare does not speak of the snare of hunters,
but of devils. For men are caught not only through their carnal desires, when
they see and hear women: for S. Bernard says: Their face is a burning wind, and
their voice the hissing of serpents: but they also cast wicked spells on
countless men and animals. And when it is said that her heart is a net, it
speaks of the inscrutable malice which reigns in their hearts. And her hands
are as bands for binding; for when they place their hands on a creature to
bewitch it, then with the help of the devil they perform their design.
To
conclude. All witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable.
See Proverbs xxx: There are three things that are never satisfied, yea,
a fourth thing which says not, It is enough; that is, the mouth of the womb.
Wherefore for the sake of fulfilling their lusts they consort even with devils.
More
such reasons could be brought forward, but to the understanding it is
sufficiently clear that it is no matter for wonder that there are more women
than men found infected with the heresy of witchcraft. And in consequence of
this, it is better called the heresy of witches than of wizards, since the name
is taken from the more powerful party. And blessed be the Highest Who has so
far preserved the male sex from so great a crime: for since He was willing to
be born and to suffer for us, therefore He has granted to men this privilege.
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