How a disgraced inquisitor's personal vendetta defined the early modern witch hunt

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Heinrich Kramer, a Dominican friar, was once forced out of Innsbruck for his erratic behavior and failure to prove his accusations. Yet, his subsequent attempt to validate his methods through a single, widely distributed book, the Malleus Maleficarum, permanently cemented the misogynistic association of witchcraft with women in European history.

Heinrich Kramer, also known as Henricus Institoris, was a Dominican friar and inquisitor whose career was marked by both institutional power and professional failure. Before 1474, he served as an inquisitor in regions including the Tyrol and Salzburg. In 1484, he secured the papal bull Summis desiderantes affectibus from Pope Innocent VIII, which acknowledged the existence of witchcraft and aimed to bolster his authority in Germany, where he had previously been denied jurisdiction.

Kramer's aggressive approach reached a breaking point in Innsbruck in 1485. He targeted Helena Scheuberin, a local woman who had publicly insulted him, accusing her of witchcraft. The bishop of Brixen, Georg Golser, eventually intervened, criticizing Kramer for focusing on unproven sexual allegations and ordering him to leave the diocese in 1486. Despite this professional rebuke, Kramer channeled his efforts into writing the Malleus Maleficarum, published in 1487. While the Faculty of Cologne condemned the work for recommending illegal procedures, the book became an influential, oft-reprinted volume that detailed the witches' sabbath and solidified the misogynistic link between women and witchcraft.

Despite his earlier controversies, Kramer's later career saw a resurgence in prestige. By 1491, he was providing expert consultation on witch trial procedures in Nuremberg, and in 1495, he delivered popular lectures in Venice under the patronage of the Patriarch. He continued to write various theological treatises until his death in 1505 in Kroměříž. While 17th-century chroniclers later hailed him as a hero of his Order, his legacy remains inextricably tied to the Malleus Maleficarum, a work that helped define the early modern period's approach to the persecution of witches.

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