Heinrich Kramer: The Man Who Turned Misogyny into a Witch Hunt
Witchcraft and sorcery weren’t new ideas in the 15th century, but the way they became entangled with women’s lives was. A lot of that came down to one book: The Malleus Maleficarum. Written by Heinrich Kramer in 1486, it gained traction over time, thanks to the printing press, becoming one of the first viral hate-filled manifestos.
Professor Malcolm Gaskill didn’t mince words when he called Kramer a “superstitious psychopath.” But let’s see how one man’s prejudice and biases morphed into a movement that cost tens of thousands of women their lives.
Before he put pen to paper, Kramer tried—and failed—to prosecute witches in Innsbruck, Austria. His reputation was already hanging by a thread when he arrived in town, with extreme views that even the Church thought were too much. Then came Helena Scheuberin—a wealthy, outspoken woman who didn’t just reject his sermons; she tore them apart and rallied others to do the same. She even spat at him in the street, well aware of his venomous misogyny.
Kramer, wounded and enraged, accused Helena and six other women of witchcraft. The trial was a mess. But the real problem was Kramer’s weird fixation on her sexual behavior. However, luckily Helena’s wealth helped her fight back. The Bishop pressurised Kramer to quit his investigation, with no success. In the end, he had to order Kramer to leave his diocese and move to Cologne and the trials in Innsbruck finally being suspended.
Humiliated Kramer started writing his book Malleus Maleficarum, a handbook on how to identify witches, their practices and rituals with a step-by-step guide on how to persecute them.
In his book, Kramer laid out why women, especially independent ones, were witches. His logic? “When a woman thinks alone, she thinks evil thoughts.” And why? Women’s “insatiable lust”, of course. One of his more absurd claims was that witches could steal men’s penises and keep them in baskets. Laughable, yes—but the intent was dead serious. He wanted men to believe they couldn’t trust women, that every woman was a threat. They needed to be controlled, feared, broken.
The most disturbing part? This isn’t just a horror story from history. Kramer’s ideas didn’t die with him. Women are still losing their rights. Women in Afghanistan, for example, are stripped of autonomy, denied basic freedoms. Violence against women is still rampant, even in the so-called modern world.
What we learn from men like Heinrich Kramer isn’t just a warning from the past. It’s a call to action. If we don’t take these lessons seriously, the threats of the present will keep haunting us.
Sources:
Wikipedia, Malleus Maleficarum
Malcolm Gaskill, Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction
Silvia Federici, Caliban and the Witch