The
Malleus Maleficarum by Kramer and Sprenger, 1489, Excerpts
In the town of Waldshut on the Rhine, in the diocese of Constance, there
was a certain witch who was so detested by the townsfolk that she was not
invited to the celebration of a wedding which, however, nearly all the other
townsfolk were present. Being indignant because of this, and wishing to be
revenged, she summoned a devil and, telling him the cause of her vexation,
asked him to raise a hailstorm and drive all the wedding guests from their
dancing; and the devil agreed, and raising her up, carried her through the air
to a hill near the town, in the sight of some shepherds. And since, as she
afterwards confessed, she had no water to pour into the trench (for this, as we
shall show, is the method they use to raise hailstorms), she made a small
trench and filled it with her urine instead of water, and stirred it with her
finger, after their custom, with the devil standing by. Then the devil suddenly
raised that liquid up and sent a violent storm of hailstones which fell only on
the dancers and townsfolk. And when they had dispersed and were discussing
among themselves the cause of that storm, the witch shortly afterwards entered
the town; and this greatly aroused their suspicions. But when the shepherds had
told what they had seen, their suspicions became almost a certainty. So she was
arrested, and confessed that she had done this thing because she had not been
invited to the wedding: and for this, and for many other witchcrafts which she
had perpetrated, she was burned.
No comments:
Post a Comment