Aberdeen’s Hammer of the Witches: The Witch Panic of 1597
‘ The Witch, No. 3 ’ , c. 1892 lithograph by Joseph E. Baker In 1487, Heinrich Kramer; Clergyman, Professor of Theology at Salzburg University and Inquisitor, published his text The ‘ Malleus Malificarum ’ or ‘ Hammer of the Witches ’ . One h undred and ten years later in 1597 , Aberdeen found itself gripped in a frenz ied fear of witches . T he tales of this dark and violent hysteria can be found woven through the Burgh records of the time; but what led Aberdeen to take such a hard line on W itch hunting? Title Page of the Malleus Malificarum (1669 ed.) One passage from the text, a s translated to English in 1928 by Montague Summers, reads: “It is a most certain and most Catholic opinion that there are sorcerers and witches who by the help of the devil, on account of a compact which they have entered into with him, are able, since God allows this, to produce rea...
