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To Preserve the Manly Form from so Vile a Crime: Ecclesiastical Anti-Sodomitic Rhetoric and the Gendering of Witchcraft in the Malleus Maleficarum

To Preserve the Manly Form from so Vile a Crime: Ecclesiastical Anti-Sodomitic Rhetoric and the... Chapter 10 from so Vile a Crime: Ecclesiastical Anti-Sodomitic Rhetoric and the Gendering of Witchcraft in the Malleus Maleficarum Hamilton College Late in 1485, the German Inquisitor Heinrich Institoris retired from Innsbruck in disgrace. He had arrived early the previous summer, armed with a freshly minted papal bull supporting his efforts to prosecute suspected witches, and had launched a vigorous investigation. To his dismay, he found a town rife with witches and, perhaps worse, with local officials obviously reluctant to do anything about them. Nonetheless, he pressed forward and by October was prepared to begin formal trials. From the outset, however, Institoris was stymied by the skepticism and hostility of local magistrates and that of the bishop, Georg Golser, in particular. During a preliminary interrogation, Institoris's attempt to link feminine sexual deviance with witchcraft proved especially offensive to his hosts, who were plainly reluctant to accept the existence and immediate presence of witches as he understood them; as Golser later succinctly commented, Institoris claimed much that he could not prove.1 This skepticism, combined with the machinations of a lawyer and Institoris's own procedural errors, ruined his prosecutions; and, despite Institoris's persistent attempts to revive them, he was met http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Essays in Medieval Studies West Virginia University Press

To Preserve the Manly Form from so Vile a Crime: Ecclesiastical Anti-Sodomitic Rhetoric and the Gendering of Witchcraft in the Malleus Maleficarum

Broedel, Hans Peter
Essays in Medieval Studies , Volume 19 (1)
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West Virginia University Press
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Copyright © 2003 Illinois Medieval Association.
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1538-4608
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Abstract

Chapter 10 from so Vile a Crime: Ecclesiastical Anti-Sodomitic Rhetoric and the Gendering of Witchcraft in the Malleus Maleficarum Hamilton College Late in 1485, the German Inquisitor Heinrich Institoris retired from Innsbruck in disgrace. He had arrived early the previous summer, armed with a freshly minted papal bull supporting his efforts to prosecute suspected witches, and had launched a vigorous investigation. To his dismay, he found a town rife with witches and, perhaps worse, with local officials obviously reluctant to do anything about them. Nonetheless, he pressed forward and by October was prepared to begin formal trials. From the outset, however, Institoris was stymied by the skepticism and hostility of local magistrates and that of the bishop, Georg Golser, in particular. During a preliminary interrogation, Institoris's attempt to link feminine sexual deviance with witchcraft proved especially offensive to his hosts, who were plainly reluctant to accept the existence and immediate presence of witches as he understood them; as Golser later succinctly commented, Institoris claimed much that he could not prove.1 This skepticism, combined with the machinations of a lawyer and Institoris's own procedural errors, ruined his prosecutions; and, despite Institoris's persistent attempts to revive them, he was met

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Essays in Medieval Studies – West Virginia University Press

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