Making a Witch: Inquisitor Manuals and the Collective Imaginary in Early Modern Europe
María Jesús Zamora Calvo
The period from the end of sixteenth century to middle seventeenth is one most interesting in history witchcraft Catholic Europe. There were an increasing number trials, legal orders, and punishments. Evil was perceived as being omnipresent throughout all levels life, theologians, philosophers, inquisitors including Sprenger, Kramer, Castañega, Ciruelo, Río, Grillando, Bodin wrote treatises on question. They wished establish proper response witchcraft, so doing they created female prototype conforming profile “witch”. roots this image went deep into collective imaginary drew upon reigning insecurity, distrust, fear times that suited early modern ecclesiastical authorities. As advanced, there a gradual rejection stereotype, more rational, objective mentality took hold, for example works Wier, Guaccio, Klein, Von Spee. These men first question existence women who met covens, cast spells, flew through air, made pacts with devil. This article describes influences these scholars experts forged witch
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