Compendium Maleficarum , first published in , remains one of the most significant and visually striking manuals from the early modern period's witch-hunting era. Authored by the Italian priest Francesco Maria Guazzo
, it became a definitive authority on demonology, famously summarized and translated for modern readers in the notable 1929 Montague Summers edition Overview of the Text compendium maleficarum pdf
: Explanations of alleged abilities, such as flying, shape-shifting into animals, and causing diseases through magical poisons. Compendium Maleficarum , first published in , remains
However, be careful not to confuse it with the Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches). While the Malleus focuses on the theology of witchcraft (how to identify and prosecute witches), Guazzo’s Compendium is a visual and philosophical encyclopedia of . first published in