WITCHCRAFT - HAMMER OF WITCHES - HELL Woodcut from an edition of the Malleus Maleficarum, 1497. The Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of Witches, was by far the most influential work on witchcraft and demonology to be supported by the Catholic Church. Its malign influence on legal process cannot be over-stated, for it fixed in form and image the early nebulous superstitions concerning witchcraft, in a way that not only served the witch-hunters, but which actually created certain concepts that, until its publication, did not exist. It was authored by Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger, and shortly after publication was supported by the issue of a papal bull (1484). The illustration shows a witches (perhaps it is a warlock) suffering from thirst, and having her neck skin flayed by four demons, in the flames of Hell. Above, God (nursing on his knee, the Son), looking down from the Heavens.