Although The "Malleus" is recognized as an important medieval text, as a source it presents difficulties of contextual understanding and cannot be said to be representative of late medieval learned thinking. This study is an introduction to this work and to the conceptual world of its authors.

Therefore, to understand the "Malleus", one must also understand the contemporary and sebsequent debates over the reality and nature of witches. Ultimately, this text argues that although the "Malleus" was a highly idiosyncratic tex, with a view of witches very different form that of competing authors, its arguments were powerfully compelling and therefore remained influential long after alternatives were forgotten. Consequently, although focused on a single text, this study has important implications for 15th-century witchcraft theory. This text should be of value to students and academics of late medieval and early modern history, religion and witchcraft studies.