I Got Better …

June 28, 2012 By 6 Comments

So someone says that you’ve turned them into a newt. What happens next? Lapham’s Quarterly has produced this handy flowchart derived from the Malleus Maleficarum, a fifteenth century witch hunter’s book written by Heinrich Kramer.

Filed Under: History, Pictures 6 Comments
  • Aljaž Kozina

    I’m not sure there’s enough burning at the stake in this chart…

    • vasaroti

      That was my initial thought. I’m curious about what % of people who were accused managed to survive. I suppose drawing out the process created more jobs in the guarding and torturing sector. Perhaps the key lies in the ‘how many friends’ do you have area. If you are a woman whose neighbors covet your pasture, you’re pretty much toast.

      • http://www.seditiosus.blogspot.com Schaden Freud

        I’m curious about this as well. Does anyone here have the numbers?

        • http://www.virtue-quest.com/ Robert King

          Wikipedia cites Ronald Hutton, showing historical records for 12,545 executions for witchcraft in the period from the 15th – 18th centuries. Acknowledging that we are unlikely to have extant records of all executions, he estimates around 40,000 total executions.

    • http://nagamakironin.blogspot.com/ Michael Mock

      Ah, but what it lacks in Burning At The Stake, it makes up for in excommunication and torture.

  • http://www.amazon.com/Malleus-Maleficarum-Original-Medievl-catching/dp/1593622139 Mike Rosen

    Neat, that chart’s a lot of fun! I just recently illustrated a graphic novel adaptation of the Malleus Maleficarum available from SLG Publishing, (*cough cough* BUY MY BOOK http://www.amazon.com/Malleus-Maleficarum-Original-Medievl-catching/dp/1593622139 BUY MY BOOK *cough*) so I finally had to read the whole book cover to cover for the first time. When I saw this chart, I was all “Oh, they’re just going to say that EVERYTHING leads to burning, because people like to think that.” But, no, they actually made the chart accurate according to the book! Very impressive. Because I know that book is NOT an easy read to parse. XP