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Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.
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Pope Innocent VIII
Head of the Catholic Church from 1484 to 1492
Pope Innocent VIII, born Giovanni Battista Cybo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death, in July 1492. Son of the viceroy of Naples, Cybo spent his early years at the Neapolitan court. He became a priest in the retinue of…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Summis desiderantes affectibus
1484 papal bull on witchcraft
Summis desiderantes affectibus, sometimes abbreviated to Summis desiderantes, was a papal bull regarding witchcraft issued by Pope Innocent VIII on 5 December 1484.Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Papal bull
Type of decree by the Catholic pope
A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal (bulla) traditionally appended to authenticate it.Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Heinrich Kramer
German inquisitor (c. 1430–1505)
Heinrich Kramer, also known under the Latinized name Henricus Institor, was a German churchman and inquisitor. With his widely distributed book Malleus Maleficarum (1487), which describes witchcraft and endorses detailed processes for the extermination of witches, he was…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Jacob Sprenger
Dominican inquisitor
Jacob Sprenger was a Dominican inquisitor and theologian principally known for his association with an infamous book on witch-hunting Malleus Maleficarum (1486). He was born in Rheinfelden, Further Austria, taught at the University of Cologne, and died in 1495 in Strasbourg.Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Inquisition
System of tribunals enforcing Catholic orthodoxy
The Inquisition was a Catholic judicial procedure where the ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various medieval and reformation-era state-organized tribunals whose aim was to combat heresy,…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Witchcraft
Practices believed to use supernatural powers
Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, "Witchcraft thus…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
December 5
Day of the year
December 5 is the 339th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 26 days remain until the end of the year.Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)