User talk:Tyler.Rocho

It is unclear if the Malleus was actually influential in the European witch hunts. For every source that casually assigns gravity to the Malleus there are sources that make a convincing argument for it's lack of influence. One such example would be that it was written nearly a century before the major witch craze in Europe actually began. Dale Hoak, writing for the Journal of Sociology in May of 1983 is one example of a scholar who doubted the impact of the Malleus. The article source for this can be found here http://www.jstor.org/stable/2778975. While many today are quick to assert that the Malleus was the most important guide for witch hunting in its day, this may not actually speak to the reality. Not because it was not widely read (the invention of the printing press in the 1400's aided the spread), but because it contained errors, so many that the Council for the Inquisitor General in Spain cautioned against using the Malleus altogether.