Abbot Johann Trithemus, Anti-Witch Writer
Abbot Johann Trithemus lived in the 16th century and was very concerned with the so-called widespread prevalence of witches. He believed that witches were everywhere, and that no one could know how far reaching their nefarious deeds were. In his Liber Octo Quaestionum he wrote:
Witches are a most pestiferous class, who enter on pacts with demons, and, after making a solemn profession of faith, dedicate themselves, in lasting obedience, to some particular demon. No one can describe the evils of which this class of beings is guilty. Hence they must nowhere be tolerated, but utterly and everywhere exterminated.
In his paranoia, Trithemus wrote other works. The misogynistic Antipalus Maleficiorum states:
By their incantations and unhallowed sorceries they have defiled almost the entire world. Men and beasts perish by the wickedness of these women. Nor does anyone conceive that the source is witchcraft. Many people suffer chronic and serious illnesses without realizing that they have been bewitched (Wedeck 108, 159).
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Abbot Johann Trithemus, Anti-Witch Writer copyrighted 1996-1998 to Shantell Powell.