How did Witchcraft become Heresy?

The initial phase of the Witch Trials, including the development of the concept of the witch a such, is really bookend by two texts: the 1436-8 Formicarius of Nider wherein the witch-cult as heretical sect first really flickering into existence and the better known Malleus Maleficarum of 1486 in which the elaborated theory of witchcraft reached its most popular form in the ravings of Institor. However, the Malleus did not produce the witch heresy merely from the Formicarius. Indeed, the intervening 50 years between the two texts were decisive precisely in that it was in those years that all of the major elements of the elaborated theory of witchcraft came together into one coherent vision of diabolical heresy, one that would lead to the execution of between 40-60,000 people, mostly women. But what is this lesser known demonological literature? Let’s explore several of these now obscure specialized demonological treatises - from legal, theological, even an epic poem - that produced the witch and witchcraft prior to the Malleus. Maleficarum. Consider Supporting Esoterica! Patreon -   / esotericachannel   Merch -    / @theesotericachannel   New to Studying Esotericism? Check out my Reading Guide here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c... Rare Occult Books - https://www.esotericaoccultbooks.com/ Recommended Readings: Levack - The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe https://amzn.to/3xqE1vr Levack - The Witchcraft Sourcebook https://amzn.to/3xn6B0M Peters - Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700: A Documentary History https://amzn.to/4aP0LUC Mackay - The Hammer of Witches: A Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum https://amzn.to/4cRfIHy Clark - Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe https://amzn.to/4cS3Jtk Hutton - The Witch https://amzn.to/43TnyML Digital Witchcraft Collection: https://digital.library.cornell.edu/?... Hansen - Quellen und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Hexenwahns und der Hexenverfolgung im Mittelalter - https://archive.org/details/quellenun...