544 Impotence as a Result o£ Witchcraft 



one side of the road and deposit it there; the woman however shall put the 

 other half on the other side of the road. Thereupon bridegroom and bride 

 shall take both parts of the nut without having removed the shell. And then 

 the nut shall thus be made whole again and shall be kept for seven days. Hav- 

 ing done this they shall have intercourse. 



If, however, it happens on account of beans, it can be cured with divine 

 rather than human means. If it is on account of the needles for the dead, the 

 spells must be sought either in the pillow or in the mattress. If they are not 

 found, the victims shall lie together in another house. 



Bile of a male dog purifies the house and brings it about that no evil remedy 

 be brought to the house. 



Sprinkle the walls of the house with dog's blood and it will be liberated from 

 every spell. 



If bridegroom and bride carry bile of a fish and particularly of zangarinus 

 (that is lucius) along in a box made of juniper, and if when they go to sleep 

 they pour some on burning coals and are fumigated therefrom, all spells men- 

 tioned above vanish. 



Similarly, if quicksilver is taken and put into a reed pen and the pen is 

 sealed with wax and lead while the bridegroom and bride know nothing 

 about it, no spell will harm them at the place. 



If, however, on account of impending sins the above-mentioned measures 

 did not help at all, they shall go to a priest or the bishop. And if the bishop has 

 permitted it and no remedy is found, after having confessed to the bishop or 

 an ordained priest they shall take Holy Communion on the day of the Holy 

 Resurrection or Ascension in Whitsuntide. Having received the body and 

 blood of the Lord, bridegroom and bride shall give each other the kiss of peace. 



And after they have received the benediction of the bishop or priest, the 

 bishop or priest shall give this verse of the prophet written on paper: The 

 voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the great Lord is upon many waters. 

 Thereafter they shall go home and shall abstain from intercourse for three 

 days and three nights. Then they shall perform it and thus all diabolical 

 power is destroyed. 



The little treatise on spells has come to an end. Thanks be to God. Amen. 



Impotence as a result of witchcraft was discussed by many scholastic physi- 

 cians whose writings have been reviewed very carefully by Gerda Hoffmann. 



Since witches were considered the chief authors of such evil spells the 

 Witches Hammer, the Malleus Maleficarum, of 1489 devotes many passages to 

 the question.^^ Following the Dominican scholar Peter of Palude who died in 

 1342, it distinguishes five methods by which the devil causes impotence:^^ 



And as to this, Peter of Palude (III, 34) notes five metliods. For he says that the de\il. being 

 a spirit, has power over a corporeal creature to cause or prevent a local motion. Therefore 

 he can prevent bodies from approaching each other, either directly or indirectly, by inter- 

 posing himself in some bodily shape. In this way it happened to the yoimg man who was 

 betrothed to an idol and ne\ertheless married a yoimg maiden, and was conseqiicnth imable 



