the friendship of all men. A silver coin deposited with it in 

 the evening will be doubled before morning ; still the coin 

 must not be too large in size. If you buy the mandrake it 

 remains with you, throw it where you will, until you sell it 

 again ; if you keep it till your death you must depart with 

 it to hell, but it can be sold only for a lower price than it 

 was bought, therefore he who has bought it with the smallest 

 existing coin is irretrievably lost." 



These and similar gross superstitions wielded a disastrous 

 influence on the people, exciting their timidity, and distrust 

 of neighbors and friends ; but they were innocent compared 

 with the horrible atrocities that flowed from the deeply seated 

 belief in witchcraft. Supported by the highest authority of 

 the Church, Pope John XXII.; systematized by the diabolical 

 ingenuity of Sprenger and his colleagues in the abominable 

 "Malleus Maleficarum," or Witches Hammer; prosecutions 

 were conducted in every town and village, and tens of 

 thousands of wretched persons became victims of indescribable 

 cruelty culminating in death at the stake. Women being more 

 1 'covetous of the knowledge of secrets" were the especial 

 object of the malevolent persecutions. 



Even the members of Rudolph's court were not exempt 

 from the inquisitorial methods of witch-finders, two of them 

 being accused of sorcery and evil designs against the person 

 of his Majesty. In 1611, an imperial chaplain was said to 

 have named his dog Matthias, after Rudolph's brother, who 

 was at that time scheming to displace him on the throne, 

 and that this dog was to be killed in order that a similar 

 fate might overtake the reigning monarch. The second to be 

 charged with exercising witchcraft was an alchemist named 

 Hauser, who had assisted Rudolph in necromantic operations. 

 He was accused of stealing a handkerchief from the Emperor's 

 linen at the laundry and conjuring evil with it to his Majesty's 



174 



