CHAPTER I.

The Bull of Innocent VIII.--A new Incentive to the vigorous Prosecution of Witchcraft--The 'Malleus Maleficarum'--Its Criminal Code--Numerous Executions at the Commencement of the Sixteenth Century--Examination of Christian Demonology--Various Opinions of the Nature of Demons--General Belief in the Intercourse of Demons and other non-human Beings with Mankind 101