The Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches) is a 1487 treatise written by Heinrich Kramer, a Dominican inquisitor, to provide guidance on identifying, prosecuting, and punishing witches. It argued that witchcraft was heresy and linked it to women, often perpetuating misogynistic ideas. Widely distributed due to the printing press, it became an influential text during Europe’s witch trials of the 15th–17th centuries, contributing to widespread fear and persecution. Today, it is studied as a historical artifact to understand the roots of superstition, gender bias, and moral panic in early modern Europe.