Introduction and Research Process Malleus Maleficarum was written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger regarding the prosecution of witches. The purpose of the work was to demonstrate that witchcraft was indeed real and that it was practiced primarily by women. It is widely believed that around 60,000 people were executed and around double that number were tried. The question is: why did witchcraft become such a common crime and why were women prosecuted for being witches? Tamar Herzig is a university lecturer at Tel Aviv University, specializing in gender history and in her article Flies, Heretics, And The Gendering Of Witchcraft she explains the influences on Heinrich Kramer that led to his views expressed in the Malleus Maleficarum . The article Witchcraft Beliefs and Witch Hunts by Niek Koning, professor of agricultural economics and rural politics at Wagenigen University, provides socioeconomic and rural perspectives on the prosecution of witches in early modern Europe. It explains the evolution of belief in witchcraft that coincided with agricultural and social development. Brian Levack examines all aspects of witchcraft in depth in his Articles on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology: A Twelve Volume Anthology of Scholarly Articles, from which I chose to examine his volumes on general witchcraft and women's studies. Levack is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, where he specializes in legal history and the history of witchcraft. Professor of history and religious studies at the University of Virginia, HC Erik Midelfort wrote the article Witch Craze?: Beyond the Legends of Panic, which provides a religious perspective, especially in...... middle of paper.. .. .. the accusation is something that should be studied further in order to properly understand it, as it is a major example of injustices towards women. Works Cited Herzig, Tamar. “Flies, Heretics, and the Genre of Witchcraft.” Magic, rituals and witchcraft 5, n. 1 (2010): 51-80. Koning, Niek. “Witchcraft Beliefs and Witch Hunts.” Human Nature 24, no. 2 (2013): 158-181. Levack, Brian P. Articles on Witchcraft, Magic, and Demonology: A Twelve-Volume Anthology of Scholarly Articles. New York: Garland Pub., 1992. Midelfort, H. C. Erik. “The Witch Mania?: Beyond the Legends of the Panic.” Magic, rituals and witchcraft 6, n. 1 (2011): 11-33. Scribner, Bob. "Witchcraft and Judgment in Reformation Germany." History Today 40, n. 4 (1990).Suhr, Carla. "Representation of Attitude in Early Modern English Witchcraft Pamphlets." Studia Neophilologica 84, n. 1 (2012): 130-142.