Book contents
Question 6
from PART III
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2015
Summary
NOW question six is how |proceedings of this kind against sorceresses in a case involving the Faith are to be continued. The first consideration is that in a case involving the Faith the proceeding is summary, straightforward and informal, without the screeching and posturing of advocates in courtrooms, as is explained in Chapter “Statuta” (Liber Sextus). How these words are to be understood is explained in Extra, “Meaning of Words” and in Chapter “Saepe contingit” in the Clementines, where it says, “It often happens that We delegate cases, and in connection with some of them We order the proceeding to be straightforward and informal, without the screeching and posturing of a courtroom. Many people dispute the meaning of these words, and there is doubt as to how the proceedings should be carried out. Desiring, then, to settle such doubt as far as possible, We ordain by this eternally valid decree that a judge to whom We have delegated a case in this way should be obligated not to demand a petition|or to require a formal joinder of the suit, and should be entitled to carry out lawful proceedings during a holiday indulged to men because of their needs, should cut out delay and curtail as far as possible the subject matter of the suit, debarring the exceptions, appeals and delays that thwart justice, and restraining the disputes and squabbles of the parties' advocates and legal representatives and the pointlessly large number of witnesses. The judge should not, however, throttle the case by not admitting the necessary proofs. It is also Our understanding that this sort of delegation does not exclude the act of summoning and the presentation of an oath about not making a false accusation and about telling the truth so that the truth will not be concealed.”
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- The Hammer of WitchesA Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum, pp. 513 - 521Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009