The Incubus and Succubus Tradition in Malleus Maleficarum
- Date of account
- 1486–1487; influential in later centuries
- Location
- German-speaking Holy Roman Empire; European circulation
- Source
- model_recalled_reference
- Record updated
- 2026-10-10
Record summary
The Malleus Maleficarum discusses demonological claims involving sexual assault, nocturnal visitation and bodily oppression, including incubus and succubus motifs inherited from earlier Christian sources. It matters for comparing sleep-related sensed presence, sexualized hallucination and institutional interpretation across historical periods. The work is a prescriptive theological-legal treatise, not a neutral case archive, and its circulation shaped later witchcraft narratives. Researchers should distinguish authors' claims, cited authorities, local testimony and subsequent folklore adaptations.
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