5, 1484), entitled _Summis Desideruntes_, to which has been given the title of _Malleus Maleficorum_, or _The Hammer of Sorcerers_, directed against the practice of witchcraft; but it was especially amongst the men of the New Spirit that the belief in the prevalence of compacts with the devil, and the necessity for suppressing them, took root, and led to the horrible persecutions that distinguished the "Reformed" Churches on the whole even more than the Catholic.
Luther himself had a vivid belief, tinging all his views and actions, in the ubiquity of the devil and his myrmidons.

"The devils," says he, "are near us, and do cunningly contrive every moment without ceasing against our life, our salvation, and our blessedness....

In woods, waters, and wastes, and in damp, marshy places, there are many devils that seek to harm men.

In the black and thick clouds, too, there are some that make storms, hail, lightning, and thunder, that poison the air and the pastures.

When such things happen, the philosophers and the physicians ascribe them to the stars, and show I know not what causes for such misfortunes and plagues." Luther relates numerous instances of personal encounters that he himself had had with the devil.