Malleus Malificarum did not see significant acceptance during Heinrich Kramer's lifetime and there is no direct impact that it had immediately.

To provide a bit of context, Malleus Malificarum was written couple years after two Kramer faced some serious misconduct accusation. In first instance he was accused of stealing some silverware during the course of an investigation. In second, he was so brutal during the investigation of a suspected witch that the whole issue ended in a mistrial and charges being dismissed.

However, Kramer had some powerful friends. Jacob Sprenger (who supposedly helped write it but instead likely only put his name on the end product) was an academic, Archbishop of Craynensis who made the silverware case go away. He also obtained a papal bull from newly elected Innocent VIII authorising him as an inquisitor, however when he tried to use it in Brixen, east of Insbruck the local bishop more or less kicked him out after local Catholics pushed back.

Now why is it so prominent historically? There are two reasons and one consideration to make.

• Malleus Malificarum basically consists of three parts, each being, arguably, plagiarised from previous works: part 1 is basically the theological justification taken from Thomas Aquinas, part 2 is based on Johannes Nider who wrote about mechanics of magic "use" and part three is based on anty-heresy work of Nicholas Eymeric. The important thing here is that Malleus Malificarum contains both justification and practical support for witch hunt, in single volume, authorised by a papal bull (which did not actually authorise the work, but Kramer's authority to personally prosecute). It is all in one reader, basic witch hunting kit. Sort of Witch Hunting 101 and as such was a very convenient reference.

• It was published 40ish years after the invention of the printing press. It had the volume boost that previous works on the topic did not and with the above detailed simplicity, everyone wanted it, just in case.

It is also my personal judgement that Anglophone historians have vastly overstated the importance of this work. The work is very practical and... well, brutal. Very few historic non-fiction works deal so casually and frankly with mass torture of innocent women. As such, this jumped out at historians and provided a direct link to the with burnings and torture inflicted on (mainly) women of Continental Europe. However, it is important to note that there was no complete English translation until 1928 until Montague Summers (who was a bit of a loony) translated it. His translation was terrible though, as he introduced a lot of bias as he was still firmly on board of the "magic is real, women are evil" train. In 2007 Maxwell-Stuart did an abridged translation, and while that was a MASSIVE step forward, it was based on a late 16 century version of the Latin text. Then, Christopher S. Mackay published a two volume work which contained both the Latin original of one of the earliest known editions and an annotated English translation, offering extensive historical context. Mackay’s work offers the definitive translation and analysis of Malleus Maleficarum for Anglophone readers but that work was published in 2009. WIthout a good translation, there has been a lot of conjecture as not everyone casually reads 15th century Latin. Ultimately, I think Malleus Maleficarum was far less important than we all generally assume.

So, all in all, little to no impact during Kramer's life, but due to convenience as a reference and printing press some moderate impact that has been overstated historically.

• Bibliography

• Durrant, Jonathan. "Review of the Malleus Maleficarum." Reviews in History, http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/672.

• Frank, F.S., and M. Summers. Montague Summers: A Bibliographical Portrait: Scarecrow Press, 1988.

• "Johann Sprenger." In Encyclopedia Britannica Online, edited by Dale Hoiberg: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012.

• Jolly, K., E. Peters, and C. Raudvere. Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, Volume 3: The Middle Ages: Bloomsbury, 2001.

• Levack, B.P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe: Pearson Longman, 2006.

• Mackay, C.S. The Hammer of Witches: A Complete Translation of the Malleus Maleficarum: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

• Mandonnet, Pierre. "Order of Preachers." In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

• Maxwell-Stuart, P.G. The Malleus Maleficarum: Manchester University Press, 2007.

• Ruickbie, L. Witchcraft out of the Shadows: A Complete History: Robert Hale, 2004.

• Sempruch, J. Fantasies of Gender and the Witch in Feminist Theory and Literature: Purdue University Press, 2008.

• Thurston, Robert W. "The World, the Flesh and the Devil." History Today, 2006, 51 - 57.

Define "directly after". Within a few years it had been deemed heretical nonsense, which was pretty quick back then.