I recently stumbled across an on-line copy of the Malleus Maleficarum (literally, The Hammer of Witches), a witch-hunting guide from 1486. It’s as horrifyingly bad as some of the Monty Python skits mocking medieval justice. I particularly enjoyed this chapter’s title:
Question IX
Whether Witches may work some Prestidigatory Illusion so that the Male Organ appears to be entirely removed and separate from the Body.
Humor aside, the Malleus Maleficarum is a pretty scary document.