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ChapterI
alreadyintheGenesiswastheconnectionbetweenEve’snakednessinParadise
andSatan’scunningpointedout.Later,St.Paulstatedthattheoriginalsinwas
committedbythewoman,nottheman,and,consequently,“Itisgoodforaman
nottotouchawoman”(ICor.7,1);andelsewhere:“Aman[...]istheimageand
gloryofGod:butthewomanisthegloryoftheman.Forthemanisnotofthe
woman;butthewomanoftheman”(ICor.11,7-8).ToSemitepeoples,thewom-
anwasSatan’saccomplice,whereastheGreekslinkedherwithdemonsand
everythingthatsubvertsmalepower.
EarlyChristianityderiveditsdualistconceptofGoodandEvilfromtheJu-
deansectoftheEssenes.Thebody,especiallyfemale,wasseenassinfulandthe
fontofallevil.Later,Neoplatonismstrengthenedthisview,leading,especially
inthe4thand5thcentury,towarpedasceticismdisapprovedofbytheexegetesof
theChurch.Yettheconceptofthesinfulnessofthebodywasbythenfirmly
lodgedinChristianbeliefandculture;itwasinevidencemoststronglyinthe
MiddleAgesandtheearlymodernperiod,whenitdemonstrateditselfasex-
tremehostilitytowardswomen,evidente.g.intheprocessofwitchhunts.Inthat
period,femalenatureandfemalesinfulness,aswellasthebehaviourofwomen
includingfemalekillers,areasubjectofmanystudies.Yettheirauthorsseldom
assumedaneutralpositiontowardsafemalekiller;theirassessmentofheraction
usuallydependedonherrole:amonarch,wife,mother,defenderofajustcause
orprotectressofherownhonour.
1.8.2Witchhuntsasaformofacceptableaggression
andviolenceagainstwomen
Untilthe15thcentury,outsidetheworksoftheologianstherearepractically
nowell-arguedopinionsonthesubjectoffemalecrimeorattemptstodefineits
motivesandassessitsdimensions.Femalecrimewasmentionedonlyoccasion-
ally,inthecaseswhenawomancommittedparticularlycrueldeeds,orwhen
awoman’sactiondrasticallyexceededthenormsofcustomandwasofrepetitive
character,asinthecasesofactualorsuspectedpoisoners.
Criminologicalproceduresusedduringwitchhuntsevolvedinthecontextof
theprevalentsuperstitionsandvaryingviewsonfemalenature.Expertshave
posedmanyhypothesesonthis,oneofthemostobjectionableprocessesinthe
historyofmankind.Witchhuntingisperceivedasapuzzlingphenomenonre-
latedtotheeffectsofmasshysteria,andaresultofgroundless,butdeeplyrooted
superstitions.TheinfamousMalleusmaleficarum,publishedin1489bytwo
theologians,HenricusInstitorisandJakobSprenger,providesnotonlyplentiful