The article traces the roots of heresy and witchcraft through the writings of inquisitor Heinrich Kramer or Institoris of the Alsatian Dominican. The author believes that Kramer, remembered for his tract "Malleus maleficarum" in1486, was the first to make a distinction between heretics as male and witches as female. His "A Shield to Defend the Holy Roman Church Against the Heresy of the Pikards or Waldensians" is said to be the most influential.