The Malleus Maleficarum was the most important document for prosecuting witches to come out of the witch hysteria of the Renaissance, also known in Europe as the Burning Times. The document treated witchcraft not as a superstition as it was originally thought to be, but stated that witchcraft was real. As a dangerous and heretical practice of associating with the devil. The Malleus Maleficarum was considered the scariest book in human history. It spurred a three hundred year period of witch hunts from the 15th to the 18th century. The Malleus was written in three sections. Section One is described as an attempt to prove that witchcraft was real and not a superstition. That those who practice witchcraft have really made pacts with the devil and want to cause harm to people, crops and animals. That they could fly and transform into animal forms. The conclusion had to be drawn that witchcraft must be real... because the devil is real. The Catholic Church says the devil exists. Section One also details how the devil's followers... (witches)...perpetrate a wide variety of evils