WITCHCRAFT - DEMONS The witch is baptised by the Devil, and in the name of Hell. Since the witch has renounced his Christian name, he is given another by his new owner, the Devil. Hand-coloured print from Francesco Maria Guazzo, Compendium Maleficarum, 1608. This was the most learned and precise of mediaeval witchcraft manuals, and in some respects (because it paid homage to the superstitions of the worst kind) one of the most horrible.