Joos de Damhouder

In 1552 he was made a member of the Council of Finance by Mary of Hungary, governor of the Habsburg Netherlands, and held that office until 1575.

The book was a great success and saw numerous translations in other European languages, partly due to de Damhouder's novel approach of illustrating the various crimes and procedural stages with woodcuts.

The Praxis dedicated a lengthy 64 paragraphs to witchcraft, copied in large part from Paulus Grillandus's Tractatus de sortilegiis.

According to the Praxis, witchcraft was a heinous crime that went unpunished too often because of the ignorance of magistrates, and which also covered love charms, fortune-telling, astrology and other superstitious practices.

These included, for example, the recommendation to shave off all hair and to inspect all orifices of the suspect, in order to uncover hidden magical amulets that would make the wearer withstand torture.