Jacob Sprenger (1435–1495)

Jakob Sprenger was a Dominican friar and reformer. He was Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Cologne, and Inquisitor for the provinces of Mainz, Trier and Cologne.

Heinrich Kramer (Henricus Institoris) claimed that he was a co-author of Kramer's Malleus Malificarum, thus giving the text Sprenger's moral authority. However, Sprenger himself denied this. The first copies that listed him as co-author were printed 33 years after his death.

Sprenger opposed Kramer's activities, publicly denouncing him in 1487 in adversus m[agistrum] Henricum Institoris inquistorem, which ended the latter's career in German lands.