When you think of royals and witches, you probably think of Elizabeth Woodville, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Joan of Navarre, and Eleanor Cobham. (Gemma Hollman’s 2020 book, Royal Witches, covers these four women and is a must-read.) Royal women like Anne Boleyn have also been accused of witchcraft at various points. However, there have also been royals on the other side of this equation. One monarch from Britain’s past looms large in the history of witch-hunting in particular- King James VI of Scotland/ James I of England. In honour of October, let’s look at the relationship between King James and witches!
Who Is King James VI/I?
King James VI of Scotland was the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry, Lord Darnley, and he became King of Scotland at just over a year old after his mother was forced to abdicate. He grew up under the tutelage and supervision of rigorous Protestants; however, both Protestants and Catholics in the period held fairly strong views about witchcraft and the Devil. (He would become King James I of England in 1603 upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I.)
In 1589, James and his entourage set sail for Denmark to collect his future bride, Princess Anne of Denmark.
Denmark and Witches
Denmark, like many other Central European nations at the time, was quite enthralled by the idea of witches and witchcraft and the general idea of what the Devil would do to mortal men given the chance. James would have been exposed to many different theories and ideas in regards to witchcraft while in Denmark, but it was actually Anne’s attempted voyage that most likely settled it. The Princess had attempted to sail for Scotland but her ship was unable to complete the voyage due to incredibly dangerous storms. In 1590, Ane Koldings was one of the main defendants in the Copenhagen Witch Trial after she had confessed that she and a group of fellow witches had cursed the ship. After hearing the outcome of the trial some months later, James was “inspired” to pursue his own witchcraft trials.
North Berwick Witch Trials
In 1590-1592, over seventy individuals in Scotland were accused of practising witchcraft and faced legal trials. James took a vested interest in the trials and played an active role in directing them. He was present throughout much of the trials and even witnessed individuals being tortured for hours until they gave a confession.
The trials were rather a series of dominoes falling. Agnes Sampson’s confession implicated Geillis Duncan who then in turn implicated several other people, and so on. (It is now that I need to state- that although this does seem to be fairly common knowledge- that most women convicted and even accused of witchcraft were not doing anything that we would now consider witchcraft.)
James even played a significant role in the outcome of the trials, including demanding that the jury overturn their verdict in order achieve the results that he wanted. While it seems like a major judicial overreach in comparison to the modern period, at this time James would have believed he was ordained by God and therefore it was appropriate.
Daemonologie
In 1597, James then took his passion for witch-hunting even further and published a tract on demons, aptly titled Daemonologie. It discusses what witchcraft looks like and how witches tempt mortals, how the acts of witches and the Devil differ from those of angels and God, and how one could pursue and hunt witches. It is written as a discussion and tackles the whole “issue” of witchcraft from both a political and theological point of view.
James highlights four different kinds of demons: spectra that focus on physical locations, obsession that focus on humans at various points, possession which actually enters the human, and fairies that can give prophecies.
The dissertation was reprinted again in 1603 after James became King of England, and it did have quite a lasting influence. Both Richard Bernard and Matthew Hopkins, English witch hunters in the mid-seventeenth century, used Daemonologie as a source for their own writings and manuals on witch hunting. And you have probably interacted with Macbeth at some point in your education- it is thought that Shakespeare was influenced by the tract when writing what would be known as the Scottish play.
Were you familiar with the relationship between King James I and witches?
Cheers,
The Historian
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest
