Turns Out Mary Queen of Scots's Son Burned Witches And Had The Bible Rewritten
James Began The Most Notorious Witch Hunt In Scottish History
The North Berwick trials of 1590 marks one of the first and largest witch hunts in Scottish history, and James played a significant role in them. After he married Princess Anne of Denmark, they set sail for Scotland, but were met with a series of storms that nearly put an end to the young couple and delayed their arrival.
The ordeal was so traumatic that James suspected foul play. He felt the only reasonable explanation was someone - or a group of people - had tried to sabotage his marriage and target his life. In response, James initiated a witch hunt that rapidly expanded as the accused made confessions and further allegations under torture. In total, at least 70 people were accused of witchcraft, and most were sentenced to death.
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James's Witch Trials Disproportionately Targeted Women
Early modern Europe's witch hysteria predominantly victimized women. Historian Suzannah Lipscomb estimates around 70-80% of accusations in this period were directed at women. James believed women were naturally more likely to be witches, since they were "frailer than men," making them "easier to be intrapped in these grosse snares of the Devill."
Though both men and women stood trial for witchcraft in North Berwick, far more of the accused were women. Scholar Deborah Willis has even theorized James primarily targeted women in the North Berwick witch trials to rid himself of an overbearing "malevolent female gaze" left by Queen Elizabeth and his mother, thus reasserting his own masculine power.
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- Frank Thayer Merril
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
James Passed A Harsh Act Against Witchcraft
James considered witchcraft a serious crime, and he engineered punishments he believed matched the severity of the offence. In 1604, only a year into his reign in England, he passed a new witchcraft act. Though other witchcraft laws had already been enacted by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, James's act took a hard-line approach. Convicted witches were hanged regardless of whether the accused had allegedly caused bodily harm to others.
Despite the severity of James's punishments, his act also wrought an unintentionally mild effect on the witchcraft trials. Because it put an end to torture as a means of extracting confessions, fewer people faced conviction.
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- John de Critz
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
He Saw Himself As A Christian Crusader Against Evil Forces
During the North Berwick trials of 1590, James believed he had been a target of magical mischief. Accused witches testified the Devil hated James because "the King is the greatest enemy he hathe in the worlde."
Testimonies like this were political gifts for James; according to author Donald Tyson, he used them to position himself as "an avenging knight of the Christian faith." James claimed divine authority in his crusade against the dark magic Satan had allegedly unleashed throughout his kingdom.
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He Circulated Propaganda That Stoked Fears About Witches
James wanted to get the word out about the dangers of witchcraft in the wake of the North Berwick trials. In 1591, He sponsored the publication of Newes from Scotland, a pamphlet that further sensationalized reports about the trials, stoking fear and paranoia about witches.
This helped James position himself as a defender of divine law and order within his realms.
He Wrote A Book On Dangerous Witches
The North Berwick witch trial stirred James's imagination and convinced him witches were a clear and present danger. The events influenced him to write a text about witchcraft and how to deal with those who practice it. The text thoroughly identified different kinds of supernatural activities and occurrences.
Daemonologie was first published in Scotland in 1597, then in England six years later.
He Was Noted For His Ability To Uncover False Witch Accusations
James involved himself in witchcraft trials because of his fascination with the supernatural and his self-affirmed role as guardian against the occult. In this position, he was said to be able to uncover, "by his own skill... notorious impostures."
One of the highest-profile cases involved Anne Gunter, a woman who claimed to be possessed by demons in the early 1600s. James became interested in the case after Gunter made allegations against people she claimed had bewitched her, and he met with her to get the full story.
During their conversation, James compelled the woman to confess it was a hoax. It was a ruse hatched between Anne and her father to exact revenge on people they believed had wronged them.
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His Family's Violent Past May Have Contributed To His Fascination With The Dark Arts
There was no shortage of darkness in the life of young King James, and it might have inspired his fascination with witchcraft. When James ascended to the throne at just 13 months, his mother had been ousted. Not long after, his father died in an explosion.
By the time of the North Berwick witch trials, Mary Queen of Scots had been executed by Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Commissioning A New Translation Of The Bible Was A Political Act
Religion and politics were inseparable in early modern Europe. In England, the Crown was head of the Anglican Church. Moreover, ministers and rebels sometimes used Biblical passages to question the authority of kings and queens. Since there were many unofficial English translations of the Bible, they weren't all the same. The Geneva Bible, for example, was politically subversive since it included annotations and marginalia that criticized royalty.
By commissioning a new Bible, James hoped that he could justify his monarchical authority in the religious text by standardizing the language and making it free from subversive commentary. Furthermore, James hoped the newly translated text would become the single Bible to unify different schools of Protestantism in England and Scotland and strengthen his political legitimacy.
- Photo:
- Daniël Mijtens
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
He Assembled A Committee To Translate The Bible
Contrary to what the name may suggest, the King James Bible was not created solely by King James. Rather, James brought together a diverse group of language scholars to create the new translation. The translators, however, did not have the final word.
After they created a suitable version, committees made up of religious and royal officials had to approve it, and final approval was granted by the monarch himself. It took seven years to create the new translation.
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He Began Efforts To Unify Scotland And England
James's reign may have divided subjects by labels like "Catholic," "Protestant," "witch," and "sorcerer," but his greatest legacy was unity: he brought together the Scottish and English monarchies by ascending to both thrones in relatively quick succession.
Even prior to the Scottish Wars of Independence in the 13th and 14th centuries, England and Scotland were completely separate countries with their own monarchies, churches, and systems of law and education. Moreover, the two kingdoms shared a history marked by warfare.
Though he became King James VI of Scotland in 1567, James also had a strong claim to the English throne through the royal ancestry of his mother and father. When Queen Elizabeth I of England passed on in 1603, she named her cousin James as her heir. The "Union of the Crowns" was a major step towards political unification.
Contrary To His Mother's Wishes, He Was Raised A Protestant
James was born a king in a world heavily divided between Catholics and Protestants. His mother was an avowed Catholic, and when James was an infant, she wanted him to become one too. She gave baby James a Catholic baptism, proclaiming her intention to continue a tradition of Catholic monarchs ruling over Protestant Scotland. But when Mary abdicated in 1567, she gave up her right to raise her son.
James was subsequently raised by his tutor George Buchanan as a Protestant, and was encouraged to despise his mother and her religion.
His Obsession With Witches Likely Inspired William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'
James's interest in witchcraft was well-known throughout his two kingdoms, to the point that it likely inspired William Shakespeare's Macbeth. The representations of witches in the play conforms to James's descriptions from Daemonologie.
James's supposition that supernatural storms delayed his wife's arrival in Scotland and nearly cost him his life correlate to Shakespeare's portrayal of witches brewing up storms. Additionally, Shakespeare probably wrote Macbeth as a short play because he knew James didn't have the patience to sit through a long performance.
