The most influential Scottish book in the history of witchcraft is Daemonology, written by King James VI of Scotland in 1597. This famous book is an analysis of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, demons, necromancy, and divination. But why did James feel the need to write another guide to witchcraft? Heinrich Kramer had already published his infamous guide, Malleus Maleficarum, one hundred years earlier in Germany. Malleus Maleficarum had gone through nearly 28 editions by the time James published Daemonology.

Malleus Maleficarum had solidified a belief in witchcraft in the popular mind. In it, the Roman Catholic author Heinrich Kramer systematically refuted the arguments of anyone who was skeptical of the existence or power of witchcraft. Kramer, a misogynist, heavily emphasized the inherent evilness and fragile nature of women, setting in place the societal expectation that witches were female. He advocated for brutal methods of persecution and punishment for witchcraft, including the torture of the accused to obtain confession. Kramer conceived of his book as a practical guide for witch hunters, and it served as a foundational text in the history of witchcraft. People now saw witches as dangerous and worthy of the most severe punishments. It sparked witch hunts across Europe, though Scotland saw little activity.

A Hundred Years of Changes

In the hundred years since Kramer had written his guide to witchcraft, the world had become a different place. The Reformation had shaken the Roman Catholic world view into splinters. Politics shook apart as well. Into these fragments, James was born to Mary, Queen of Scots, a Roman Catholic. Mary herself practiced religious tolerance and moderation. However, Scotland was in the throes of religious upheaval, influenced by powerful Protestants such as John Knox. Political machinations ultimately forced Mary to abdicate the throne in favor of her one year old son.

Protestants forcibly removed James, now an infant King, from the Catholic Mary and raised him as a Protestant. Male regents ruled Scotland in his stead. Rivals made many attempts on young James’ life, which left him understandably suspicious and insecure. Meanwhile, his mother Mary ran to her cousin Queen Elizabeth I for protection. Mary miscalculated the strength of their familial ties. Elizabeth, fearing competition, had Mary imprisoned and eventually killed. Her execution further inflamed James’ insecurity. He suspected that his mother’s death was the result of some malefic influence attributable to witchcraft.

Seasonal Storms or Witchcraft?

At the age of 23, two years after his mother’s execution, James became engaged to Anne of Denmark. Anne set sail for Scotland but violent storms at sea forced her to return to Denmark. Although Denmark was a Protestant country, Danes believed in the power of witchcraft. They attributed the failure of Anne’s ship to reach Scotland to “contrary winds” conjured by witchcraft. James himself embraced the belief. He sailed to Denmark to fetch Anne and spent a number of months in her country. The Danes held witch trials in Copenhagen related to Anne’s ill-fated journey. Six women, under torture, confessed that they had raised the storms through sorcery. Seventeen people were ultimately executed. The trials proved fertile ground for James’ growing obsession with witchcraft

When James and Anne returned to Scotland, storms again assailed their ship. James immediately suspected that these new storms were raised by Scottish witches trying to murder him. Inspired by the Danes, James set up his own tribunal in the small Scottish town of North Berwick. Over 70 suspected witches were arrested and tortured. The exact number executed is unknown. Likewise unknown is the number who died as a result of their torture. The ill-fated voyage and the resulting witch trials unquestionably cemented James’ hatred and obsession with witches. They changed the history of witchcraft. Six years after the North Berwick trials, James published Daemonology.

James’ approach to the subject of witchcraft was more nuanced than Heinrich Kramer’s had been. Perhaps influenced by his Protestant rearing, James was more interested than Kramer in the spiritual and philosophical aspects of witchcraft. He emphasized the power of the devil and the importance of divine intervention and spiritual protection.

Daemonology’s Impact on Witchcraft in Scotland

The publication of Daemonology changed the history of witchcraft in Scotland. It inspired Scottish trial reforms, including an emphasis on the investigative approach to analyzing evidence, as well as the inclusion of witnesses. Matthew Hopkins, the famous witchfinder who wrote The Discovery of Witches in1647, credited Daemonology for including so many successful methods for discovering witches. William Shakespeare is widely thought to have used Daemonology in his creation of Macbeth. Unfortunately, none of these reforms and influences aided the accused witches themselves. The book fueled the Scottish Witch Craze, which resulted in the accusation of as many as 6,000 Scots and the burning of as many as 1,500.

According to Daemonology, a witch hunter could identify a witch in multiple ways. One was to search for the mark of the devil on the witch’s body. This mark could be any sort of mole, scar, birthmark, or other minor skin blemish. Another method was through pricking or poking the witch with a sharp object such as a needle. If this did not cause pain, it proved she was a witch. Certain witch prickers used clever instruments that caused the sharp object to retract out of the view of observers, thus ‘proving’ the accused had no pain and was a witch. Another proof was through the use of charms and herbs. Many healers and midwives were thus accused of witchcraft.

A curse was proof of witchcraft. Any unfortunate occurrence could be blamed on a curse, especially if a quarrel had occurred. For example: Let’s say that you and your neighbor argued. The next day that neighbor walked past your cow byre and then the cow became ill or her milk went off. This was sufficient evidence for the neighbor to be accused of witchcraft and often convicted. Such an outcome should have provided ample incentive not to quarrel, but the hot tempered Scots did not always avoid disagreements.

“Freely Obtained Confession”

Scottish law held the ‘freely obtained confession’ of the witch in high importance at trial. However, during the time of King James VI, the Scottish understanding of the word ‘freely’ differed from the understanding we have now. Judges considered a confession obtained after torture as ‘freely’ obtained. While various gruesome devices of torture were occasionally used, they were not common. The most common form of obtaining a confession involved ‘waking’ the witch. The average Scot did not regard this as torture.

‘Waking the witch’ meant imrpisoning the accused in a place where day and night were not easily discernable. Walkers then kept the ‘witch’ continuously awake. She (or occasionally he) received little or no nourishment. Various people took shifts to keep her walking without respite. These walkers also asked her leading questions about her relationship with the devil, the renunciation of her baptism, attendance at a witches’ Sabbath, and other behaviors widely attributed to witches. Usually by the third day, the accused witch was in a hallucinatory state and would produce a confession. This confession frequently contained elements of the suggestive questions her walkers had plied her with. Such elements were particularly damning for the accused because they were universally believed to be true of witches.

Spreading Information Through Books and Pamphlets

Today the media, especially the Internet, largely shapes the ways in which we see the world. It is for us hard to imagine how revolutionary the availability of books was 400 years ago. The printing press was invented a mere 150 years before Daemonology was published. Books and pamphlets allowed people to assimilate information and opinions at a rate never before heard of. A book by the King was especially influential. His attitudes and beliefs shaped the daily life of Scots in large and small ways.

The ideas James expressed in Daemonology bubbled in the minds of his subjects alongside the extreme Protestant views that had recently swept the country. The Scottish were awash in the anxiety of pleasing a demanding God. They were enduring repeated wars with England over religious beliefs. This explosive combination produced, for the first time in Scotland, a national outlook that altered the history of witchcraft by setting the stage for witch burnings.

A Counter Argument

Not everyone saw reality the way James did. One notable exception was the Englishman Reginal Scot, who in 1584 published The Discoverie of Witchcraft. In it, Scot argued persuasively that there was no such thing as witchcraft. He heavily attacked Malleus Maleficarum, arguing that what appeared to be witchcraft and magic could be proven as superstition through reason and religion alike. He devoted several chapters to sleight of hand tricks and conjuring as proof that witchcraft was not real. Professional magicians still mine his book for tips.

James is rumored to have written Daemonology partly as a rebuttal of Scot’s book. According to popular belief, James burned all obtainable copies of Scot’s book when he succeeded to the English throne (as James I) in 1603. Unfortunately for James, the readers abroad had already embraced The Discoverie of Witchcraft. It was translated into Dutch in 1609 and subsequently reprinted in London.

A number of Scottish authors throughout the 1600’s continued to argue against Reginald Scot’s view. The influence of Daemonology continued to grow. The anxious Calvinistic Scots found it increasingly helpful to displace blame for their many difficulties onto witchcraft. As in so many situations, a scapegoat lets the steam escape from the pot. Unfortunately for the accused witches of Scotland, they were the escape valve.

Reading, or at least browsing through, Daemonology as well as its antithesis The Discoverie of Witchcraft, is a profitable use of time for any enthusiast of the history of witchcraft.

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