Witchy Wednesday Daemonoligie!

As it's the last week of the summer holiday I thought it would be great to share another book link to keep you occupied as you wait for coaches, trains and planes! This one is none other than King James the VI of Scotland's Daemonoligie! 

For anyone studying Witchcraft history this book is probably the most historically important social study of it's time. It speaks of a time surrounded by preducdice, ignorance and at time pure lunacy! But also sadly the outcome of these accusations were all too real. A lot of innocent people lost their lives because of the attitude of people including a King! 

In 1597, King James VI of Scotland published a compendium on witchcraft lore called Daemonologie. It was also published in England in 1603 when James acceded to the English throne.

The book asserts James’s full belief in magic and witchcraft, and aims to both prove the existence of such forces and to lay down what sort of trial and punishment these practices merit – in James’s view, death. Daemonologie takes the form of a dialogue (popular for didactic works) and is divided into three sections: the first on magic and necromancy (the prediction of the future by communicating with the dead), the second on witchcraft and sorcery and the third on spirits and spectors. 

Wording from the British Library for more information please visit 

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/king-james-vi-and-is-demonology-1597

To read the original 1597 book please visit the British Library website. 

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/king-james-vi-and-is-demonology-1597

Really interested lecture about King James the 1st and the Witch Hunts by Gresham College. 

Another interesting video about James the 1st and the Witches from Whitehall Moll  History Clips. 

King James of Scotland, England and Ireland. 

King James VI of Scotland (seated, right) supervising the torture of witches in Edinburgh, detail of a woodcut from the 1591 pamphlet Newes From Scotland.

This image is from a limited edition facsimile reprint from 1816 of the witchcraft pamphlet Newes from Scotland, originally printed in London in 1591. It contains accounts of three women accused of witchcraft and tried before King James VI of Scotland, one of whom was said to be using her witchcraft against the King himself. James caused the pamphlet to be printed as part of his attack on witchcraft. The woodcut illustrations depict scenes from the alleged acts.

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Some folklore stories and articles about History can be quite scary and disturbing and may have some adult content. So I would always advise visiting, reading and viewing any links before showing or reading to younger children.

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