11. King James I of Scotland developed an unhealthy obsession with witches and vowed to rid his kingdom of all black magic
King James ascended to the Scottish throne in 1583. He was just 17 but already had an unhealthy interest in the occult. This turned into a full-on obsession a few years later. He was wed to Anne of Denmark in 1589. However, an astrologer to the Royal Court warned James that witches had cursed the union. Sure enough, her first voyage was cancelled due to a storm. Then, when James went to rescue her, he was hit by foul weather. Finally, a third storm was blamed on witches.
The Danish royal family had six people executed for supposedly trying to use nature to keep Anne from Scotland. After that, James became obsessed with making Scotland a witch-free zone. Under him, more than 100 people were arrested on suspicion of witchcraft. The King personally oversaw many trials. And understandably so; he was the nation’s number one expert on the subject and published his Daemonologie, a guide to the occult, in 1597. Thanks to him, people now had a definitive guide to identifying if their neighbour was a witch – and tips on how to get a confession out of them!