The North Berwick Witch Trials, The Daemonolgie and a change in the law.
Spurred on by his newfound conviction, in 1590, James instigated a widespread purge of witches. He began by rooting out the witches in Scotland he believed to be responsible for the potentially fatal May storms that he was convinced were part of a wide scale plot to end his life. In all, between 70 and 100 ‘witches’ from the Scottish coastal town of North Berwick were rounded up and accused of using their devilish arts to attempt to kill the King and his new wife.
Most of the suspect’s confessed- under torture. Some admitted to trying to kill the king using a wax effigy. Others claimed to have whipped up the infamous storm by casting spells using bizarre items such as male genitalia and severed limbs- and a dead cat and offering them to the sea. Satan himself had also joined in the fun when the witches summoned him to their aid during a black mass in North Berwick Churchyard. The witches were swiftly executed- and James left his subjects in no doubt that witches were in their midst by circulating details of the trials throughout the country in a pamphlet, Newes from Scotland.
Even though witchcraft was already a criminal offense in Scotland, the law having outlawed it in 1563, the North Berwick trials were unique. For the authorities did not often pursue witches. James fervently believed this had to change. So, in 1590, he tightened up the witchcraft law- and did his best to ensure that the courts followed it through. Now any dabbling with magic, whether black or white could bring an individual to the fire.
In 1591, James followed one trial with particular interest. Mary Napier’s trial was unique because the court accused her of consulting a witch with treasonable intent- not being a witch herself. James was determined she should die. So when Napier claimed to be pregnant, the King told the court to find out if she was indeed pregnant- and if not, burn her. The King’s disappointment was deep, however when the court acquitted Napier of the charges, pregnant or not.
These trials and executions, however, had warmed James up nicely for his subject. So he moved on to a full-scale book. In 1597, James published his Daemonologie or “the Science of Demons.” In doing so, he became the only monarch in history to publish a book about witches- and how to find them. The eighty-page book was the result of seven years of painstaking research. Like the medieval Malleus Maleficarum, theDaemonologie was designed to convince readers of the genuine danger of witches- as well as equip them with the knowledge to root them out.
The book became the main point of reference for Matthew Hopkins, the witchfinder general. In the meantime, it equipped Scottish witchfinders with the wherewithal to carry out the king’s will. By the time James left Scotland to take up the throne of England, half the Scottish witches arrested were being convicted – and burnt.