King James, Daemonology and Newes of Scotland
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth shortly after King James published two books on daemonology. The books gave Shakespeare information about the current trends of witchcraft. This allowed him to incorporate the various supernatural elements in the play in order to create a play that was captivating to audiences.
King James VI and I (1566-1625) was the King of Scotland, the King of England and the King of Ireland
- He was a very popular author because of his accessible prose style and thus he was well-liked not only amongst the higher educated class but with the common folk as well
- Amongst his works is a two-volume exploration of witchcraft and daemonology
In 1591, King James published his work Newes of Scotland
-The Newes of Scotland was the earliest tract of Scottish witchcraft, published in 1591
- It appeared in the form of a pamphlet
- It is a historical account of Scottish witch persecution, with details of condemnation, torture and execution of a victim of the Scottish witch hunt
- The witch hunt lasted a year (November 1590 to December 1591)
- At first, country people of lower social standing were accused (a healer, a servant, a boatman, a schoolmaster)
- Later, the accusations were directed towards people with higher social status (the wife of an Edinburgh burgess, a daughter of Lord Cliftonhall, a senator of the court of justice)
- Today, this book is often treated as a footnote to King James’ Daemonology (1597)
In 1597, King James published his other work, Daemonology
- The book was published shortly before Shakespeare wrote Macbeth
- Daemonology is divided into three parts
- It is written in a conversational style, a dialogue between two people Philomathes and Epistemon
- He describes how to find evidence of a person practicing witchcraft
- King James also discusses witchcraft, necromancy, possession, demons, were-wolves, fairies and ghosts
- In 1603, King James passed a law that ordered the death of anyone who acted "to consult, covenant with, entertain, employ, feed, or reward any evil and wicked spirit, or to utter spells."
- This law was first used in the trial of the Pendle witches, where nine people were convicted and hanged
- This trial had cataclysmic effects, beginning several decades of witch hunts in England, and the hanging of hundreds of so-called witches
There are also a few parallels between King James and which are unrelated to the theme of witches.
- One of the parallels is based on an assassination attempt of King James; due to religious issues, a group of people attempted to kill him by hiding gunpowder under the Parliament buildings.
- On his way home from his honeymoon, King James experienced a violent storm. A couple of citizens confessed that they were attempting to destroy James through magical means. Agnes Sampson, the traditional healer, declared that the Earl of Bothwell encouraged 200 "witches” to gather at Auld Kirk where the devil told them to conjure the storm by throwing a cat into the sea. In Macbeth, Shakespeare draws on this event and King James’ interest in witches and creates the Witches characters.
- Doctor Fian was accused of plotting against James VI of Scotland, and was tortured into a confession; in Scotland the hunt for witches was even bloodier and more ruthless than in England. In Scotland torture was permissible to obtain a confession, unlike in England.
Works Cited
Hippodrome State Theatre (n.d.). Macbeth Perspectives. 31 January 2007. http://www.thehipp.org/macbeth_perspectives.html.
King James the First (n.d.). Daemonology and Newes of Scotland . Edited by G. B. Harrison. 31 January 2007. http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/kjd/index.htm.
Thompson, E. H. (1995). More Newes from Scotland – the woodblock illustrations of a witchcraft pamphlet. 31 January 2007. http://homepages.tesco.net/~eandcthomp/newes.htm.
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4 comments:
It is interesting to see how historical context played such a large role in Shakespeare's plays. As you said, there was a definite parallel between Macbeth and the gunpowder plot that had occurred in English shortly before Macbeth was written. In some ways we are quite lucky that Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up parliament, if he hadn't tried to carry out the gunpowder plot Shakespeare never would have written this great play.
-Jacob B
This is interesting--my group did Jacobean theatre, and there is a large emphasis in that type of theatre on themes that are dark--the supernatural in particular. King James' interest in witches and his book (demonologie) evidently had quite a strong influence on Macbeth, as well as all of Jacobean theatre.
--Emma H.
My group, who did the exact same topic as yours, had also learned of King James I/IV's obsession with witchcraft and the dangers that it could impose on his own country and himself. In the course of research, I also learned that up until the 20th century, it was believed that King James I/IV was a descendent of Banquo from the story (his historical existence was disputed and disproven later). Again, I think this was an interesting coincidence.
Also, I think that it would be nice if you could provide more information on his work Daemonologie and the Newes of Scotland -- most of your information is on James I/IV.
-Lebei, Emobeth and the Three Witches
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