How accurate is it to say that it was the interest taken by James VI that accounts for the extent of witchcraft persecutions in Scotland in the years 1590-97?
James VI had a strong interest in witchcraft during the early part of his reign; as evidenced by his involvement in witch trials during the 1590s and the book he published on witchcraft, “Deamonology”, in 1597. Moreover, James’ interest clearly influenced the extent of witchcraft persecutions 1590-97, which peaked in 1591 in North Berwick and then again in 1597 in Berwick and Stirlingshire. Through considering Scotland’s judicial system, its lack of central control and 16thcentury Scotland’s’ landscape, alongside James’ involvement, it’s evident a combination of factors caused the scale of witchcraft persecutions 1590-97. However, James’ encouragement was key to the witchcraft persecutions transformation into a national witch-hunt across Scotland in the 1590s.
There is no doubt James’ interest in the trials was at least partly responsible for the extent of witchcraft persecutions in Scotland 1590-97. James was unavoidably linked to the persecutions. Witchcraft was an act of treason since 1563 and the crimes of the North Berwick witch-hunt were directed against the king, in particularly the storm, which prevented James and Anne’s return from Denmark. However, it seemed James’ interest led him to have a more active role in encouraging the witch-hunt than was dutiful of a king or victim. After becoming king, at not one year old, after the abdication of Mary Queen of Scots in 1567, James’ childhood was a series of political disruptions. James face constant dangers sprung from the Scottish reformation 1560, his parents and four of his King regents were murdered and numerous conspiracies were taken up against his own life: 1582 Raid of Ruthven, Bothwell plots 1580s/90s, 1592 Spanish blanks, 1605 Gunpowder plot. A belief in the threat of witchcraft could have a way of James addressing this traumatic start to life, or perhaps a result from the teachings of his Presbyterian ministers and warnings of devilish catholic conspiracies and plays such as the Flyting 1580. It has also been convincingly suggested that James used the popular belief of witchcraft for his own political gains, using the escalating persecutions to surgical remove opposition. Many of the accusations, for example, including from Sampson, Fians and Napier, were against the Earl of Bothwell, a Nobel who had a claim to James’ throne and led numerous assaults against the king in the 1580s. Either way, James promoted the legitimacy of witchcraft, and the threat it held for Scotland with devices such as the pamphlet “Newes of Scotland”, first published 1591 during the North Berwick trials. The “Newes of Scotland” promoted James’ as one of the predetermined elect, the divine right of kings and shaped any opposition to the king as an act of the devil. Although, the 30% or less literacy rate and limited publishing resources at the time could have limited how far this royal endorsement reached it would have been clear to the elite and the courts which side James fell. James’ endorsement of these beliefs is exemplified in his book Daemonology 1597, although this wouldn’t have been accessible to contemporaries at the time of the persecutions. James also had a personal, practical involvement with trials, which helped encourage witchcraft prosecutions. James personally questioned the accused such as Margret Aiken 1597, encouraging and giving permission for torture to gain confessions (even without the usual necessity of permission from the Privy Council Commisions), certifying prosecutions of individuals such as McPherson and McKean and deciding jury outcomes. For example, in the case of Barbara Napier, when the jury was coming to the conclusion she was innocent, James forced the Jury to declare her guilt and even threatened them with ‘royal displeasure’. Not only did this illustrate as above royal endorsement in the trials, but also it directly fuelled persecutions. James argued his unusual proactive involvement was due to witchcraft being treason and he could only influence the trails through direct involvement. Although it certainly would have made it easier for James to use the trails for his own ambitions, as in the 1597 Stirlingshire panic when James questioned an unnamed witch and she accused the Herons’ family of witchcraft, who happened to be in a land feud with James’ close acquaintance Sir William Menteith. Undoubtedly, if there had been greater central control in Scotland, persecutions, particularly the use of torture would have been better regulated, and James ability to influence trails would have been reduced. On the other hand, James’ active interest in the witchcraft trails 1590-97 fuelled and shaped the witchcraft persecutions: he encouraged more people to be trialed and tortured and he spread the belief in witchcraft and the need to execute witches across Scotland.
Certainly if you consider Scotland’s judicial system at the time, without it, the escalation of the witchcraft persecutions 1590-97 would not have been possible: witchcraft itself was only criminalized in 1563. In Scotland at this time there were 3 types of courts; secular, circuit and local commission/ad hoc courts, each governed by different regulations resulting in a different choice of execution. Whilst the circuit courts were presided over by qualified judges from central courts and only had an average 16% execution rate for those accused, trials run by unqualified local commissions issued by the Privy Council had a 91% execution rate. It could be argued the extent of witchcraft persecutions in this period related to the judicial system of the time and this relates to the lack of central control in Scotland. Some courts ran themselves irrespective of officials in Edinburgh resulting in trials held by commissions quickly escalating. Alternatively, James did play a role in shaping the legal procedure of the witchcraft persecutions including allowing women to give evidence in witchcraft court cases in 1591. In the case of torture use in the persecutions arguably things worsened in 1591 when James issued a commission to five judges enabling them to torture at will. Whilst, some historians including Wormald, Larner and Goodare have debated whether the ‘general commission’ did change during the period of heightened witchcraft persecutions 1590-91. The handling of commissions certainly changed in 1596 when James declared cases should be sent to the Privy Council not the Crown for consideration. This triggered a rise in witchcraft persecutions implied by the fact Sir William Steward was accused of suggesting no one was safe from the crime of witchcraft in 1596. Only in 1597 the Privy Council reduced the number of commissions triggered by the case of Alison Balfour in which she along with her family were tortured without a legal warrant. This implies commissions had developed too much freedom in a period of widespread witch persecution 1591-97, enabling the spread of witchcraft persecutions. The fact James had such an ability to shape and manipulate the legal system, as he did, supports this further, although clearly the way he manipulated certainly added to the witch-hunts extent. This illustrates the freedom local commissions had in witchcraft persecution confounded by the unregulated nature of the judicial system and resulting lack of central control enabled witchcraft persecutions to escalate in this period and played their part in the extent of witchcraft persecutions 1590-97.
Furthermore, the extent of witchcraft persecutions 1590-97 was helped by a lack of central control in Scotland at the time. The lack of central control the state had was strongly visible in the variation of the judicial courts. The Scottish government failed to create a unified set of instructions for witch trails left untrained local officials, appointed by the Crown, to carry out the trials and made it easier for witchcraft persecution to escalate, as in the case of Alison Balfour mentioned above. In the Highlands and the northerly islands of Scotland, as the government ruled from afar in Edinburgh, commissions in these areas became almost entirely self-regulating. Arguably the distance from central government was less significant in the extent of witchcraft persecutions 1591-97 as North Berwick is less than 30 miles from Edinburgh. Although, it may have been government resources were constrained in Berwick at its time of crisis. Perhaps a more significant consequence of this lack of central control is evident in the insecurity of the Crown belying the reason behind James’ desperation to persecute witches. On the other hand, linking to the point above, James arguably felt the need to use witchcraft as a mask to eliminate individual opposition, such as Earl of Bothwell in 1591/2, or to unite opposing groups including the Kirk’s and Crown’s relationship in the 1590s. Whilst this relationship had been relatively peaceful from 1585 (after the Black Acts asserting James’ authority over the Kirk), after the Golden Acts were passed in 1592 enabling Presbyteries to be set up again, their relationship broke down. Arguably the weakness of the Kirk and Crown’s relationships in the 1590s triggered the need to find a topic to unite them and James questionably found one in the form of witchcraft persecution. As Historian Geller states thewitch hunts of the 1590s“became a powerful tool to serve James’ own political ends “. Certainly, if there had been a strong, central control on the judicial system arguably James wouldn’t have been able to ignite the witchcraft persecutions to such an extent. However, without James’ interest the persecutions wouldn’t have been manipulated to such an extent. Therefore the lack of state central control was probably not the main reason for the rise of witchcraft persecution, it certainly played a role in enabling persecutions in Berwick and Stirlingshire to expand. In common with the judicial system in Scotland at the time, its weakness made it relatively easy in some areas to prosecute and execute those accused, even without evidence.
One must reflect on the social landscape of closing decades of 16thcentury Scotland, which is likely to have contributed to the escalation of witch persecutions in this period. Scotland was still a largely rural, peasant society, only one fifth of people lived in towns, which made the society very sensitive to changes in the natural environment. Some historians, such as Emily Oster, have argued poor weather and a “little ice age” across the entirety of Europe in this period led to poor economic conditions with witches becoming the scapegoats. This argument is evident in the 1590s case of Jehennon Colin. After Mrs Gaultrin turned Colin from the door, the next day Mrs Gaultrin’s calf died and shortly afterwards Colin was found guilt of witchcraft. Some historians have even pointed out the resentment created by people who refuse to help beggars. Considering Scotland’s environmental landscape independently from Europe, there were several outbreaks of plague 1574, 1584-8 and 1597. Whilst the North Berwick trials may not have been a direct reaction to these, it could have factored in encouraging people to turn to witchcraft as one of the limited explanations for the sudden disease. Moreover, disease and bad weather undoubtedly would have had an impact on worsening economic situations for Scottish people, in this agriculturally dependent society, encouraging resentment and scapegoating perhaps in the form of witch persecutions. Moreover, the witchcraft persecutions 1590-97 arose at a time when Scottish society was still recovering from the Scottish reformation 1560. The reformation, particularly its revolutionary nature had led to divisions in Scotland’s society over religion (protestant/catholic) and class (nobility/laird/peasant) and perhaps at least some accusations were religiously or status motivated. It is true Scotland’s economy was growing in the second half of the 16thcentury, encouraged by new investments (“considerable economic dynamism”), such as new print works and fish farms, arguably discouraging such scapegoating. On the other hand, it could be argued even economic growth would have created an unnerving sense of change in society. The social and economic landscape of late 16thcentury Scotland therefore is likely to have made accusation more likely and due to the lack of central judicial control these accusations could easily escalate into full scale witch hunt as happened in Scotland 1591 and 1597.
