Witches: A King's Obsession

by Steven Veerapen

Witches – whether broomstick-riding spell-casters or Wiccan earth-worshippers – have been culturally relevant for centuries. For centuries, too, belief in the potency of witchcraft has been debated, accused witches have been hunted and punished, and film and TV productions have brought the witch and the witch-hunter to big and small screens.

But where did our perception of witches – good and bad – come from? What motivated wide-scale panics about witchcraft during certain periods? How were alleged witches identified, accused, and variously tortured and punished?

Steven Veerapen traces witches, witchcraft, and witch-hunters from the explosion of mass-trials under King James VI and I in the late sixteenth century to the death of the witch-hunting phenomenon in the early eighteenth century. Based on documents and the latest historical research, he explores what motivated widespread belief in demonic witchcraft throughout Britain as well as in continental Europe, what caused mass panics about alleged witches, and what led, ultimately, to the relegation of the witch – and the witch-hunter – to the realm of fantasy and the fringes of society.

Genres: Nonfiction

403 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2025

Reviews

[Marguerite Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

What was it about Scotland when King James VI succeeded his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, to the crown of Scotland, that made the country so 'susceptible' to witch hunts? Why were there never so many or so vigorous witch hunts in England or Wales after he became King James VI and 1? And why did the witch hunts come to an end? These are the questions this book sets out to answer, and by and large it does. I can't decide whether it was my lack of detailed knowledge of the politics of the time, or the way the story was told, which made this a less-interesting-than-expected read, maybe a bit of both.

James is famous or infamous for his book on witchcraft, and for the witch hunts that took place around the time and just after its publication. He was a highly educated man, a thinker, a rationalist, which didn't mean he didn't believe in witchcraft, but he wanted the evidence of it to be more than confessions and counter-accusations. (Sadly, that never really happened, the torture of his agents, and the later professional witch hunters was utterly vile, and in too many cases, the only evidence.) What I found fascinating about the earlier chapters of this book was the theory that James became obsessed with witchcraft, because he truly believed witchcraft was being used against him, the supreme sovereign, that it was a political act. Elizabeth I was never so challenged, and when James was ensconced in London, king of England and Wales, he felt much safer, and appropriately less interested in witchcraft. But he created a monster, and this is one of the things this book demonstrates really well, towards the end - having persuaded people that witches existed and could do the devil's work, it wasn't so easy to un-persuade them.

It was the middle of this book that I found heavy-going. It came alive when the author was describing James as a person, not as a witchhunter - so alive in fact, that I've just bought his biography of the king. But for me there was too much recounting of trials (without the detail, and so it was often curiously emotionless telling) and of the many political strands to the investigations, that could have been briefer, and could have been better connected up. The book lacked cohesion, and the central case wasn't really made until the end - when it was made very well. To be honest, at times I felt that it was a book that had been born of the previous one (the bio of James) without enough substance.

So a lot to think about, but it wasn't one of my favourite reads. As I said though, enough glimpses of colour for me to buy another by this author.

[Michael Bully · Rating 5 out of 5]

King James VI of Scotland, who also became James I of England after 1603, was a talented scholar. He could speak several languages, write books -including 'Demonology' (1597), compose poetry. James managed to oversee a new version of the Bible, debate theology and translation. Whilst on a visit to Denmark, he gave a three hour long presentation in Latin.
From around 1590 James also believed that witches were conspiring against him, and their malice included causing storms to harm him and his queen Anne when they were returning from her native Denmark. James went so far as to take part in interrogations of alleged witches. Later on, once relocated to England, James was keen to expose false accusations of witchcraft, but still upheld his essential belief in the subject. How does a historian explain a scholar king becoming so superstitious, even paranoid?
This writer observes :

"Yet it is important not to judge him too harshly. James was simply responding to advances in demonological thinking and marching with the vanguard of elite scholars. The real problem was, as with contemporary advances in, for example, early modern medicine, elite views could too easily be built on misunderstandings founded on mouldering fantasies and misconceptions. James might have been aggressively academic, but given what was being taught in academic circles was at best wrong and at worst dangerous, it is uncharitable to blame the accomplished graduate student."

And this approach makes the book so important to the study of 17th century British witchcraft. Somehow the intellectual monarch became an advocate for the irrational and impossible. Many witch trials and interrogations from the time are examined to present a coherent argument.

[Gareth Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publishers for sending me an advanced copy of this book, which is an insightful and brilliant account of a dark chapter in history. In Veerapen's hands, the spectre of the witch and the witch-hunter are brought to life, as are the complex and fascinating details of how King James VI and his people saw the supernatural world. Bone-chilling and compelling.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This informative and interesting book looks at the history of witch hunts and trials with a particular focus on the 17th century. James I is known for his book on daemonology and witches and oversaw a number of trials and investigations. I'm familiar with most of the cases mentioned but it was good to see a fresh perspective.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive, human and empathetic