Daemonologie

In 1590 three hundred Scottish witches were tried for plotting the murder of their King James VI of Scotland (soon to be James I of England). James is known to have suffered from a morbid fear of violent death and the trial heightened his anxiety over this apparently treasonous un-Christian sect and stimulated him to study the whole subject of witchcraft. Daemonologie is the result of this royal research detailing his opinions on the topic in the form of a Socratic dialogue between the sceptic Philomathes and witch-averse Epistemon who reveals many aspects of witch-craft. The book consists of three sections on magic on sorcery and witchcraft and on spirits and ghosts and ends with a lurid account of the North Berwick witch trials based on the evidence of Dr John Fian the alleged head of the coven whose confession was obtained with the aid of thumbscrews the Boot and by the ripping out of his fingernails.