Why Did King James VI & I Hate Witches So Much? - Easy Guide to the Witch-Hunter King

Brace yourself, things are about to get heavy:

In the 300 years between 1450 and 1750, witch-hunting became a dangerous trend that swept across Europe. Tens of thousands of people (mostly women) were put death after being accused of practising witchcraft across the continent.

One of the most infamous locations for witch-hunting was Scotland.

Why was Scotland so anti-witch?

King James I, looking like an absolute boss in some fabulous pantaloons.

That’s all down to King James VI and I. No, I don’t mean King James VI and me! I mean, King James the 6^th and 1^st, so-called because he was the sixth King James of Scotland and later became the first King James of England too. I know, that’s not confusing at all.

During his reign, King James VI and I was responsible for the execution of thousands of people who were accused of witchcraft. That’s quite the record! It’s no surprise then that he’s now often known as the Witch-Hunter King.

Why did King James VI and I hate witches so much?

Sadly for us, James VI/I never did us the service of giving us a nice, clear explanation as to why he took such a disliking to witchcraft (that would have been much too easy!). But his life and his reign certainly give us a few ideas:

Religion and the Devil

This era was well-known for religious tensions between protestants and catholics in Britain, most famously with the escapades of a fella names Guy Fawkes. The two sides of this (very similar!) religious coin spent decades bullying each other, tormenting each other, and ultimately hunting each other down and killing each other! Eek!

To make things worse for King James VI/I, he was baptised catholic but raised as a protestant. This must have been very baffling for him.

Suspected witches kneel before James in this picture from his page-turner of a best-seller, Daemonologie

But if there’s one thing these two warring religions have in common, it’s a hateful fear of the devil. Witchcraft was seen as the devil’s work and those accused of practicing witchcraft were often thought to have been in league with Satan. You know, dancing around a fire with demons, chatting with Satan in wolf form, meeting him for a coffee at Starbucks on a Sunday afternoon, that sort of thing.

So, it makes sense that a heavily religious man like King James VI/I would develop a deep loathing for witches.

Or perhaps it was all a clever political ploy. After all, what better way of encouraging these two religious foes to start getting along than by giving them a common enemy? In this case; witches. 

Family Grief

James’ interest in witchcraft probably developed with the death of his mother, Mary Queen of Scots. I know what you’re thinking; “James blamed witches for his mum’s death!”. Not quite!

James became King of Scotland after his mother, Mary, was forced to step down. Mary had fled Scotland and was put in prison by Elizabeth I, the Queen of England. Unfortunately, Mary’s luck only got worse when a plot was discovered to kill Elizabeth and put Mary as queen of England instead. Elizabeth was pretty miffed about this (as you’d expect!), so she decided to chop off Mary’s head. Whoa. That escalated quickly!

Mary Queen of Scots (kneeling) is clearly not happy about the whole execution thing. I mean, who would?

Before you start with the pity tears for James over the death of his mother, it’s worth pointing out that James hadn’t seen his mother since he was a baby. So, he wasn’t particularly bothered about her death. Which seems a bit cruel, but that’s 17^th century royals for you!

Instead, the whole event fuelled James’ fascination with dark magic when he claimed that his mother’s death had been foretold by witches who could see the future. They spoke in secret about a gory vision of a decapitated head dancing around in the air! Sounds nightmarish if you ask me!

Bad Luck and Suspicion

King James and Anne of Denmark. Just look at their faces, they clearly enjoyed spending time with each other.

James’ hatred of witches took a major level up two years after his mother’s death when he was due to marry Anne of Denmark. As Anne set sail from her home to meet her new husband, her voyage was cut short by a violent ocean storm that was so fierce, she almost died and had to return home to Denmark.

Disappointed when Anne didn’t arrive in the harbour, King James VI/I kindly set sail with his own ships to go pick her up. But in a stream of seriously bad luck for Anne, the pair were caught in yet another storm on the second crossing to Scotland too.

James immediately became suspicious and blamed witches for this terrible series of events.

He got so enraged that when he arrived at the Scottish coastal town of North Berwick, he accused around 70 people of using witchcraft to try to kill him and his new bride! Talk about anger problems!