Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland: James VI’s Demonology and the North Berwick Witches

King James’ treatise was written at a period of dramatic change in Scottish witchcraft and after a period of intense prosecution in Scotland. It was republished in England in the year of James’ accession to the English throne. This book offers a modernized, glossed and fully annotated edition of the Daemonologie , the pamphlet Newes from Scotland and of manuscript material related to the trials of the North Berwick witches not available previously on print or only in early 19th-century editions. A substantial introduction reviews the importance of the trials in the last decade of the 16th century in Scotland, places them in the context of Renaissance thought and culture, and locates the King’s treatise in the context of the contemporary demonological discussion to which the Daemonologie provided a useful introduction. Full annotations are provided.