'The fables of witchcraft have taken so fast hold and deepe root in the heart of man, that few or none can indure with patience the hand and correction of God.' Reginald Scot, whose words these are, published his remarkable book The Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584. England's first major work of demonology, witchcraft and the occult, the book was unashamedly sceptical. It is said that so outraged was King James VI of Scotland by the disbelieving nature of Scot's work that, on James' accession to the English throne in 1603, he ordered every copy to be destroyed. Yet for all the anger directed at Scot, and his scorn for Stuart orthodoxy about wiches, the paradox was that his detailed account of sorcery helped strengthen the hold of European demonologies in England while also inspiring the distinctively English tradition of secular magic and conjuring. Scot's influence was considerable. Shakespeare drew on The Discoverie of Witchcraft for his depiction of the witches in Macbeth. So too did fellow-playwright Thomas Middleton in his tragi-comedy The Witch. Recognising Scot's central importance in the history of ideas, Philip Almond places his subject in the febrile context of his age, examines the chief themes of his work and shows why his writings became a sourcebook for aspiring magicians and conjurors for several hundred years. England's First Demonologist makes a notable contribution to a fascinating but unjustly neglected topic in the study of Early Modern England and European intellectual history.

The fables of witchcraft have taken so fast hold and deepe root in the heart of man, that few or none can indure with patience the hand and correction of God.' Reginald Scot, whose words these are, published his remarkable book The Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584. England's first major work of demonology, witchcraft and the occult, the book was unashamedly sceptical. It is said that so outraged was King James VI of Scotland by the disbelieving nature of Scot's work that, on James' accession to the English throne in 1603, he ordered every copy to be destroyed. Yet for all the anger directed at Scot, and his scorn for Stuart orthodoxy about wiches, the paradox was that his detailed account of sorcery helped strengthen the hold of European demonologies in England while also inspiring the distinctively English tradition of secular magic and conjuring. Scot's influence was considerable. Shakespeare drew on The Discoverie of Witchcraft for his depiction of the witches in Macbeth. So too did fellow-playwright Thomas Middleton in his tragi-comedy The Witch. Recognising Scot's central importance in the history of ideas, Philip Almond places his subject in the febrile context of his age, examines the chief themes of his work and shows why his writings became a sourcebook for aspiring magicians and conjurors for several hundred years. England's First Demonologist makes a notable contribution to a fascinating but unjustly neglected topic in the study of Early Modern England and European intellectual history. 'This is the first full-length study of what to most people is the most famous and influential book about witchcraft to emerge from early modern England; and it significantly advances our knowledge of both text and author.' - Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, University of Bristol

Acknowledgements -- Chapter One: 'The Discoverie of Witchcraft'. The Book ; Noblesse Oblige ; Motivations and Methods ; The Bible, the Book, and the Books -- Chapter Two: Witchcraft. Apocalypse Soon ; A Witch in Brenchley ; Evil and Providence ; The Witches of Windsor ; The Witches of St. Osyths ; Witches, Deluding and Deluded ; Mad and Melancholic Imaginings -- Chapter Three: Demonology. Demonological Foundations ; The Demonic Pact ; On Sabbatical Travels ; Animal Transformations ; Sex and the Devil -- Chapter Four: Magic. Poisons and Potions ; Pythonists and Ventriloquists ; The Pythonist of Endor ; Miracles, Oracles, and Apparitions ; Reading the Stars ; Divining and Dreaming ; Guessing Upon Uncertain Toys ; Of Enchanters, Priests, and Physicians ; Magic, Angelic and Demonic -- Chapter Five: Philosophy and Religion. Natural Magic ; Secular Enchantments ; 'Of the Art of Alchumystrie' ; A Devilish and Spiritual Discourse ; The Secret Sadducee? ; Carnal and Spiritual Men ; The Spiritual Demonologist -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

This volume provides a valuable introduction to the key concepts of witchcraft and demonology through a detailed study of one of the best known and most notorious episodes of Scottish history, the North Berwick witch hunt, in which King James was involved as alleged victim, interrogator, judge and demonologist. It provides hitherto unpublished and inaccessible material from the legal documentation of the trials in a way that makes the material fully comprehensible, as well as full texts of the pamphlet News from Scotland and James' Demonology, all in a readable, modernised, scholarly form. Full introductory sections and supporting notes provide information about the contexts needed to understand the texts: court politics, social history and culture, religious changes, law and the workings of the court, and the history of witchcraft prosecutions in Scotland before 1590. The book also brings to bear on this material current scholarship on the history of European witchcraft.

Written by King James I and published in 1597, the original edition of Demonology is widely regarded as one of the most interesting and controversial religious writings in history, yet because it is written in the language of its day, it has been notoriously difficult to understand. Now occult scholar Donald Tyson has modernized and annotated the original text, making this historically important work accessible to contemporary readers. Also deciphered here, for the first time, is the anonymous tract News from Scotland, an account of the North Berwick witch trials over which King James presided. Tyson examines King James' obsession with witches and their alleged attempts on his life, and offers a knowledgeable and sympathetic look at the details of magick and witchcraft in the Jacobean period. Demonology features historical woodcut illustrations and includes the original old English texts in their entirety. This reference work is the key to an essential source text on seventeenth-century witchcraft and the Scottish witch trials

If you think ghosts are only responsible for hauntings, think again. The Demonologist reveals the grave religious process behind supernatural events and how it can happen to you. Used as a text in seminaries and classrooms, this is one book you can't put down. For over five decades Ed and Loraine Warren have been considered America's foremost experts on demonology and exorcism. With over 3,000 investigations to their credit, they reveal what actually breaks the peace in haunted houses. Expertly written by Gerald Daniel Brittle, a nonfiction writer with advanced degrees in literature and psychology specializing in mystical theology. Don't miss the Warrens in the new movie "The Conjuring."

Demonology – the intellectual study of demons and their powers – contributed to the prosecution of thousands of witches. But how exactly did intellectual ideas relate to prosecutions? Recent scholarship has shown that some of the demonologists’ concerns remained at an abstract intellectual level, while some of the judges’ concerns reflected popular culture. This book brings demonology and witch-hunting back together, while placing both topics in their specific regional cultures. The book’s chapters, each written by a leading scholar, cover most regions of Europe, from Scandinavia and Britain through to Germany, France and Switzerland, and Italy and Spain. By focusing on various intellectual levels of demonology, from sophisticated demonological thought to the development of specific demonological ideas and ideas within the witch trial environment, the book offers a thorough examination of the relationship between demonology and witch-hunting. Demonology and Witch-Hunting in Early Modern Europe is essential reading for all students and researchers of the history of demonology, witch-hunting and early modern Europe.