King Edward VI College, Stourbridge

An Introduction to Early Modern History

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Early Modern History course at King Ed’s. There are three teachers of Early Modern History who are looking forward to meeting you when you start your course and working with you to expand your understanding of the Early Modern World.

We are:

Dave Bell Jo Caney (subject leader) Melanie Thomas

The course contains of three taught units and a coursework unit. Each of the pictures on the front cover of this introductory pack links to one of the taught units and you will find out more about each of them as you work through this pack.

In the top left-hand picture is Isabella of Castile who became one of the most formidable queens of the early modern period. During year 12, you will study Spanish history between 1474 and 1556, a period in which Spain becomes united as a country and establishes a vast overseas empire. This means Spain becomes a super-power of the Early Modern world. You will find out more about Isabella later in this pack.

James I of England (and James VI) of Scotland is in the top right. James is the first king you will encounter in the British political unit that you will study in year 12. His accession to the throne of England was significant because England and Scotland now shared a monarch (although they remained separate countries). You’ll be using both primary and secondary sources later on to become acquainted with James.

Finally, at the bottom, is a woodcut which shows the execution of suspected witches in England in 1655. You’ll study the witch crazes and popular culture in the early modern period as a thematic study during year 13. You’ll look not only at English witch hunts but also witch hunts in Europe and North America. To introduce this topic, you learn about a Scottish and an English witch hunt in this pack.

The purpose of this pack is to provide you with a flavour of the work you will be doing during your time as a history student at King Eds and to give you an introduction to the Early Modern period.

Do your best with it, but don’t get stressed about it if you get stuck on a particular thing. Just move on to the next thing. (If you come across words you don’t understand – especially in primary sources, then look them up).

Here are a few ideas of some things you can read if you want to find out a bit more before September.

Civil War by Peter Ackroyd Stuart Britain: A very short introduction by John Morrill Isabella of Castile by Giles Tremlett Witchfinders: a seventeenth century English tragedy by Malcolm Gaskill

You can also keep an eye on our Twitter feed where we link to interesting things we find about our history courses. We are @kedsthistory

ISABELLA OF CASTILE: THE GREATEST FEMALE RULER IN EARLY MODERN HISTORY?

In 1469, the 17 year old heir to the throne of Aragon, Ferdinand, travelled in disguise across Spain to a pre-arranged rendezvous in Valladolid, where he met the 18 year old heir to the throne of Castile, Princess Isabella, who had made a similarly secretive journey. Four days later they were married. Thus began one of the most remarkable partnerships in History. Isabella and Ferdinand, the ‘Catholic Monarchs’, as the Pope would later label them, would unite Aragon and Castile, conquer Granada and acquire Navarre, thereby creating the basis for the modern nation of Spain. They pacified the over-powerful, warlike nobles, sponsored Christopher Columbus’ expeditions to the New World, thus laying the foundations for Spain’s empire, and drove out of Spain the Jews and Muslims, establishing the Spanish Inquisition to ruthlessly monitor those that converted to Christianity and remained behind in Spain, establishing Spain as the most aggressively Catholic nation in Europe. Their reign has been described by some Spanish historians as “a happy golden age”, although other historians are more critical, particularly of their religious intolerance. What is not in doubt however, is that they were an incredibly effective partnership.

But their marriage might never have happened. Although Ferdinand’s father, the King of Aragon was keen, Isabella’s half-brother, Henry IV, King of Castile was against the idea, and other enemies, within Spain and abroad, wanted to prevent the union of the two kingdoms. This account of their marriage, by JH Elliott, summarises some of the difficulties they had to overcome.

Source 1. J.H. ELLIOTT. From ‘Imperial Spain’.“The events leading up to the wedding were, to say the least, unusual. The eighteen-year old Princess, threatened with arrest by her brother, Henry IV of Castile, had been rescued from her home at Madrigal by the Archbishop of Toledo and a body of horsemen, and conveyed to a city where she would be safe among friends. Her bridegroom, a year younger than herself, had reached Valladolid only a few days before the ceremony after an even more eventful journey. With a handful of attendants disguised as merchants, he had travelled from Zaragoza by night through hostile country, and had narrowly escaped death from a stone hurled by a sentinel from the battlements of Burgo de Osma. After reaching Valladolid he met his bride for the first time only four days before the ceremony. The couple were so poor that they were compelled to borrow to meet the wedding expenses; and since they were marrying within the prohibited degree [they were cousins] they required and duly received, a papal bull of dispensation, later discovered to be a spurious document concocted by the King of Aragon, the archbishop of Toledo and Ferdinand himself.

There was some excuse for the secrecy and the deceit. Many people were anxious to prevent the ceremony from taking place. Among them was Louis XI of France, who saw a grave threat to his own country in a union of the reigning houses of Castile and Aragon. But there were enemies nearer to home. Many of the powerful Castilian nobles were bitterly opposed to a matrimonial alliance which promised to strengthen the crown’s authority in Castile. Hoping to dispossess Isabella, they were now rallying to the cause of Henry IV’s alleged daughter, Juana la Beltraneja, whose claims to the throne had recently been set aside in favour of those of his sister, Isabella. While Henry had been induced by Isabella’s faction in 1468 to recognise Isabella as his heiress in place of a daughter whose paternity was universally doubted, he was a vacillating and unreliable character, fully capable of going back on his word. The Prince and Princess were therefore wise to seize upon the earliest possible opportunity of formalising a union that would do much to strengthen Isabella’s position in Castile.

Source 2. Isabella and Ferdinand’s Family Tree.

THINK ABOUT THIS! Using the material on this page and on the previous page to help you.

* What seems to be unusual and/or unexpected about the marriage between Ferdinand and Isabella?

* Isabella was 18, Ferdinand 17. They had never met. Isabella had marriage offers from rich and powerful Castilian nobles, a nephew of the French King and the King of Portugal, Afonso (who was almost twice her age). Why do you think she chose Ferdinand?

WHAT SORT OF PERSON WAS ISABELLA ‘THE CATHOLIC’, QUEEN OF CASTILE?

! TASK. Using the resources below...1. Create an illustrated mind-map or poster of Isabella’s character, personality, qualities and failings, as a person and as a ruler.

THEN

2. Use this to write a 200-300 word pen-picture of Queen Isabella of Castile.

& RESOURCES FOR THIS TASK.There is a collection of source material, drawn from contemporary sources and from historians, below, for you to use. But you can also find some interesting material in the following online locations. *A colourful article in National Geographic’s online magazine.https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2019/03-04/queen-isabellas-rise-to-spanish-throne/*An interesting article in BBC History Extra’s online magazine.https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/isabella-castile-who-guide-ferdinand-aragon-spain-unification/*And of course, Isabella’s Wikipedia page.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile

Source 3 (RIGHT). Possible portrait of Isabella of Castile. Detail from ‘The Madonna of the Fly’ painted by artist of the Flemish school, c.1520.

Source 4 (BELOW). Wedding portrait of Ferdinand and Isabella (15th Century, c.1470).

Source 5. Some contemporary descriptions and judgements of Isabella.

“By her diligence and government, in a very short time, all injustice was changed into justice, all pride to meekness, all wars and divisions to peace and quiet” (Fernando del Pulgar, Isabella’s court historian.)

“She was ... very powerful, very prudent, wise, very honest, chaste, devout, discreet, truthful, clear, without deceit. Who could count the excellences of this very catholic Queen? (Andres Bernaldez, another court historian.)

Source 6. Adapted from JAP Jones: Europe 1500-1600 (1998)

Isabella the Woman.*Were Castilian nobles correct to assume that Isabella would be easier to control than Ferdinand? *Why was she able to inspire so much loyalty and devotion in her supporters?*She possessed the qualities of an ideal queen: dignified, pure, pious, intelligent, determined and loyal. She was always very careful, even at the age of 44, to sleep surrounded by her children or servants. Thus, she allayed any criticism of sexual misconduct. *She was never taught Latin but she decided to learn it later in life and had a Latin/Castilian dictionary produced. *Her reading tastes can be discovered from the books in her library, medical books, spiritual works, Castilian not Latin books, written in a more popular style, some licentious reading. She was intelligent but uneducated and unintellectual – for example, her handwriting was poor.

Isabella the Patron of the Arts

*She preferred the Flanders School of Painting to that of Spain. It was pure and pious, but optimistic and not over-rich. Did this fit with her temperament and character? *She was the chief patron of Columbus. Did this allow her to have an adventure at a distance? WHY was she prepared to support him?

Isabella the Wife.*Isabella was always anxious to be known as an utterly faithful wife.*She feared for herself and her children if there was any suspicion of unfaithfulness. She was aware of the fate of Joanna La Beltraneja, her niece. *Her first reaction to Ferdinand was a very positive and excited one. *But she was constantly upset by Ferdinand’s many infidelities, although she was delicately able to remove his mistresses from court – for example his mistress, Beatrix of Bobadilla was sent to the Canary Islands with the minimum of fuss.*In spite of Ferdinand’s unfaithfulness, Isabella was devoted and loyal to him.

Isabella the Mother.*In 1475, she hastened to respond to the threat from Afonso V of Portugal’s invasion of Castile. She was 23 years old and pregnant at the time, and as a result of her political response, she miscarried.*Isabella felt immense responsibilities to secure the succession as well as maintain her own position. Prince John, her heir, was spoiled with excesses of rose syrup as a child, but he often missed Isabella’s presence. *She experienced considerable grief at her children’s sad fates. For example, her daughter, Isabella’s first husband was killed in a hunting party held to celebrate their wedding, and she herself died in childbirth 8 years later, a year after Prince John’s death. Queen Isabella took this double blow very hard.

Isabella the Queen.*On 13 December 1474, 2 days after her half-brother Enrique’s death, Isabella declared herself Queen, at Segovia in central Castile. She had not consulted with Ferdinand beforehand, and he suspected treachery at first. But this decisive action gave Isabella an advantage in the power struggle with her enemies that followed.*Her sense of duty to Castile was overpowering. For example, would she produce a male heir in the summer of 1475, or lead her forces in the civil war?*The birth of Prince John on 30 June 1476 was one of the key factors that ended the civil war.*Isabella as a Queen at Court revealed a very determined personality of purity, chivalry and courtly love. Dancing and music were very popular at Court and women often danced together. Isabella loved jousting and dressed lavishly for court occasions. In April 1475, in the midst of a civil war and pregnant with a child, she nonetheless attended a joust. *But she gave no support for bullfighting, which she found disgusting.

Source 7. Adrian Roberts ‘Ferdinand and Isabella’, in Lotherington: ‘Years of Renewal’ (1999)Isabella showed herself to be a shrewd and energetic ruler, fully capable of governing successfully in the dangerous world of fifteenth century Spain. She was intensely pious and took a particular interest in the religious affairs of her realm, as well as being a patron of Spanish and Flemish artists. On her death in 1504, the archbishop of Toledo mourned, ‘A queen has disappeared who has no equal on earth for her greatness of spirit, purity of heart, Christian piety, equal justice to all”.

Source 8. From J.N. Hillgarth ‘The Spanish Kingdoms’ (1978).Menendez Pidal claimed the reign of the Catholic Monarchs was one ‘which for all Spaniards represents a happy age’ ... This nostalgic view of the age has been shared by many non-Spanish historians. Nevertheless, it must be questioned.Perhaps one regrets most deeply the decision taken by Ferdinand and Isabella to end the ‘convivencia’ (peaceful religious co-existence) of the peninsula, by expelling the Jews, persecuting the conversos (converted Jews) and forcing Spanish Muslims into nominal conversion ... The inscription on the monarchs’ tomb in Granada, with its selection of only two of their achievements, the destruction of the Islamic ‘sect’ and the and the extinction of heresy present an ‘Inquisitorial version of their reign’....

Source 9. Some Key Dates and Events from Isabella’s Life and Reign.

1451. Isabella is born.1469. Isabella and Ferdinand marry.1474. Enrique IV of Castile dies. Isabella proclaims herself Queen. The Castilian Civil war begins.1476. Prince John, a male heir, is born.1478. Isabella and Ferdinand ask the Pope for permission to set up a Spanish Inquisition, to investigate and prosecute heresy (unbelief) in Spain. 1479. The Castilian Civil War ends in victory for Ferdinand and Isabella.1479. Ferdinand inherits the Crown of Aragon, on his father’s death. The two kingdoms are joined in a ‘union of the crowns’. 1480. The Spanish Inquisition is established, under the leadership of Tomas de Torquemada.

Over the next decades, thousands of alleged heretics will be arrested and at least 2000 are burned. Most are converted Jews accused of being untrue to Christianity.

1483-1492. The Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand declare war on the Islamic kingdom of Granada, in southern Spain.

1492. Granada surrenders.1492. Isabella and Ferdinand issue the Edict of Expulsion, expelling all unconverted Jews from Spain. 10,000s of Jews flee the country. Those that remain are forced to convert.1492. Isabella sponsors Christopher Columbus to embark on an expedition to explore a route to

the Indies across the Atlantic. His ‘discovery’ of the Americas lays the foundation for the Spanish Empire in the New World.

1499. Cardinal Cisneros establishes the University of Alcala with the support of the Catholic Monarchs.

Isabella the Queen.*On 13 December 1474, 2 days after her half-brother Enrique’s death, Isabella declared herself Queen, at Segovia in central Castile. She had not consulted with Ferdinand beforehand, and he suspected treachery at first. But this decisive action gave Isabella an advantage in the power struggle with her enemies that followed.*Her sense of duty to Castile was overpowering. For example, would she produce a male heir in the summer of 1475, or lead her forces in the civil war?*The birth of Prince John on 30 June 1476 was one of the key factors that ended the civil war.*Isabella as a Queen at Court revealed a very determined personality of purity, chivalry and courtly love. Dancing and music were very popular at Court and women often danced together. Isabella loved jousting and dressed lavishly for court occasions. In April 1475, in the midst of a civil war and pregnant with a child, she nonetheless attended a joust. *But she gave no support for bullfighting, which she found disgusting.

1502. An edict is issued expelling unconverted Muslims from southern Spain and Granada.1504. Isabella dies.

EXTENSION READING. If you want to find out more about this fascinating character, Most of this biography of Isabella, by Nancy Rubin, is available free on Googlebooks. CLICK ON THIS LINK

JAMES I – THE WISEST FOOL IN CHRISTENDOM?

The British history course you will study in year 12, begins with the reign of King James I who became king of England in 1603 after the death of Elizabeth I. He had been king of Scotland since he was a baby and when he became king of England, We would like to introduce you to him firstly by showing you some primary sources in which people who actually knew him give their opinion about what he was like. Secondly, we will consider what historians have said about him.

The following is a contemporary account by Sir Anthony Weldon who was a courtier.

‘He was of middle stature, more corpulent through his clothes than in his body, yet fat enough. His doublets were quilted for stiletto proof and his breeches were in great pleats and well stuffed. He was naturally of a nervous disposition which was the reason for his quilted doublets. His eyes were large and ever rolling after any stranger that came into his presence; his beard was very thin; his tongue too large for his mouth, and makes him eat as if drinking and spilled from the side of his mouth. His skin was as soft as taffeta, which felt so, because he never washed his hands, only rubbed his fingers ends slightly with the wet end of a napkin. His legs were very weak, having had (as was thought) some foul play in his youth, or rather before he was born, that he was not able to stand at seven years of age, that weakness made him ever leaning on other men’s shoulders. He drank very often, which was rather out of a custom than any delight, but his drinks were not strong, being wine or ale.’

Of course, when we look at contemporary sources we have to be careful about their usefulness, reliability and accuracy. In other words, we need to consider their PROVENANCE. To do this, we

1. Go through the source and pick out phrases which point out the positive and negative qualities of James. Do you have more positives or negatives?

2. What overall impression of James do you get? What do you think Weldon was trying to suggest about James I?

Knowing what you now know about Weldon, do you have reason to doubt the fairness of

need to know a little about the person who wrote the account. Sir Anthony Weldon died n 1648 having sided with Parliament during the Civil War. He was a staunch critic of the Stuarts and used his wit and satire to attack them. He also disliked the Scots. He penned this sketch of James after losing his job as Clerk of the Green Cloth, (he was sacked by James) for having written a satire on the Scots, the manuscript of which was found wrapped in one of the records of his department. Of Scotland he had written: ’ The air might be wholesome, but for the stinking people that inhabit it. The ground might be fruitful had they the wit to manure it’. And of the Scots he said: ‘to be chained in marriage with one of them, were to be tied to a dead carcase, and cast into a stinking ditch’. The source above was not published until after the execution of Charles I, James’s son which brought a temporary end to the Stuart monarchy in England.

Here is another contemporary account was written by Monsieur de Fontenay, secretary to James’s mother, Mary Queen of Scots, when James was about 18 years old.

‘James is for his age the premier prince who has ever lived. Three qualities of the mind he possesses in perfection: he understands clearly, judges wisely and has a retentive memory. In short, he has a remarkable intelligence, as well as lofty and virtuous ideals and a high opinion of himself. In speaking and eating, in his dress and in his sports, in his conversation in the presence of women, his manners are crude and uncivil and display a lack of proper instruction. He is never still in one place but walks constantly up and down. He loves the chase above all other pleasures and will hunt for six hours without interruption. His body is feeble and yet he is not delicate. He does not estimate correctly his poverty and is over-confident of his power. He is too lazy and indifferent about affairs, allowing business to be conducted by others. Such things are excusable at his age, yet I fear they may become habitual’.

WHAT HISTORIANS HAVE SAID ABOUT JAMES I

Historians produce their work by looking at a range of primary sources like the ones you have looked at above. The sources they select and the way they assess them will affect their opinions about the past. Read the following opinions about James from historians.

‘ As a hated Scot, James was suspect to the English from the beginning, and his ungainly presence, mumbling speech and dirty ways did not inspire respect. Reports of his blatantly homosexual attachments and his alcoholic excesses were diligently spread back to a horrified Countryside. It was reported that when hunting the king did not dismount in order to relieve himself and so habitually ended the day in a filthy and stinking condition.’

L. Stone, The Causes of the English Revolution (1972)

‘James’s faults were only too apparent, but they should not be allowed to conceal his considerable achievements. He kept his country at peace for more than 20 years, he prevented religious divisions from tearing Church and state apart, and despite rhetorical flourishes about the

Knowing what you now know about Weldon, do you have reason to doubt the fairness of

3. What positive and negative qualities of James can you learn from this account?4. Do you think this source provides a more or less credible picture of what James was

really like than the first source considering who wrote it? 5. What overall impression do you get of James from these two primary sources?

unlimited nature of divinely-appointed kings, he held the monarchy to the course prescribed by common law.’

R. Lockyer, The Early Stuarts. (1989)

Distrust of a Scottish king in England is as relevant as his actions within the political world…James the buffoon may more accurate be described as James the homely and casual, with a style of kingship prefunding different from that of Elizabeth…it is well known that James’s new subjects were almost immediately disenchanted because of his passionate dislike of the crowds who clamoured to see him. But it was more than that. Elizabeth’s common touch was in fact a dazzling display of the majesty and mystique of monarchy, and in that sense evidence of the remoteness of the late sixteenth-century English monarchy. The Scottish monarchy was neither so remote nor so visually impressive; James simply failed to live up to the role expected of him in England.

J Wormald, James VI and I: Two Kings or One? (1983)

‘The new king had a long and successful record of kingship behind him in 1603: James VI was the most competent king Scotland ever had. In great contrast to his Scottish reputation James has been one of the most maligned rulers of England. James was far from being an ideal king, but he was equally far from being the ‘wisest fool in christendom’……… Elizabeth’s legacy to the new king in 1603 was not a good one………. James’s record in dealing with the problems was much better than he was often given credit for’.

B.Coward, The Stuart Age, (1994)

James was unusually tolerant for the early seventeenth century and the execution of Catholic priests virtually ended in his reign. Another part of James’s character that attracted unfavourable contemporary comment was his lack of physical courage. There had been a number of plots against him when he was King of Scotland and within three years of his accession to the English throne those involved in the Gunpowder Plot tried to blow up not only the king but the assembled member s of the Lords and Commons. So, James had a good reason to be wary of assassins especially as the death of Henry IV of France in 1610 confirmed the vulnerability of kings. However, contemporaries did not like their sovereigns to show signs of weakness and Sir Anthony Weldon wrote scathingly about James’s padded clothes which were designed to prevent a dagger from reaching his body. Along with his fear of personal violence went a much more praiseworthy desire to avoid war. James hated war and sought throughout his reign to keep England from being sucked into one.’

Katherine Brice, The Early Stuarts, 1994

Let’s allow James to have the last word on the powers he thought that monarchs (like him) had in the 17th century.

6. For each extract, identify the positive and negative qualities of James which the historian discusses.

7. Do you get the same impression of James as you got from the two primary sources you looked at earlier?

8. Which historian seems to be most supportive of James? And which one the least supportive?

9. Reading between the lines, what sort of qualities were monarchs in the 17th century expected to have?

“The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth; for kings are not only God’s lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God himself they are called gods … Kings are justly called gods for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power upon earth …they make and unmake their subjects: they have power of raising, and casting down; of life, and of death, judges over all their subjects, and in all causes, and yet accountable to none but God… And to the king is due both the affection of the soul and the service of the body of his subjects.”

James I in a speech to Parliament in 1610

WITCH HUNTING AND POPULAR CULTURE IN THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD

You will start your study of the witch craze unit in year 13. During this unit we look at three big witch hunts which take place in England, Germany and North America. We study the reasons why these hunts started and ended; we also look at how popular culture at the time linked to these hunts.

Popular culture is a useful way of historians finding out about the interests of the ordinary people at particular periods in history. Think about the popular culture of today, how will the historians of the future interpret us if they look at our culture?

Sport

Social media

Fashion

Travel

Concerts

What other examples of today’s popular culture can you think of?

Macbeth

Watch this clip of the scene from Macbeth being performed. Think about what this shows about the feelings of the people in the early modern world towards witches. Was it a positive or negative opinion? Do you think opinions towards witches are always the same or do they change over time?

https://youtu.be/hnc0pOjr1qY

Popular culture of the Early Modern period was diverse, as it is today. Many aspects of popular culture in the Early Modern Period still exist today. Take theatre and plays as an example. Many of you will have studied Macbeth at school, you will be familiar with the role of the witches in this play. Macbeth was written during the early years of the reign of James I, we know that when James I was King of Scotland, he was very interested in hunting witches.

10. Do you think James’s very human qualities that you’ve learned about by looking at the views of contemporaries and historians would make it difficult for people to accept that he had a “divine power upon earth?”

The Berwick Witch Trials 1590

James VI of Scotland, who would later become James I of England, was crossing the North Sea, when a serious storm hit. He was travelling back from Scandinavia, bringing with him his new wife, Anne of Denmark. Such a journey always brought with it dangers caused by storms and the ship carrying James and his bride nearly sank off the port of Leith. It was assumed that the dreadful weather conditions were the result of evil magic.

In Denmark six women were tried and executed as witches, and investigations also began in Scotland.

Over 100 people were arrested in North Berwick on suspicion of causing the storm, and James himself was involved in the investigations. A pedlar who had discovered some of the witches was alleged to have fallen asleep and found himself having been transported to a wine cellar in France. One of the accused, Agnes Sampson, a midwife and healer, was brought before the king in November 1590. At first, she didn’t say anything, but after all of her hair was shaved off, she confessed that on Halloween in 1590, Scottish witches had gathered in a churchyard to hear a sermon by Satan, then made a contract with him to make a spell to sink the king’s ship. Many others also confessed, having been cruelly tortured. Even nobles were drawn into the accusations, although the king’s cousin, the Earl of Bothwell escaped a guilty verdict.

Agnes Sampson’s testimony and trial

“at the time when his Majesty was in Denmark, she took a Cat and christened it, and afterward bound each part of that cat, the chief parts of a dead man and several joints of his body, and in the night following the … cat was conveyed into the midst of the sea by all these witches sailing in their … sieves … and so left the cat right before the town of Leith in Scotland. This done, there did arise such a tempest in the Sea … which tempest was the cause of the perishing of a boat. …”

Agnes Sampson was convicted of witchcraft and garroted and burned in front of Edinburgh Castle on 28th January 1591. Many others also lost their lives.

Aftermath

A model of the ship Anne and James travelled on was placed in a church in Leith as an act of thanksgiving to God for saving Anne and James from the witches’ storm.

Macbeth

Watch this clip of the scene from Macbeth being performed. Think about what this shows about the feelings of the people in the early modern world towards witches. Was it a positive or negative opinion? Do you think opinions towards witches are always the same or do they change over time?

https://youtu.be/hnc0pOjr1qY

Popular culture of the Early Modern period was diverse, as it is today. Many aspects of popular culture in the Early Modern Period still exist today. Take theatre and plays as an example. Many of you will have studied Macbeth at school, you will be familiar with the role of the witches in this play. Macbeth was written during the early years of the reign of James I, we know that when James I was King of Scotland, he was very interested in hunting witches.

James continued to show a personal interest in the idea of witches, and in 1597, he published a book about it called “Daemonologie”, to convince doubters that witches actually existed. In it, James described witchcraft as “high treason against God”.

In 1603, James did become King of England after the death of Elizabeth I, and in 1606, William Shakespeare wrote the play Macbeth, set in Scotland. This includes the famous witches, “double, double, toil and trouble” and several references to witch-created storms.

There were high profile cases of witch trials in England during James’s reign as king, including the Pendle witch trials of 1612, and the Belvoir trial of 1619, which was deeply connected to the politics of James’s English court. However, as James got older, he became less enthusiastic about witch hunting (he preferred to hunt deer!), and during the last nine years of his reign only five people were hanged for witchcraft in England.

The Berwick Witch trial was the first major witch panic in Scotland. Between 1560 and 1707, between 3,000 and 4,000 people are thought to have lost their lives as a result of witch accusations.

Media Reports

The events in Scotland were reported in a publication called “Newes from Scotland”. The picture you’ve been looking at comes from that publication. It was published in England, and was designed to make James I look good. England and Scotland were separate countries in the 16th century and James hoped to become king of England after the death of Elizabeth I. The “Newes from Scotland” reports that the witches asked the devil why he was trying to kill James, and the devil replied that James was “the greatest enemy I have on earth”. That certainly made James look like a person who would be a strong and powerful ruler of England, if even the devil was afraid of him!

The Pendle Witch Trials

Evidence/namesWho were the accusers?

Who was accused?

Is poverty a factor in who is accused?

Is religion a factor in who was accused?

Is occupation a factor?

Is reputation a factor?

How were the victims treated

How/why did the hunt end?

Taking things further• Go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ghgk3 to download a podcast about the model

ship placed in the Leith church, mentioned in the account of the North Berwick Witch Trials above.

• You could also visit www.historyextra.com/witchtest to find out whether or not you would have been accused of being a witch in the 17th century.

The Pendle Witch Trials

In preparation for college we would like you to do some research on the Pendle witch trials.You can start your research by watching this video.

https://youtu.be/MATKIhrDZSc

You could also look at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_witches and https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/the-pendle-witches/