Witchcraft and the Act of 1604 / edited by John Newton and Jo Bath.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Newton, John, 1973-

Bath, Jo.

Series:

Studies in medieval and Reformation traditions 1573-4188 ; v. 131.

Studies in medieval and Reformation traditions, 1573-4188 ; v. 131

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Great Britain. Act against conjuration, witchcraft and dealing with evil and wicked spirits--Congresses.

Great Britain.

Act against conjuration, witchcraft and dealing with evil and wicked spirits (Great Britain).

Witchcraft--England--History--16th century--Congresses.

Witchcraft.

Witchcraft--England--History--17th century--Congresses.

History.

England.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

xi, 248 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2008.

Summary:

The essays in this volume examine the relationship of the Jacobean Witchcraft Act to the culture and society of seventeenth-century England. The book explores the potential influence of King James's works and person on the framing of the Act, including the relationship of Shakespeare's MacBeth to these events, as well as the impact of the Darrell controversy on the shaping of witchcraft beliefs before the Act. It also asseses the impact of the legislation on society in various parts of the country, as well as examining how drama reflected the ideas found in the legislation. The volume concludes with a look at the reasons for its repeal in 1736. This work provides new interpretations of the influence and application of the 1604 Witchcraft Act by some of the world's leading scholars of witchcraft.

Contents:

1 Introduction: Witchcraft; Witch Codes; Witch Act / John Newton 3

Part 1 The New King and the Crucible of the Act

2 King James's Experience of Witches, and the 1604 English Witchcraft Act / P.G. Maxwell-Stuart 31

3 Standing within the Prospect of Belief: Macbeth, King James, and Witchcraft / Roy Booth 47

4 Witchcraft and Possession at the Accession of James I: The Publication of Samuel Harsnett's Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures / Clive Holmes 69

5 (Re)possession of Dispossession: John Darrell and Diabolical Discourse / Tom Webster 91

Part 2 England Under the Act

6 Applying the Act of 1604: Witches in Essex, Northamptonshire and Lancashire / Marion Gibson 115

7 The Treatment of Potential Witches in North-East England, c. 1649-1680 / Jo Bath 129

8 Witchcraft and Stage Spectacle: Spectacular Witches after 1604 / Chris Brooks 147

9 Witchcraft, Emotion and Imagination in the English Civil War / Malcolm Gaskill 161

Part 3 The Passing of the Act

10 The Politics of Pandaemonium / Jonathan Barry 181

11 Decriminalising the Witch: The Origin of and Response to the 1736 Witchcraft Act / Owen Davies 207

Appendix I The Witchcraft Act of 1563 (5 Eliz I, c. 16.) 233

Appendix II The Witchcraft Act of 1604 (1 Jas. I, c. 12.) 237

Appendix III Canon 72 of the Church of England (1604) 241

Appendix IV The Witchcraft Act of 1736 (9 Geo. II, c. 5.) 243.

Notes:

Based on a conference held in Mar. 2004 at St. John's College, Durham.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9789004165281

9004165282

OCLC:

173808199