Supernatural in contemporary England

Witchcraft was a ‘vogue’ issue in the early reign of James I. Even before he

ascended the throne, King James I himself, believed he had been the subject of a plot by three Scottish witches to shipwreck him by stirring up storms. Learned books were also published on the subject such as A Discourse of the Subtle Practices of Devils (1587) and King James’ own Demonology (1597). Some of the learned works expressed scepticism as to the more far-fetched claims made about witches, like Reginald Scot’s The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584, banned under James I), but they agreed in their existence.