Written by James I of England (James VI of Scotland), Daemonologie is a wide-ranging discussion of witchcraft, necromancy, possession, demons, were-wolves, fairies and ghosts in the form of a Socratic dialogue. James developed something of an obsession with Witches and of hunting them following a plot by the Berwick Witches to shipwreck him when on his way home from Denmark. Following this attempt, James wrote Daemonologie and gave his support and whole-hearted approval to the attempt to try and execute Witches within Scotland. He contended that witchcraft was a reality and that it's practitioners must be punished. King James didn't just slab some words together in this book; he did his research. He attended trials and examinations regarding witchcraft, including the examination of Dr. Fian, a Scottish schoolmaster who was an alleged witch. The charges leveled against Fian included practicing wicked acts with other witches, possessing an attendant spirit, and making curses against the king. All in all, the book is indicative of James' credulity toward witchcraft. After all, it was his passion.James wrote Daemonologie into three books. James didn't exactly write in modern day speech. If you go to this link you can catch a glimpse of the dialogue taken straight out of James' book. Now annotate that.
People everywhere read James' book, starting to acquire the custom of witchcraft. Why was James' book so popular to the public? What beliefs (past his obsessions for witchcraft) led James to write such a book?
I think King James wrote this book to in a way discourage people from practicing witchcraft. He was the first one to officially authorize the transcription of the Bible. Since he was such a strong supporter of the Protestant and Catholic religions he wrote this book to get more people to follow his supported religions.
ReplyDeleteThe Link to the book he wrote was really interesting. I found it a bit hard to really understand what they were saying. It was pretty interesting to read it the way it was originally written, i seem to forget that people didn't always talk the way we do today.
I believe the book could've been so popular because it brought fear to the people. The book connects witchcraft with the devil, which would strike fear in any religious person. It actually reminds me of the Salem Witch Trials and all of the chaos that came with it. The fear was so overwhelming and public, it spread like wild fire, causing everyone in Salem to have a weary eye on those accused of witchcraft. This could be related to Daemonologie and James' book, being that after he published it, its popularity sky-rocketed, spreading fear amongst those reading it.
ReplyDeleteJust like Mary, I also found the link interesting. I'm so glad we do not have to annotate that! I found a sentence in the text that was as long as a paragraph. Yuck. I wonder what it would've been like to live during that era and speak just as they did. It would definetely be one step up from the vernacular we, like, have now.
Yeah, James reminds me of the day when Mrs. H. said just like it's hard for us to read Shakespeare, it would be hard for Shakespeare to read our texting lingo. We're in two totally different times.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible, since King James is of a higher authority, that people read his book just because the king wrote it?
I also believe that the fear caused by the books is what led to its popularity. People seem to be attracted to things that condemn others (in turn, making them feel better about themselves). It also provided people with guidelines, something to tell them what they needed to do or how they needed to behave. Maybe this was because of their insecurities.
ReplyDeleteI think James' insecurities are what led him to write such literature. I think he was threatened by the different views and didn't really know how to handle it, so he condemned them for it.
I would like to start by saying that standardized spelling was one of the best inventions in history.
ReplyDeleteI also would agree to Zach's question about the book's status being raised by the publicity of the author. Look today at how many people read books simply because a famous person said too; endorsements are typically the entire back cover or book sleeves. Since news was limited and the population was very much smaller at the time, the King's celebrity status if you will must have been very high among the common people. Books were rare then and if the king wrote it it must have been important. Another reason I believe this work spread so well among the masses not only because it brought fear like emily said but because it brought a scape goat. By blaming witches for everything wrong with the nation, the common peasent could shift themselves one tep up the socioeconomic ladder. Even the poor could associate with the wealthy by looking down on withes.
I like Caitlin's comment about how the fear caused by the books is what led to its popularity. That is true. Just look at the "banned books" we have in our society today. They aren't banned by everyone, just certain communities, but the same thought still stands. Because its something to be feared and be scared of, that just entices people to want to do it more. We even have an entire week dedicated to celebrating books that have been “banned”.
ReplyDeleteWillie makes a good point too. Just because its endorsed by a “celebrity” that instantly increases the popularity and worth of the book, just take Oprah’s book club for example. Books could be out for months and not many would know about the book, yet once Oprah says its on her “book list” sell outs begin to happen nation wide. Since the king was the closest thing to a celebrity back then, and like Willie said, there weren’t many books published. If it was published and the king published it, there must have been importance to the book. However, do you think that the king ultimately controlled what was published and what wasn’t?
Hey Zach i think that because James was a king people looked more into his book, and since it brought on fear a lot of people went to him for security. This reminds me of our discution about religion and how some use it as a crutch or a support. Kames is useing his book as a crutch and it also increases his power.
ReplyDeleteI think Zach has a good point about the book's popularity due to James' higher authority. As a king or, in Willy's words, a celebrity, James probably had influence over a mass of people. Influence that could cause the book's popularity to sky rocket.
ReplyDeleteWilly, I also like how you mentioned the scarce number of books available during the time period. It seems logical to associate the book's popularity with the time frame it was released in.
I also liked Willy's comment about the scarcity of books in James' time. I think he might be right. People were drawn to it because there was nothing else to be drawn to.
ReplyDeleteAnother statement of Willy's I agreed with was his remark about James' celebrity. As a king, he influenced these people's everyday lives, so of course his literature would be influential as well.
I think that this book was so popular because King James wrote it. Its like if people knew Shakespeare wrote another play, that play would most likely be popular because he has written many other succsseful plays. King James wrote that one version of the Bible which was so popluar. Also I think it was popular because King James was very passionate about the subject. No one is going to read something that the author has no interest in. The piece would be boring.
ReplyDeleteFound this site that better explains why James I persecuted witches and how his "fight" with them began--http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/james-I-witchcraft.htm
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shayna's comment about the book being written by the king. Just think, if Obama would have written a book today, how many people would go and buy it?
ReplyDeleteThe author has a major affect in its popularity. However, i also think that because people are drawn to things that are scary or out of the ordinary, it caused the book to be so popular.
I agree with you Danielle, but to add i also think that the poeple were willing to follow the book because they couldn't explain magic, or witches and since someone handed them an answer, they took the bait.
ReplyDeleteAnother possible reason that James' book was so popular is that his views fell in line with those of many of his subjects. I'm not saying everyone agreed with him, but there is a reason everyone bought into it.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason might be the lack of education at the time. Many people did not know how to read/write, so their connection to literature would have been the church, which would naturally support James' publication.
I think it was definitely a mixture of fear (as Emily first said) and also pure human enjoyment of controversy. Do we not love to hear juicy gossip? I think that this is also what drove a lot of the witch trials and whatnot. Humans love to cause drama, naturally.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the popularity of this book because it satisfied people's desire for controversy and also because it came from the kind. I would like to point out that it parallels greatly with the bible. Humans are drawn to guidelines that satisfy their beliefs they cannot otherwise support, especially if it comes from someone credible. King James was definitely credible in this time and as Cameron said, it was in line with many of his subject's beliefs.
First, I'd like to agree with Willy, Hooray for standardized spelling.
ReplyDeleteAnd in response to Ashley's comment, controversial books, paintings, music, and any other kind of media get way more attention than normal, conforming works. It goes back to what we were talking about with the paintings and Birk's work. It doesn't matter if it's positive or negative, attention's attention, and people LOVE getting attention. Though I think this also had more meaning that just something to spark controversy. In this time, belief of witches was widespread, and I agree with whoever had said that this was a message to draw people away from witchcraft, and to join in persecuting suspected "witches".
Everyone should go check out Mrs. Holloway's link, it could really answer a lot of questions.
ReplyDeleteIt says before 1590, nobody really believed in witchcraft. But then, "three hundred witches were accused of gathering to plot the murder of James. JAMES HAD A MORBID FEAR OF VIOLENT DEATH." And this is where the persecutions begin.
In one of the questions proposed, Allen and Zach asked what besides James' obsession with witchcraft led him to write this book. I would like to psychoanalyze James and instead, figure out why he had this obsession. I wonder why people were so quick to buy into believing in witchcraft and also why we are not anymore. Was it real and those who sentences witches to death get the job done by either killing them off or scaring them to keep quiet?
ReplyDeleteIn response to ashley, i think now people need to see things to believe them. Because witches were taken seriously back then, people were quicker to buy into them. Now we see them as a joke and dress up like them on Halloween.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what nick said about attention being attention. We all crave it, now and then. But is the attention what drew people in on reading about witchcraft? Or the mystery behind it?
I don't agree that James wrote this simply for the attention. If that were all he wanted, there were much easier publicity stunts he could have pulled as king. I think that James was paranoid (made so by his "morbid fear" of death) and so he thought that he was right and thought he was doing what he should when in reality all he was doing was inciting panic.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cameron that James wasn’t writing the books for attention. If he were writing them for attention, then he wouldn’t probably had put so much research into them and probably wouldn’t have attended any of the trails.
ReplyDeleteAnd like in “The Crucible”, I think that someone people played with others fears for their own benefit. Like Mr. Putnam wanted more land, so he wrongly accused someone of being a witch, all so he could obtain their land.
Everyone is intimidated by what they are not sure exists. Mystery and our curiousity can be a great motivational factor. America was stumbled upon because of someone's curiousity regarding a mystery. It was easy to convince everyone that there were witches for two reasons; first, people are frightened by the concept, and second, he was their leader. Citizens tend to believe what their rulers tell them to. In our society our leaders are glorified into a sort of all-knowing genius who can show us "the way." This was just King James' way.
ReplyDeleteIt is rather interesting that witchcraft was a nonexistent concept before King James seemingly invented it. This transforms his motive from uniting a nation to dispelling his own personal insecurities.
ReplyDeleteWilly's comparison to the red scare of communism is quite accurate; the fear of being accused encourages you to accuse others. I would like to recall the statement I made in my last comment. King James made this claim not to unify a nation, but to strike down any opposition with the fear that they would be murdered next.
After reading most of the responces on here I think we've answered the question of why he wrote it. Not to be a dark person. But to accuse his faults on other people. He wrote it so people would fear him. Just like Zach said, and Willie said. No one heard of witches untill he accused them of a plotted murder. Now all of a sudden people started accusing each other. And they were killed. If James ever had an enemy, all he had to do was say they were a witch (and because people believed him out of fear) that enemy was executed.
ReplyDeleteI also believe James wrote it so people would fear him. But it kind of makes me think he could have done it for his own amusement. He might have thought that since he wrote it people would read it because they wanted to know what their king believed. And in a way thats true a lot of people began to believe in witches and everyone was interested in the book. The kings people were scared after reading the book so they accused others to keep themselves safe.
ReplyDeleteafter reading what Zack wrote it makes me think James may have written the book to save himself from brutal death by showing others he has power to exciute them. And it does make me think like ashely said what made him so interested in the first place? Did the King need something to believe in? Or was it his perfect way to kill people he thought would kill him without looking bad?
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