King James and the Theatre of Witches PDF Download

Author: Dawn A. Saliba
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781303310584
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages : 694

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Author: King James
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781720360247
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Daemonologie-in full Daemonologie, In Forme of a Dialogue, Divided into three Books: By the High and Mighty Prince, James &c.-was written and published in 1597 by King James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) as a philosophical dissertation on contemporary necromancy and the historical relationships between the various methods of divination used from ancient black magic. This included a study on demonology and the methods demons used to bother troubled men while touching on topics such as werewolves and vampires. It was a political yet theological statement to educate a misinformed populace on the history, practices and implications of sorcery and the reasons for persecuting a witch in a Christian society under the rule of canonical law. This book is believed to be one of the main sources used by William Shakespeare in the production of Macbeth. Shakespeare attributed many quotes and rituals found within the book directly to the Weird Sisters, yet also attributed the Scottish themes and settings referenced from the trials in which King James was involved.

Author: Dawn Adrienne Saliba
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781527575561
Category : English drama
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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This book presents a cultural analysis of King James I of Englandâ (TM)s evolving perspectives regarding witchcraft and his influence upon the â oewitch playsâ of Renaissance England. Early on during the Stuart monarch's reign in Scotland (1588-1591), James directed a fevered hunt of witches whom he believed were trying to assassinate him, an event that later came to be known as â oeThe North Berwick Affair.â He played a direct role in the interrogations, personally approving and, at times, overseeing the horrific torture of some of the accused. In 1597, the monarch also penned a compendium of witchcraft lore entitled Daemonologie, which acted as a manual for identifying, interrogating and punishing witches. Once the King ascended to the British throne, London-based dramatists endeavored to please their monarch with plays that catered to his interests while at the same time subverting his beliefs in witchcraft lore. The Kingâ (TM)s works and involvement in witchcraft trials are notably referenced, sometimes satirically, in William Shakespeareâ (TM)s Macbeth, Ben Jonsonâ (TM)s Masque of Queenes, Thomas Middletonâ (TM)s The Witch, and Dekker, Rowley and Fordâ (TM)s The Witch of Edmontonâ "all of which respond to the Kingâ (TM)s philosophical engagement with witchlore. Through the analysis of four Jacobean â oewitch-playsâ and an examination of King James's role within the witchcraft debates and his involvement with contemporaneous witch trials, this work shows how the monarchâ (TM)s various publications on witchlore transmuted stage and culture. Taken as a group, these dramas provide a window into the newly emergent humanism of the Renaissance world and its struggle with gender-driven categoriesâ "especially regarding the cultural praxis of accusing, torturing and executing â oewitches.â

Author: William Godwin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781540366795
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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"The reader should bear in mind, that what is put down in this book is but a small part and scantling of the acts of sorcery and witchcraft which have existed in human society. They have been found in all ages and countries. The torrid zone and the frozen north have neither of them escaped from a fruitful harvest of this sort of offspring. In ages of ignorance they have been especially at home ; and the races of men that have left no records behind them to tell almost that they existed, have been most of all rife in deeds of darkness, and those marvelous incidents which especially astonish the spectator, and throw back the infant reason of man into those shades and that obscurity from which it had so recently endeavored to escape. I wind up for the present my literary labors with the production of this book. Nor let any reader imagine that I here put into his hands a mere work of idle recreation. It will be found pregnant with deeper uses. The wildest extravagances of human fancy, the most deplorable perversion of human faculties, and the most horrible distortions of jurisprudence, may occasionally afford us a salutary lesson. I love in the foremost place to contemplate man in all his honors and in all the exaltation of wisdom and virtue ; but it will also be occasionally of service to us to look into his obliquities, and distinctly to remark how great and portentous have been his absurdities and his follies." (William Godwin) The book has been originally published in 1834. This is a professional reproduction

Author: William Rowley
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719052477
Category : Edmonton (England)
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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"The play, based on a sensational witchcraft trial of 1621, presents Mother Sawyer and her local community in the grip of a witch-mania reflecting popular belief and superstition of the time ..."--Back cover.

Author: John Buchan
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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"Witch Wood" is a historical novel set in 17th century Scotland. The story follows a minister who tries to prevent worshiping the devil and keep his congregation safe. The witchcraft is practiced in the Wood of Caledon in the Scottish Borders. However, the minister's congregation is divided as a result of the civil unrest caused by the Scottish war. Will he be able to bring them under one fold again? It was written by John Buchan, a Scottish novelist and public servant who combined a successful career as an author of thrillers, historical novels, histories, and biographies.

Author: Richard Brome
Publisher: Theatre Arts Books
ISBN:
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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In this ribald comedy, first performed at The Globe in 1634, everything is going wrong at a wedding, and everyone in attendance is eager to believe a local coven is to blame.

Author: Julian Goodare
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719060243
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This book is a collection of essays on Scottish witchcraft and witch-hunting, which covers the whole period of the Scottish witch-hunt, from the mid-16th century to the early 18th. It particularly emphasizes the later stages, since scholars are now as keen to explain why witch-hunting declined as why it occurred. There are studies of particular witchcraft panics, including a reassessment of the role of King James VI. The book thus covers a wide range of topics concerned with Scottish witch-hunting - and also places it in the context of other topics: gender relations, folklore, magic and healing, and moral regulation by church and state.

Author: Peter Corbin
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719019531
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
For Jacobean society, witchcraft was a potent and very real force, an area of sharp controversy in which King James I himself participated and a phenomenon that attracted many dramatists and writers. The three plays in this book - Sophonisba, The Witch and The Witch of Edmonton - reflect the variety of belief in witches and practice of witchcraft in the Jacobean period. Jacobean understanding of witchcraft is illuminated by the close study of these contrasting texts in relation to each other and to other contemporary works: The Masque of Queenes; Dr Faustus; Macbeth and The Tempest. The introduction and detailed commentaries explore the considerable theatrical potential of plays which, with the exception of The Witch of Edmonton, have been hitherto lost to the dramatic repertory.

Author: Robert Burns
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Tam O'Shanter" by Robert Burns. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.