The History of Witchcraft

In today's episode, we return to the narrative of early modern Britain, and finally combine the episodes on England and Scotland in the form of one man: James VI and I. We cover the problems and priorities facing James once he inherits the throne from Elizabeth; England's diplomatic situation, its religious dissidents, and a Parliament that is getting a bit too self-important for the absolutist Ja...

In today's episode, we cover the works of William Shakespeare, one of the greatest literary figures in English history. Specifically, we look at the supernatural elements in a number of his plays, from Henry IV and Richard III, to The Tempest and Macbeth. Straddling the reigns of Elizabeth and James, Shakespeare's career provides a window into how magic and witchcraft may have been seen in English...

Drama is perhaps one of the most recognisable products of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. This week, we look at two of the more famous plays from this period which use the supernatural in their narratives; Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, and Thomas Middleton’s The Witch. Although I’m sure I’m missing someone out, someone important from this period who wrote a lot of plays still loved toda...

This week, we hear about the witch beliefs commonly held by your common or garden peasant in Elizabethan and early Stuart England. The priority for your average Joe was the ability of witches to effect the physical world, and how they could help or harm. We also cover the Protestant authorities stance with traditional folklore, in a world that now had to explain the supernatural based solely on th...

With the reign of England's first recognised Queen, Elizabeth I, we find a kingdom riven by sectarian violence and uncertainty. Today's episode gives a brief overview of her rule, and covers the various plots against the monarch and her advisers. We also return to the life of John Dee, the court magician who had been tried for treason during the reign of Mary, as well as hearing the adventures of...

Henry VIII was a superstitious sort of bloke, one who was in his element spending his free time charging at another bloke who was also charging him while they both hold long and pointy bits of wood (some academic language for you there), and yet when faced with something he couldn't fight he ran away screaming. Poison, prophecy, and witchcraft were all on his hit-list, as we see in this episode, a...

The Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Levant for centuries, and today's episode covers a few of the magical beliefs the superstitious Romans held. While it's hard to distinguish between organically Roman traits and those imported from the Greek world, the culture of Rome was certainly a mixture of the two, as can be seen in their beliefs in magic.   Today's episode primarily ma...

Today we cover the development of Halloween - its development from a Celtic harvest festival, which may or may not have involved the ritual slaughter of infant children, and its merger with the Christian holy days of All Saints and All Souls, emerging from the melting pot of American society as something new and old, traditional and commercial. Many thanks to Joe from the 80 Days - An Exploration...

The founders of Western Civilisation, the Classical Greeks were strong believers in the existence and capabilities of the supernatural. Their epic poems and plays featured Gods, Goddesses, and spirits aplenty, and mythical heroes were often attributed fantastic knowledge and power. As time went on, Greek writers began to distinguish between different types of magic, and their acceptability.   This...

The Persian Empires of antiquity were vast and powerful, and many of their subjects were devout Zoroastrians - a monotheistic religion that worshiped Ahura Mazda and abhorred his opposite, the evil Ahriman. Ahriman was the creator of all the impurity of the world, including the powers of witchcraft. Yet despite this zealous hatred of magic, the priesthood of Zoroaster, the Magi, gave the west an i...

Magic and religion was inseparable in the first human civilisations of the Fertile Crescent and the Nile. The Gods were active in the world, and could be bargained with and sometimes commanded by humans. But what was one mans legitimate prayer was his enemy's witchcraft, and all manner of natural events were blamed on the supernatural shenanigans of evil men. This episode primarily makes use of th...

Today's episode is on how the news of the ruthless prosecution of the Templars in France was received by three distinct rulers - Edward II of England, Denis I of Portugal, and regent Amaury of the Kingdom of Cyprus. We see how, by and large, the main deciding factor for how the Templars are treated are the domestic situations in each of these countries. This episode primarily makes use of the foll...

The Iron King, Philip the Fourth, is well deserving of the title. As we see this episode, he let nothing get in the way of his ambitions. Italian merchants, Jewish moneylenders, even the Pope, all would be crippled by the French king for the crime of standing in his way. This fate also awaited the Knights Templar; for political and financial gain, Philip seized on unsubstantiated rumours and stron...

The Knights Templar, or the Poor-Fellow Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, are a fascinating example of how too much success can be a bad thing. Rapidly abandoning the 'Poor-Fellow' aspect of their name, the Templars grew into a vast land-owning organisation with enormous wealth, ignoring the growing anger and discontent against their privileges. Once they lost the 'Temple of Solomon...

John Calvin's role in the history of Geneva is hotly debated to this day, and the city gained a reputation for cruel and excessive witchtrials. We discover exactly how terrible these trials were, and whether or not Calvin deserves the blame for Geneva's attitude towards witchcraft. We also consider the events to the east of the republic, where the greedy motivations of a tyrannical lord resulted i...

The last great Scottish trial under the reign of James Stuart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The North Berwick Witch Hunt | The Exile of Earl Bothwell | Newes from Scotland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The bloodsoaked early years of James VI's reign Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James VI of Scotland had one hell of a tough time getting married... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many of the witch hunters at the head of the worst trials were convinced of the existence of the Witches' Sabbat, a blasphemous gathering of sorcerers that met with the Devil, took part in demonic orgies, and planned their terrible crimes. Suspected witches were tortured into admitting they attended these sabbats, and then were tortured into naming the people they had seen there. The idea of the s...

The deadliest trials of the Early Modern Period were also the ones with the greatest number of young victims. Children as young as seven are recorded as being tortured and executed for the crime of witchcraft. Fleeing the city was not enough; extradition was actively sought for those suspected of the crime, and it was often granted. Prince-Bishop Phillip Adolf von Ehrenberg, the 'Iron Bishop', led...

In this episode, we examine two of the more brutal and violent witch panics in all of European history; Fulda between 1602 and 1606, and Bamberg, between 1626 and 1632. Both ruled by Catholic clergy-lords, one a Prince-Abbot and the other a Prince-Bishop, they reigned over substantial territories, and their word was law. So when they began trials against suspected witches, they rapidly escalated t...

Here we begin with the events themselves. Today we look at a case of slander in Rothenburg ob de Tauber, which ended relatively peacefully and no one was burnt as a witch, and then contrast it with the Trier Witch Trials, which were not at all peaceful and involved hundreds of people being burnt as witches. I do love a good contrast!   This episode primarily made use of the following texts, among...

The witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries are, by far, the reason for many of the stereotypes of witchcraft. The belief in witch cults was rife throughout the educated classes of Christendom, and when combined with the desperate anger of starving peasants and townsfolk these beliefs spread fire and destruction on an unprecedented scale. This is the Century of Fire, when innumerable men, wome...

The Malleus Maleficarum, the 'Hammer of the Witches', was the lifes work of Papal Inquisitor Henricus Institoris, who held a particular hatred of witchcraft and those who practiced it. For him, witchcraft was the fruit of female sexuality and the corrupting influence of the Devil, only occasionally finding men guilty of the crime. His work was either a seminal work on witchcraft theory, or a fabri...