Suzannah Lipscomb TV - Michael Wood - David Dimbleby TV - Lucy Worsley TV - Fergal Keane TV - Simon Schama TV - Francesco da Mosto - King James I - The Last Days of Guy Fawkes TV - Revealed: The King's War on Witches TV - Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents TV - Clare Jackson TV -
Witch hysteria was infecting mainland Europe. Hundreds had already been executed as witches; tens of thousands would follow. The violence, fear and hysteria spreading across Europe were largely as the result of one incendiary book: Meleficarum. Suzannah Lipscomb, Witches: A Century of Murder I, Channel 5 2015
James saw himself as a highly intellectual King ... In James’s mind there was now clear evidence that an international satanic conspiracy was out to kill him. And there was only one way to stop them. ibid.
The King’s personal involvement in the trials gave witchhunting the royal stamp of approval. ibid.
In 1603 James VI of Scotland was also crowned James I of England. England had little experience of mass witch trials. That all ended with James I. ibid.
In March 1625 it rang out to the death of the old king, King James. Michael Wood, The Great British Story VI: A People’s History 6/8: The Age of Revolution, BBC 2012
James actually believed he was as a god. He told his parliament, Even God calls kings god. David Dimbleby, Seven Ages of Britain, Age of Revolution, BBC 2010
James was convinced of his God-given right to rule. Dr Lucy Worsley, Fit to Rule: How Royal Illness Changed History I, BBC 2013
James was making little effort to be discreet about his affair with Buckingham. ibid.
January 1591, Edinburgh: A woman is about to be executed. Her crime? She is a witch. She’s been interrogated and tortured and now she’ll be strangled and burnt at the stake. How did the execution of this woman light the fuse on a century of witchhunts across Britain, and the state-sanctioned killing of thousands more like her? Lucy Worsley Investigates I, BBC 2023
The withhunting craze that swept the country 400 years ago began here just along the coast from Edinburgh in the small seaside town of North Berwick … This was a time when everyone believed in witchcraft. ibid.
James I/VI: What better way to prove that you are a righteous and godly king than to triumph in a face-off with witches. ibid.
A sense that something was going wrong and somebody must be to blame. ibid.
King James I would plant thousands of Protestant settlements on the lands of the exiled Gaelic lords. Fergal Keane, The Story of Ireland 3/5: The Age of Revolution, BBC 2010
At James’s coronation he was dressed resplendently. Simon Schama’s Shakespeare II: Hollow Crowns, BBC 2012
The King’s Men performed at court. Shakespeare was now much closer to the throne. ibid.
King James was pursuing a ferocious campaign against witchcraft. Francesco da Mosto, Shakespeare in Italy II: Land of Fortune BBC 2012
I can make a Lord, but only God can make a gentleman. King James I
The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth; for Kings are not only God’s lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God himself they are called gods. James I, speech to parliament 21st March 1610
The King is truly parens patriae, the politique father of his people. ibid.
I will govern according to the common weal, but not according to the common will. James I, December 1621
In the early hours of 5th November 1605 King James I of England came face to face with a young man who had tried to kill him. That man had been discovered just hours from blowing up the Houses of Parliament and with it King James himself. His name was Guy Fawkes. The Last Days of Guy Fawkes I, Channel 5 2015
Guy listened as Catesby revealed a breathtaking plan. ibid.
The plotters had been betrayed. ibid.
The plot had finally been busted only hours from success. ibid.
Guy Fawkes is taken to the Tower of London. ibid.
Four hundred years ago one man launched a crusade against the forces of darkness. That man was King James, the first ruler of both Scotland and England. He believed that Satan and a conspiracy of witches were trying to kill him. Revealed: The King’s War on Witches, Channel 5 2012
He had powerful enemies and he had been abandoned as a baby. ibid.
Witches were believed to be allies of Satan and his demons. ibid.
James’s book Demonology had recently been republished. ibid.
The self-styled Witchfinder General [Hopkins] arrested and tortured as many as three hundred women across eastern England. ibid.
The last execution for witchcraft in England was in 1682. ibid.
James has a reputation for being obsessed with the occult, for promiscuity and extravagance. Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents III, BBC 2017
The priest behind the kidnap plot is hunted down by Cecil’s men. ibid.
A year into his reign King James begins to reveal the scale of his ambitions. ibid.
Cecil’s doubts about union are shared by the English parliament. ibid.
A splinter cell in the Catholic underground: it contains five young men, among them a mercenary Guy Fawkes. John Gerard has just set in motion the gunpowder plot. ibid.
Cecil can connect Percy to the men he thinks are behind the plot. ibid.
The first King of all Britain: is name is James, and if his early years were traumatic, they were only a taste of what was to come for his remarkable family. In the coming century seven members of this dynasty will rule the three separate kingdoms. Dr Clare Jackson, The Stuarts I: And I Will Make Them One Nation, BBC 2018
James made his official entry into London in early 1604. ibid.
Ireland was James’s Catholic kingdom. ibid.