How people felt about the supernatural and witchcraft in the Jacobean England?
It was controversial, to say the least! Some people didn’t believe in it, claiming that it was all superstition. Others took it very seriously, including the King himself, James I, who wrote and published a book about witches and demons, arguing that they were real and a serious danger to the public. Witchcraft had been illegal since 1563, and James was concerned that the law wasn’t being enforced strongly enough. After his publication, witchcraft became a hot topic of public discussion and debate. Pamphlets were produced, telling stories about witchcraft and possession, some of which were based on the “confessions” of alleged witches and some of which were almost certainly fake. Plays, which were a very popular entertainment at the time, also made use of witches – the most famous is Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but there are many others. It was believed that witches had the power to curse people: to destroy crops or livestock, cause disease, and even bring on miscarriages and the death of s
