“THE fearefull aboundinge at this time in this countrie, of these detestable slaues of the Deuill, the Witches or enchaunters, hath moved me (beloued reader) to dispatch in post, this following treatise of mine, not in any wise (as I protest) to serue for a shew of my learning & ingine, but onely (mooued of conscience) to preasse / thereby, so farre as I can, to resolue the doubting harts of many; both that such assaultes of Sathan are most certainly practized, & that the instrumentes thereof, merits most severly to be punished: against the damnable opinions of two principally in our age, wherof the one called SCOT an Englishman, is not ashamed in publike print to deny, that ther can be such a thing as Witch-craft…”

So begins the preface of Daemonologie, an exposition written by King James I of England, stating his belief in the existence of supernatural forces. Shakespeare is believed to have drawn from Daemonologie as well as another book of the era, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, when he wrote Macbeth, which is well-known for its incorporation of supernatural elements.

During the Jacobean era when King James I and William Shakespeare lived, belief in ghosts, witches, and other supernatural powers was common. People believed to be witches were thought to have “familiars,” or demonic servants that took the form of animals, often pets such cats, dogs or frogs. Witches were purportedly able to fly, control the winds, and cast spells that sickened animals and withered crops. Unexplained illnesses were sometimes diagnosed by doctors as “unnatural,” or caused by witchcraft. Belief in the supernatural was so strong that many witch trials were held and conviction often merited a death sentence.

In 1597, King James authored Daemonologie to, as is stated in the preface, “resolve the doubting hearts of many…that such assaults of Satan are most certainly practiced.” Daemonologie consists of three sections and unfolds in the form of a dialogue between two characters. One, Epistemon, believes in witchcraft, while the other, Philomathes, is doubtful. Each section discusses a different type of sorcery, including witchcraft, spirits and magic. Over the course of the exposition, Epistemon successfully convinces Philomathes of the existence of supernatural elements.

Scholars believe King James’s personal interest in witch-hunting piqued after severe storms threatened the safety of his ship as he and his wife were traveling by sea from Denmark. The king was certain witches had conjured the storm, and many scholars believe the incident was the king’s impetus for his heightened interest in witch-hunting.

Not everyone who lived during the Elizabethan era believed in the existence of the supernatural, and Daemonologie may have partly been written in response to skeptics of the time. Prior to the publication of Daemonologie, Reginald Scot in 1584 authored The Discoverie of Witchcraft, which condemned the practice of witch hunting. Scot was skeptical of witchcraft and he argued it was often poor, lonely elderly women who were accused of being witches. When James was crowned King of England in 1603, he mandated all copies of Scot’s book be burned.