Session 3

For the primary source exercise I used MEMSO to access medieval sources.

Statutes of the Realm. Volume 4 Part 1 [1547-1585], p. 53 Volume 4.1 (1547 – 1585)
This seems to be a documentation of the acts passed in parliament by King James I of England. The act which would relate to my dissertation subject would be “An Act against conjuration of witchcraft and dealing with evil and wicked spirits”
(https://sources-tannerritchie-com.ezproxy-s2.stir.ac.uk/browser.php?ipid=203698)
If I have understood this source correctly, then it would back up the argument that James I of England did not leave the ‘witch-craze’ behind him in Scotland as some scholars have claimed. Instead, a law went through parliament in London which forbid any relations to witchcraft etc. Although, it would be expected for such a law to be in place as the witch hunts were trending across Europe at the time.

The secondary sources I have found, until now, are books in my collection that I’m certain to have access to. The rest, such as primary sources, I plan to gain access to online from archives etc. Hopefully there will be opportunities to gain access to archives physically when it comes to write the dissertation.
Additionally, I intend to use the universities E-books in the library catalogue.

Breverton, Terry. Brevertons Phantasmagoria – a Compendium of Monsters, Myths and Legends. Quercus Publishing Plc, 2011.

Davies, Owen. Grimoires: a History of Magic Books. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Goodare, Julian. Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

HUTTON, RONALD. The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present. NEW HAVEN; LONDON: Yale University Press, 2017.

Institoris, Heinrich, and Christopher S. Mackay. Malleus Maleficarum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Lipscomb, Suzannah. A History of Magic Witchcraft & the Occult. New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2020.

Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. Witchcraft: a History. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus, 2004.

Reid, Alexander George. Annals of Auchterarder and Memorials of Strathearn. Theclassics Us, 2013.

The National Archives
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/early-modern-witch-trials/

One thought on “Session 3”

  1. On asking tutors expert in this field they first of all pointed out that your reference isn’t correct as p.53 of that volume relates to Edward and they couldn’t track down the reference to that particular act – could you check this and try again? It’s important that references are accurate

    They also pointed out that ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ is a primary not a secondary source

    If you wish to compare James’ behaviour in Scotland and England in this issue, you probably need some primary sources on Scotland and the tutors pointed out this database: https://www.shca.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches/

    For secondary sources we all really strongly suggest you use the Bibliography of British and Irish History and make sure that all your sources are suitably scholarly

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