James I was personally terrified of
witches as he believed a group of them had raised a
storm to try and
drown him, and then had made a
wax image of him to make him
sicken and
die. These
women were
beaten to make them confess, they finally did and were
executed.
James I got parliament to pass the following law:
"If any person shall use any invocation or conjuration of any evil or wicked spirit; 2. or shal consult, convenant with, entertain, employ, feed or reward any evil or cursed spirit to or for any intent or purpose; 3. or take up any dead man, woman or child out of the grave, - or the skin, bone, or any part of the dead person, to be employed or used in any manner of witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or enchantment; 4. or shall use, practice or exercise any sort of witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or enchantment; 5. whereby any person shall be destroyed, killed, wasted, consumed, pined, or lamed in any part of the body; 6. that every such person being convicted shall suffer death."