Magic as a Political Crime in Medieval and Early Modern England: A History of Sorcery and Treason

Description

Treason and magic were first linked together during the reign of Edward II. Theories of occult conspiracy then regularly led to major political scandals, such as the trial of Eleanor Cobham Duchess of Gloucester in 1441. While accusations of magical treason against high-ranking figures were indeed a staple of late medieval English power politics, they acquired new significance at the Reformation when the ‘superstition’ embodied by magic came to be associated with proscribed Catholic belief. Francis Young here offers the first concerted historical analysis of allegations of the use of magic either to harm or kill the monarch, or else manipulate the course of political events in England, between the fourteenth century and the dawn of the Enlightenment. His book addresses a subject usually either passed over or elided with witchcraft: a quite different historical phenomenon. He argues that while charges of treasonable magic certainly were used to destroy reputations or to ensure the convictions of undesirables, magic was also perceived as a genuine threat by English governments into the Civil War era and beyond. Cover Title Copyright Contents Preface Abbreviations Chronology Introduction Histories of Magic as Political Crime Studying Magic as Political Crime Defining Magic Magic and Witchcraft Magic and Treason Structure of the Book 1. ‘Compassing and Imagining’: Magic as a Political Crime in Medieval England John of Nottingham and the Plot Against Edward II Magic and the Statute of Treason Application of the Statute of Treason The Case of Eleanor Cobham Magic in the Wars of the Roses The Reign of Henry VII Conclusion 2. Treason, Sorcery and Prophecy in The Early English Reformation, 1534–58 The Tudors and the English Reformation Prophecy and Treason Magic and Treason at Court The Reigns of Edward VI and Mary Conclusion 3. Elizabeth versus The ‘Popish Conjurers’, 1558–77 The Elizabethan Reformation The Accession of Elizabeth The Fortescue Conspiracy The 1559 Bill against Sorcery, Witchcraft and Buggery The Waldegrave and Pole Conspiracies The Burning of St Paul’s The 1563 Act Against Conjuration and Witchcraft The Abduction and Trial of John Story The Case of Rowland Jenks Conclusion 4. ‘A Traitorous Heart to the Queen’: Effigies and Witch-Hunts, 1578–1603 Effigy Magic John Dee and the Wax Effigies Leicester’s Witch-Hunt Vincent Murphyn’s Conspiracy The 1580 Act for Suppressing Seditious Words and Rumours ‘Anabaptistical Wizards’ Elizabeth’s Last Years Magical Treason in Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part Two Conclusion 5. ‘A Breach in Nature’: Magic as a Political Crime in Early Stuart England, 1603–42 James VI and Magical Treason James’s English Reign The Case of Sir Thomas Lake Magical Treason in the Plays of Shakespeare The Poisoning of JamesI Towards Civil War 6. The Decline of Magic as a Political Crime, 1642–1700 Political Magic in the English Civil Wars Interregnum and Restoration: The Decline of Magical Treason Witchcraft and Treason England and the ‘Affair of the Poisons’ Treason without Magic: The Popish Plot Magic and Politics Part Company Echoes Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index