Magic as a Political Crime in Medieval and Early Modern England

Francis Young is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and gained a PhD in history from the University of Cambridge. He is the author and editor of seven previous books. These include English Catholics and the Supernatural, 1553-1829 (2013), The Gages of Hengrave and Suffolk Catholicism, 1640-1767 (2015), The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds: History, Legacy and Discovery (2016) and A History of Exorcism in Catholic Christianity (2016). He broadcasts regularly for the BBC on historical topics.

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 119
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 James I
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’
vi Magic as a Political Crime
Treason without Magic: The Popish Plot
Magic and Politics Part Company
Echoes
Conclusion