Discovery of Witchcraft. . . . by Reginald Scot
This month’s featured text is Discovery of vvitchcraft by Reginald Scot. Scot was born around 1538 in Kent. He attended Hart College in Oxford but never received a degree. He was twice married and had a daughter from his first marriage. He seemed to have had interest in many topics, among them agriculture. In addition to Discovery of Witchcraft, Scot also wrote the first known English treatise on hop farming. Scot died in 1599.

Discovery of Witchcraft was the first English treatise written that attempted to expose conjurers and defend the unfortunates who were tried for witchcraft. Scot contended that the accusations of witchcraft brought against an individual oftentimes were supported by gossips, wayward servants or heretics who would not be believed in any other circumstance. He ridiculed the methods, such as torture, used to expose witches. He comments on the irony of torture; if an individual is tortured and confesses to being a witch, they are indeed a witch. If tortured, however, and the individual doesn’t confess, it must mean they don’t feel pain and are therefore a witch. In spite of some individuals who disapproved of Discovery of Witchcraft, such as King James VI, many were in agreement with Scot. In later years, his work was influential in changing or abolishing laws related to witchcraft.

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