For centuries, witches have fascinated, terrified, and divided societies — from broomstick-riding figures of folklore to the victims of brutal persecution. But how did our ideas of witches take shape, and why did belief in their powers grip whole nations?
In this exclusive webinar, historian and author Steven Veerapen explores the origins of witch beliefs, the witch panics of the late 16th and 17th centuries, and the practices used to accuse, torture, and condemn suspected witches. Drawing on documents and the latest research, Steven traces the story from King James VI and I’s role in fuelling witch trials to the eventual decline of witch-hunting across Britain and Europe.
Join us for a gripping journey through history that reveals how fear, faith, and politics combined to create one of the most chilling phenomena of the early modern world.
About the speaker
Steven Veerapen was born in Glasgow to a Scottish mother and a Mauritian father and raised in Paisley. Pursuing an interest in the sixteenth century, he was awarded a first-class Honours degree in English, focussing his dissertation on representations of Henry VIII’s six wives. He is the author of The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life of James VI and I, and lives in Glasgow.
