Copyright by Michelle Diane Brock 2012 The Dissertation Committee for Michelle Diane Brock certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The Fiend in the Fog: A History of Satan in Early Modern Scotland Committee: Brian P. Levack, Supervisor Neil Kamil Julie Hardwick Jorge Canizares-Esguerra Frank Whigham Brian Cowan The Fiend in the Fog: A History of Satan in Early Modern Scotland by Michelle Diane Brock, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August, 2012 Dedication For my family Acknowledgements In looking back over the six years of my graduate career, I am overcome with gratitude for all of the professional and personal support that I have received from family, friends, and colleagues. First and foremost, my supervisor, Brian P. Levack, has at once been an academic mentor and a dear friend. His enthusiasm for this dissertation, the remarkable amount of time he spent reading and discussing my work, and his unyielding confidence in me have been invaluable. If I have any skill as a historian, it is a product of his kind criticism and scholarly example. Neil Kamil and Julie Hardwick, from whom I took some of the most influential and enjoyable courses of my graduate career, have been instrumental in informing my ability to think critically about both primary sources and historiography. They have both also been wonderful sources of career advice and moral support over the last few years. Brian Cowan, Jorge Canizares-Esguerra, and Frank Whigham were all generous members of my dissertation committee. Their suggestions for and critiques of my project have given me much to chew on as I look towards the future. My personal debts are as vast, if not more so, than my professional ones. Jessica Shore and Anne Proctor have been my constant cheerleaders during the most challenging times of this journey. I could not have done this without them. My siblings David and Kristina have provided much needed laughter and friendship. I love and admire them both more than they know. My father, whose strength and kindness continue to amaze me, has been an inexhaustible well of encouraging words and advice. The unwavering v support of my grandparents, John and Louise Hamilton, has made my entire education possible. I can never repay them for their generosity. My mother, who passed away before I could finish this dissertation, instilled in me from a very young age a love of reading about people and their stories. She is present on every page. vi The Fiend in the Fog: A History of Satan in Early Modern Scotland Michelle Diane Brock, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Brian P. Levack This dissertation, the first comprehensive study of Satan in early modern Scotland, attempts to recreate the role of the devil in the mental worlds of Scots from the beginning of the Scottish Reformation in 1560 through the early eighteenth century. In doing so, I address three interrelated questions. First, what did Scottish men and women believe about the devil? Second, how did their demonic beliefs inform culture, individual and communal identities, and lived experience in Scotland? Last, how did Scottish demonic belief compare and relate to British, Atlantic, and European demonologies? This dissertation demonstrates that Scots of all sorts were involved in the creation of a varied but shared spectrum of demonic belief that was profoundly and consistently influenced by the theology and practice of Reformed Protestantism. Ultimately, belief in the devil produced a dynamic cultural dialogue about good, evil, and the self through which these Scots constructed individual and communal identities. Throughout the early modern period, Scottish religious, social, and political turmoil combined with the introduction of Reformed Protestant theology and an increased concern for the Apocalypse to provoke a re-evaluation of demonology. Historians have often assumed that ordinary people were uninterested in or unaware of vii these evolving ideas about Satan, due to both their illiteracy and their focus on the basic struggle to make ends meet. By investigating a wide array of sources, such as court records, diaries, and sermons, my dissertation unearths the demonological ideas not just of elites, but also of ordinary men and women whose beliefs about Satan have long been presumed unrecoverable. This dissertation thus demonstrates that elite and uneducated Scots alike engaged in a complex exchange of beliefs about the devil that reshaped Scottish demonology and engendered new ways of believing and behaving for Scots of all sorts. viii Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Reforming the Devil .................................................................... 29 Chapter Two: From the Pulpit .......................................................................... 85 Chapter Three: In the Pews ..............................................................................130 Chapter Four: The Personal Devil.....................................................................169 Chapter Five: On the Streets ............................................................................216 Chapter Six: The Devil as Master ....................................................................248 Chapter Seven: Satan and the Scots .................................................................291 Conclusion ......................................................................................................321 Bibliography ....................................................................................................328 ix Introduction This dissertation attempts to recreate the role of Satan in the mental worlds of Scots from the beginning of the Scottish Reformation in 1560 through the early eighteenth century. In doing so, I address three interrelated questions. First, what did Scottish men and women believe about the devil? Second, how did their demonic beliefs inform culture, individual and communal identities, and lived experience in Scotland? Last, how did Scottish demonic belief compare and relate to British, Atlantic, and European demonologies? This dissertation demonstrates that Scots of all sorts were involved in the creation of a varied but shared spectrum of demonic belief that was profoundly and consistently influenced by the theology and practice of Reformed Protestantism. Ultimately, belief in the devil produced a dynamic cultural dialogue about good, evil, and the self through which these Scots constructed individual and communal identities. The general topic of this dissertation will be familiar to almost any reader in the Western world. The devil—or Satan, to use his scriptural, personal name—has long captivated the imagination not just of theologians, but novelists, poets, philosophers, screenwriters, artists, and the odd cult or two. To give a quintessentially current example of Satan’s continued presence in our cultural imagination, the brief entry of “devil” into Netflix’s search bar calls up pages upon pages of movies from the last fifty years.1 A quick survey of newspaper articles discussing the various guises of political and religious fundamentalism illustrates that belief in evil, personified in Christianity by Satan, is alive 1 Some of the more entertaining titles include “God went Surfing with the Devil”; “God, the Devil, and Bob: the Complete Series”; “Devil Girl from Mars”; and “Tai Chi Devil.” 1 and well throughout the world. As recently as 2008, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum claimed that America was engaged in a spiritual war with the devil: “And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country – the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age?”2 Whether or not one agrees with Santorum, his ideas, which display surprising continuity with the individuals featured in this dissertation, provoked a political discussion about the place of demonic belief in modern society. The devil, in short, is far from a relic of an irrational or unscientific past. Conceptions of Satan and evil continue to inspire not only cultural artifacts such as horror films and art, but also personal faith and political actions. Rewind four-and-a-half centuries ago to 1560, when the Scottish Reformation was in its early throes. If the devil maintains a high profile in present society, then Satan was ubiquitous in early modern Scotland. During these years, religious, social, and political turmoil combined with the introduction of Reformed Protestant theology and an increased concern for the Apocalypse to provoke a re-evaluation of demonology. Historians have often assumed that ordinary people were uninterested in or unaware of these evolving ideas about Satan in the early modern period, due to both their illiteracy and their focus on the basic struggle to make ends meet. This dissertation demonstrates that elite and uneducated Scots alike engaged in a complex exchange of beliefs about the devil that reshaped Scottish demonology and engendered new ways of believing and behaving for Scots of all sorts. 2 As quoted in The Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/22/rick-santorum-satan-