King James VI of Scotland published Daemonologie, a philosophical dissertation on contemporary controversies about sorcery and witchcraft. The work defended the reality of witchcraft against skeptics and provided theological justification for persecution, reflecting the king's personal experiences with alleged witch conspiracies.

Daemonologie served as a primary source for Shakespeare's Macbeth and influenced the broader literary treatment of witchcraft in Jacobean drama. The king's authoritative voice on supernatural matters legitimized certain depictions of witches while constraining others, affecting how poets and playwrights approached these themes.