King James 1st of England and 6th of Scotland

On the throne from 1603 -1625. Wrote a book on witches and

witchcraft called ‘Demonology’. He was obsessed with witches.
In 1589, he sailed to Denmark to collect his new bride and
bring her back to Scotland. On the return journey, there was
a storm and the ship nearly sank. James was convinced that
witches in Scotland had made spells to try to kill him by
sinking the ship. On his return, he initiated the North Berwick
Witch trials where men and women were on trial for treason
and witchcraft. This led to the death of 70 of the accused.

The Gunpowder Plot 1605

A group of extremists called Jacobins stored many barrels of

gunpowder under the House of Parliament and were about to
blow the building up with James inside. Guy Fawkes on of the
extremists was caught as he was about to light the barrels.
The play was first performed within 12 months of this event.