Satan and the Scots: the devil in post-Reformation Scotland, c.1560-1700

Frequent discussions of Satan from the pulpit, in the courtroom, in print, in self-writings, and on the streets rendered the Devil an immediate and assumed presence in early modern Scotland.

For some, especially those engaged in political struggle, this produced a unifying effect by providing a proximate enemy for communities to rally around.

For others, the Reformed Protestant emphasis on the relationship between sin and Satan caused them to suspect, much to their horror, that their own depraved hearts placed them in league with the Devil.

Exploring what it meant to live in a world in which Satan's presence was believed to be, and indeed, perceived to be, ubiquitous, this book recreates the role of the Devil in the mental worlds of the Scottish people from the Reformation through the early eighteenth century.