Keep Shakespeare Weïrd: Fates, Weirdness, And Weyward Women! The 1603 coronation of James I united England and Scotland under one ruler. James was fascinated by witches; he presided over many 16th-century witch trials and published a 1597 treatise about witch-hunting (Daemonologie). James was reportedly descended from the Scottish thane Banquo, though this story was apparently …