Pendle: Potts

TWEW the judges involved in Potts’ account?

• They ordered him to write it

• Bromley checked and corrected it before it was published

• Both took great interest in production and may have written sections

Why did they want to trial published?

• so public would know what happened

• to show James how well they had done (personal gain to advance careers)

How could Potts be seen as reliable?

• Authorship declared → felt his views would be accepted

• Rich detail

• paints picture of how legal system worked → judged would want to show they followed the system

• Many witnessed trial (including Potts)

• Was educated and knew legal system well

Why does Potts have limited reliability?

• selective representation of legal process

• First trials in England to employ continental ideas favored by James → perhaps used to prove he was “Right”

• Work dedicated to Thomas Knyvet (stopped Guy Fawkes) → anti-Catholic ideas and was high up in court

• Said he would “idealize” the account

• He had no skepticism

In what way is Potts unreliable?

• The account was carefully crafted to echo James’ Deamonologie
  -Potts turned account and trial into ideal example of Jacobean ideas and law codes → appealing to James outright

• Omitted many details and added distorted comments