ABSTRACT
John Darrell, the Puritan exorcist, has been a greatly misunderstood historical figure. Darrell has traditionally been portrayed in the historical narrative as a failed law student and charlatan who, seeking fame, instructed a number of vulnerable individuals to feign demonic possession. The English Exorcist offers a different interpretation, forwarding that Darrell’s demonology and theological conceptualisation of Protestant exorcism had profound repercussions in early modern England.
A reinterpretation of Darrell’s legacy, as The English Exorcist has provided, is revealing, as it demonstrates the influence that this figure played on the development of early modern English Protestant demonology and ecclesiastical polity. The Conclusion reiterates the central arguments made throughout The English Exorcist, illustrating the powerful historical legacy of John Darrell. Not only did Darrell reconcile demonic possession with English Protestant piety, but he established a demonological model that addressed the prevailing spiritual anxieties of this period. Through his corpus of demonological treatises, Darrell brought demonic possession and witchcraft to the forefront of English spirituality. Ultimately, the Darrell Controversy was instrumental in shaping English Protestant demonology and established the required clerical response to the ever-present threat of demonic affliction.
