ABSTRACT
Even after John Darrell faded from view, the legacy of his exorcism ministry continued to shape theological discourse in early seventeenth-century England. Despite the efforts of the English episcopacy, demonic possession and clerical exorcism continued to materialise throughout the countryside. Following a series of high-profile cases, the episcopacy decreed that verifying demonic and supernatural phenomena required a greater burden of proof than ever before. To avoid further controversy, they restricted clerical dispossession. In this period, the Church of England established a series of ecclesiastical and judicial precedents that effectively redefined the conceptual parameters of English Protestant demonology.
Chapter Eight outlines the immediate aftermath of the Darrell Controversy, along with the ecclesiastical and demonological reform that were implemented because of it. Focus is placed on the Mary Glover (1602) and Anne Gunter (1605) demonic possessions, presenting these cases as examples of the shifting nature of English demonological policy. This chapter also details the impact that King James VI & I enacted on this ongoing demonological debate, highlighting the factional conflict that emerged within the Church of England following his coronation. Finally, the introduction and impact of Canon 72 of the Church of England is analysed, articulating Darrell’s role as a catalyst for spiritual and ecclesiastical reform within English Protestantism.
