The Demoniac-Exorcist: Richard Rothwell and the Dispossession of John Fox in Early-Seventeenth-Century England

Abstract

Abstract:The demonic possession of Nottingham man John Fox and his dispossession by Puritan minister Richard Rothwell (c. 1563-1627) remains as one of the few possession cases in early modern England not to be the subject of any serious scholarly inquiry. These events are solely covered in The Life of Master Richard Rothwel, a brief biographical work written by his pupil Stanley Gower (c. 1600-1660) that appears in certain editions of Samuel Clarke's prolific Lives series. As depicted in this work of Godly biography, Rothwell's life is characterized by perpetual conflict with demonic temptation, and it is this experience that establishes his exceptional credentials as a spiritual healer. Remarkably, Rothwell underwent a demonic possession prior to his exorcism of John Fox and this notion of a demoniac turned exorcist is unparalleled in the English context. This article hence examines the textual construction of Rothwell's lifelong conflict with temptation and, for the first time in the scholarship, brings to light his dispossession of John Fox. Importantly, Rothwell's appearance in Clarke's Lives series indicates that dispossession by prayer and fasting remained a fundamental spiritual practice for many English Protestants (especially Puritans) following the John Darrell Exorcism Controversy and the subsequent enactment of Canon 72 of the Church in England (1604). Through situating Rothwell's perpetual battle with temptation and his dispossession of Fox within the broader historical context, this article justifies his inclusion alongside many of the other great Puritan ministers and exorcists of this period.