Ignorant person here:

I always had a high respect for James of Bible translation fame. He seemed to be one of the more 'enlightened' ones (hereditary rulers of the islands). Then I learned he'd been quite the witch hunter, which meant witch believer-in. More Christian wisdom ground into dust for me.

But we'd been making a mess of Salem, MA. And the 'don't let witches live' business is apparently in the Old Testament, although I haven't checked up on the history of THAT happy little instruction.