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James I (1566 – 1625)
James I of England is also James VI of Scotland, his
succession to the throne of England, united the crowns of Scotland and
England and began the illustrious Stuart dynasty.
 James
was born on 19th June 1566, in Edinburgh Castle, the only son of Mary
Queen of Scots, who was forced to abdicate and had to abandon her son
when he was just 13 months old, while James’ father, Robert Darnely,
was murdered before he was one. James was raised a Protestant, (his
mother was Catholic) by a succession of regents, many of whom were
assassinated.
When James took power in Scotland
he sought to establish control of the various religious factions and
set about repressing Catholic rebels. He also built alliances with England,
offering Elizabeth I support and maintained Scottish neutrality when
the Spanish Armada threatened England. When Elizabeth died childless,
the throne of England was granted to James, her second cousin.
James was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey
in 1603, though this united the crowns of England and Scotland the two
nations remained separate entities until a century later.
But
James found himself an outsider in the English court, his expenditure
brought him into conflict with parliament, who refused to raise taxes
and his belief in the divine right of Kings, that the King was chosen
by God and should be granted absolute rule, was regarded as
dictatorship. James dissolved parliament on a number of occasions,
ruling by himself, but each time had to reconvene parliament when he
ran out of money.
There were also a number of
religious issues in court and a number of plots to assassinate the
King. The most famous of these was the Gunpowder plot of Guy Fawkes, a
plot by Catholic dissenters to blow up the House of Lords as parliament
and the King gathered for the State Opening in 1605. The plot was
foiled and the event is still remembered each year in the Britain with
on November 5th, when fires are lit and an effigy of Guy Fawkes is
burnt.
James’ legacy included the translation of the
Bible into English - the King James Bible, which has become the
standard text for some 250 years. In 1607, the settlement of Jamestown
was established in Virginia Colony in America. But the most pressing
legacy left by James I, was the depth of mistrust and ill feeling felt
between parliament and the monarchy, that under James’ successor
Charles I, would lead to Civil War.
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