Today's monarch is the first of House Stuart! James I, an often overlooked but deeply fascinating ruler. The "Most educated fool in England," James I was a renaissance man in a time of great turmoil... he is remembered as a successful king in Scotland, but a bumbling fool in England. How did this happen? The story is interesting... religious hatred! Debauchery! GUNPOWDER PLOTS! The Reign of the Stuarts had come!
- Was born in 1566, and was a very weird confluence of 3 royal houses. His mother, Mary, was the queen of the Scots. His father, Lord Darnley, AND his mother were both great-great grandchildren of Henry VII of England, his mother through England, his father through Ireland. This made him the heir of all three realms. (No pressure or anything.)
- His very birth was controversial. His mother, though Catholic, refused to let the priest, who she called "That pocky priest" spit in James' mouth, (which though disgusting, was the custom at the time.) The entertainment for the guests from France and England was a pagan dance of Satyrs, which raised more than a few eyebrows.
- The next year, the bumbling fool Lord Darnley, James's father, was murdered by way of a bomb. Everyone, including the DOGS, knew that Mary and her lover, the Earl of Bothwell, had done the dirty deed... but nothing could be proven. Mary then married the Earl, and the Scots had had enough. Mary was overthrown, fled to England, and was imprisoned there. Scotland now belonged to 13 month old James VI.
- Although his parents had been Catholic, James was raised in the Protestant (Calvinist) faith of the Scots by his regents and advisers.
- Was a precocious child. His tutors did not allow him to have a whipping boy... (This was SCOTLAND, after all.. not poncy England!) And James received regular beatings in his youth. This appears to have done the job, as he soon became a fervently driven student, excelling in his studies and developing a love for literature and writing.
- Grew up in a climate of war, murder, and treachery. His mother escaped, and waged a civil war to retake the throne, she was recaptured. His regents were poisoned, ousted, executed on false charges, or "disappeared," as the Scottish court boiled and churned following the ousting of Mary. England was a constant threat, held at bay only by the fact that Elizabeth I was James' godmother.
- At 15, his latest regent was ousted by his father's cousin, Esme Stewart, Earl of Lennox. Lennox took over as regent... and this was when the real problem started. It would seem that young James was more interested in men than women. The Earl, well known for his fondness for boys, was more than happy to instruct and guide the young King. The Calvinist Scots were horrified, but James was infatuated with Lennox. Their public displays of closeness scandalized the Scottish courts. In a daring raid, some Scottish noblemen captured James and Lennox, imprisoned James, and exiled Lennox from Scotland. This is how James VI reached his majority... from then on, he would be king in his own right.
- Now in charge, James battled the Calvinist church. His "Black Acts" tried to replace Calvinist councils with bishops under his control. This was met with open hatred and defiance, and James was forced to concede. Even so, James and his advisers managed to bring things under control, ending the decades of infighting and bringing some solidarity to Scotland. James was young and popular with the lower classes, and he left most of his governance to councils, which made the Calvinists happy.
- Was turning out to be a rather crafty and ruthless lord. He owed money to the Ruthven family. When he refused to pay up, Lord Ruthven rather surprisingly physically assaulted him when he was alone with his page, John Ramsay. Though Ramsay was able to kill Ruthven, he suffered a grievous wound himself and died quickly. This left only James to relate the tale of the assault... conveniently. Since Ruthven had assaulted the King, the family was penalized by having to forfeit the debt. James walked away scot free.... (no pun intended.)
- At 20 years old, James was informed that his mother had lost her head to Elizabeth I. He called this a "preposterous and strange procedure." Elizabeth apologized profusely, naming James as her heir. This seems to have suited James just fine, and he allied with England, signing his letter to Elizabeth "Your natural son and compatriot of your country."
- Was publicly hailed and praised for his chastity, since it was clear he did not entertain women nor flirt with them at all. *cough, cough.* Still, a marriage had to be arranged... Anne of Denmark was the 'Lucky' girl chosen. When her boat was caught in a storm and had to turn back, James made a HUGE production of taking his own boat and "braving the elements" to fetch his "beloved" betrothed. (James loved drama.) They were married eventually, and though James had a proclivity for men... his love for his wife seems to have been genuine. They had three children, Henry, Elizabeth, and little Charles.
- Had a strange obsession with witchcraft and persecuting "witches." For about 4 years in his late 30s, he personally oversaw the torture and execution of witches in Scotland. He also wrote a book about the evils of witchcraft. (James was a prolific author.) This book would later serve as the inspiration for Shakespeare's "MacBeth." This witchcraft mania would grow, even after James lost faith in it. It would go on to create mass hysteria across Europe and the New World, now known as the "Witch Trials."
- James also had an obsession with combating paganism in Scotland and the surrounding islands. He wrote books about the "Barbarous practices of heathens," and sent soldiers to put down these communities in the Hebrides, and many other pocket communities of the realm. These books would later become the inspiration for "The Wicker Man," a book/film in the 20th Century.
It also led to the near destruction of most of the old Gallic languages in Britain.
- James's most well known book was "The True Law of Monarchs," in which he explains that kings have authority from the Almighty himself. He called this "The Divine Right of Kings." While most British people thought this was hogwash, James believed in it wholeheartedly. He believed that Parliament existed to suit the King's needs, not the other way around. He declared that Parliament would not convene unless he called it. While this worked in Scotland, the English Parliament had no intention of following THAT particular rule.
- Became something of a patron saint for the Literary Renaissance in Great Britain. He used much of his money to patronize the arts, especially in the fields of writing and poetry.... his spending was a huge problem, and Parliament was constantly scrabbling to cover his debts.
- At the age of 37, James became king of England. He was now James the VI of Scotland and James I of England. He was amazed at the wealth and finery of England, and though he had promised to return to Scotland every 3 years, he promptly forgot he had made that promise. He bought a lavish house on his way to London, and proclaimed that "Scotland was like a stony rock that I have replaced with the feather bed of England." The English accepted him with open arms, as they were relieved there had been no civil war around this succession, as there had been under so many others before James.
- Still, there were many who did not like the idea of a Scottish Family running England. Lord Cobham and Sir Walter Raleigh (yes, the tobacco guy,) were both executed after plotting to kill James. James seems to have been unfazed by this, and worked hard to bring the two realms together. Though Parliament would not let him be LEGALLY called the "King of Great Britain," he used the title anyway. He tried hard to get the two realms to play nice with each other, but it was an uphill battle in every way.
- Was an avid huntsman, who often disappeared for days on spur of the moment hunting adventures... (often with young and virile men...)
- Ended the wars in Ireland and Spain that Elizabeth had started. He was a peacemaker, but Spain and Ireland both demanded that Catholics were to be treated better in England. As powerful as James was, he couldn't change public opinion, and Catholics were still bitterly oppressed during this time.
- On the 5th of November, 1605, a radical Catholic named Guy Fawkes was discovered beneath the halls of Parliament, along with three dozen kegs of gunpowder. Fawkes and his conspirators had planned to blow up the King, the Queen, and Parliament in one fell swoop, in order to bring Catholicism back to prominence in Great Britain. Though Fawkes and his friends were caught and brutally drawn and quartered in public, this set off a wild campaign of hatred and persecution towards Catholics in England. Guy Fawkes day is still celebrated to this day.
- His relations with Parliament continued to deteriorate. He was convinced that he had God on his side, and that he was superior to the common man due to his education. When Parliament refused to give him money one time, he publicly chastised them, saying, ""I will not thank where I feel no thanks due... I am not of such a stock as to praise fools ... You see how many things you did not well ... I wish you would make use of your liberty with more modesty in time to come." This high handed arrogance did not endear him to the English, Parliament least of all.
- Parliament, sick of James' personal habits and spending, put him on a yearly allowance. This infuriated James, who felt it was Parliament's JOB to find money for any and everything he wanted to do.
- Hated tobacco. He wrote an entire book on how evil tobacco was... but, he wanted to see how well it would do based on its logic alone... so he wrote it under a pen name. It didn't sell... in fact, it was openly mocked in public as a stupid and insipid piece of prattle. Enraged, James reissued it under his own name, and made smoking illegal for a time. (This was, of course, not enforced.)
- Famously held a meeting in which he demanded that Henry VIII's "Great Bible" be updated to match new ecclesiastical laws in Great Britain. This would, of course, lead to the King James Bible, which you've seen if you ever stopped in an American hotel for the night.
- Wound up in the middle of a fight with Parliament over two things... The marriage of his son Charles, and the 30 Years' war. The Protestants like Sweden and the Lutherans expected James to enter the war on their side, as most of Parliament and Scotland wanted to. James was opposed to another war, hoping to keep up his good relations with Catholic Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor. This caused no end of complaining and anger on both sides of the argument, and James found himself battling Parliament again, especially the Puritans, who were ALL about war and Protestantism. Prince Charles attempted to force the issue by stealthily entering Spain to marry the young Princess himself... but was shocked to find out that she detested him. Charles returned empty handed. When Parliament found out that not only had the royals went behind their back, but had also embarrassed themselves in the process, they were FURIOUS with Prince Charles. (this would later come back to haunt him when he became King.)
- By now, James' oldest son had died of Typhus, and he STILL hadn't been back to Scotland. When he finally did return, he only did so to try to force the Scottish people to accept Anglicanism as their state religion. Needless to say, this went over like a lead-lined balloon. When James left his visit, Scotland was in an uproar and fighting a religious civil war of its own. This also would come back to haunt young Charles.
- James's sexual appetites were also becoming legendary. He was now OPENLY bisexual, and was often in the company of George Villiers, a handsome and well built courtier. The English people were known to say, "Elizabeth was our king, now James is our queen!" Villiers became more and more powerful in the court, as James lavished him with power and wealth, naming him the Duke of Buckingham. This disgusted and infuriated the Puritanical Parliament, and there was, for a time, even talk of giving James the same treatment old Edward II had been given.
- Now visibly aging, James I was wracked with Kidney stones, arthritis, and bouts of fainting. Though only 50, he was said to have looked far more aged. Villiers, his boyfriend, never left his side, and nursed the dying king as best as he could.... James held on for another decade, but his years of debauchery and excess had caught up with him. He had a major stroke and died in 1625, at the age of 60. Villiers was at his bedside, and the people of England openly mourned James. As bull headed and high handed as he was, it seems that England was going to miss the man they called the "Most Educated Fool in England."
Charles, his youngest son, stepped into his father's role as King... he now faced an openly hostile Parliament, a financially struggling kingdom, and religious warfare boiling just across the channel.
- Was born in 1566, and was a very weird confluence of 3 royal houses. His mother, Mary, was the queen of the Scots. His father, Lord Darnley, AND his mother were both great-great grandchildren of Henry VII of England, his mother through England, his father through Ireland. This made him the heir of all three realms. (No pressure or anything.)
- His very birth was controversial. His mother, though Catholic, refused to let the priest, who she called "That pocky priest" spit in James' mouth, (which though disgusting, was the custom at the time.) The entertainment for the guests from France and England was a pagan dance of Satyrs, which raised more than a few eyebrows.
- The next year, the bumbling fool Lord Darnley, James's father, was murdered by way of a bomb. Everyone, including the DOGS, knew that Mary and her lover, the Earl of Bothwell, had done the dirty deed... but nothing could be proven. Mary then married the Earl, and the Scots had had enough. Mary was overthrown, fled to England, and was imprisoned there. Scotland now belonged to 13 month old James VI.
- Although his parents had been Catholic, James was raised in the Protestant (Calvinist) faith of the Scots by his regents and advisers.
- Was a precocious child. His tutors did not allow him to have a whipping boy... (This was SCOTLAND, after all.. not poncy England!) And James received regular beatings in his youth. This appears to have done the job, as he soon became a fervently driven student, excelling in his studies and developing a love for literature and writing.
- Grew up in a climate of war, murder, and treachery. His mother escaped, and waged a civil war to retake the throne, she was recaptured. His regents were poisoned, ousted, executed on false charges, or "disappeared," as the Scottish court boiled and churned following the ousting of Mary. England was a constant threat, held at bay only by the fact that Elizabeth I was James' godmother.
- At 15, his latest regent was ousted by his father's cousin, Esme Stewart, Earl of Lennox. Lennox took over as regent... and this was when the real problem started. It would seem that young James was more interested in men than women. The Earl, well known for his fondness for boys, was more than happy to instruct and guide the young King. The Calvinist Scots were horrified, but James was infatuated with Lennox. Their public displays of closeness scandalized the Scottish courts. In a daring raid, some Scottish noblemen captured James and Lennox, imprisoned James, and exiled Lennox from Scotland. This is how James VI reached his majority... from then on, he would be king in his own right.
- Now in charge, James battled the Calvinist church. His "Black Acts" tried to replace Calvinist councils with bishops under his control. This was met with open hatred and defiance, and James was forced to concede. Even so, James and his advisers managed to bring things under control, ending the decades of infighting and bringing some solidarity to Scotland. James was young and popular with the lower classes, and he left most of his governance to councils, which made the Calvinists happy.
- Was turning out to be a rather crafty and ruthless lord. He owed money to the Ruthven family. When he refused to pay up, Lord Ruthven rather surprisingly physically assaulted him when he was alone with his page, John Ramsay. Though Ramsay was able to kill Ruthven, he suffered a grievous wound himself and died quickly. This left only James to relate the tale of the assault... conveniently. Since Ruthven had assaulted the King, the family was penalized by having to forfeit the debt. James walked away scot free.... (no pun intended.)
- At 20 years old, James was informed that his mother had lost her head to Elizabeth I. He called this a "preposterous and strange procedure." Elizabeth apologized profusely, naming James as her heir. This seems to have suited James just fine, and he allied with England, signing his letter to Elizabeth "Your natural son and compatriot of your country."
- Was publicly hailed and praised for his chastity, since it was clear he did not entertain women nor flirt with them at all. *cough, cough.* Still, a marriage had to be arranged... Anne of Denmark was the 'Lucky' girl chosen. When her boat was caught in a storm and had to turn back, James made a HUGE production of taking his own boat and "braving the elements" to fetch his "beloved" betrothed. (James loved drama.) They were married eventually, and though James had a proclivity for men... his love for his wife seems to have been genuine. They had three children, Henry, Elizabeth, and little Charles.
- Had a strange obsession with witchcraft and persecuting "witches." For about 4 years in his late 30s, he personally oversaw the torture and execution of witches in Scotland. He also wrote a book about the evils of witchcraft. (James was a prolific author.) This book would later serve as the inspiration for Shakespeare's "MacBeth." This witchcraft mania would grow, even after James lost faith in it. It would go on to create mass hysteria across Europe and the New World, now known as the "Witch Trials."
- James also had an obsession with combating paganism in Scotland and the surrounding islands. He wrote books about the "Barbarous practices of heathens," and sent soldiers to put down these communities in the Hebrides, and many other pocket communities of the realm. These books would later become the inspiration for "The Wicker Man," a book/film in the 20th Century.
It also led to the near destruction of most of the old Gallic languages in Britain.
- James's most well known book was "The True Law of Monarchs," in which he explains that kings have authority from the Almighty himself. He called this "The Divine Right of Kings." While most British people thought this was hogwash, James believed in it wholeheartedly. He believed that Parliament existed to suit the King's needs, not the other way around. He declared that Parliament would not convene unless he called it. While this worked in Scotland, the English Parliament had no intention of following THAT particular rule.
- Became something of a patron saint for the Literary Renaissance in Great Britain. He used much of his money to patronize the arts, especially in the fields of writing and poetry.... his spending was a huge problem, and Parliament was constantly scrabbling to cover his debts.
- At the age of 37, James became king of England. He was now James the VI of Scotland and James I of England. He was amazed at the wealth and finery of England, and though he had promised to return to Scotland every 3 years, he promptly forgot he had made that promise. He bought a lavish house on his way to London, and proclaimed that "Scotland was like a stony rock that I have replaced with the feather bed of England." The English accepted him with open arms, as they were relieved there had been no civil war around this succession, as there had been under so many others before James.
- Still, there were many who did not like the idea of a Scottish Family running England. Lord Cobham and Sir Walter Raleigh (yes, the tobacco guy,) were both executed after plotting to kill James. James seems to have been unfazed by this, and worked hard to bring the two realms together. Though Parliament would not let him be LEGALLY called the "King of Great Britain," he used the title anyway. He tried hard to get the two realms to play nice with each other, but it was an uphill battle in every way.
- Was an avid huntsman, who often disappeared for days on spur of the moment hunting adventures... (often with young and virile men...)
- Ended the wars in Ireland and Spain that Elizabeth had started. He was a peacemaker, but Spain and Ireland both demanded that Catholics were to be treated better in England. As powerful as James was, he couldn't change public opinion, and Catholics were still bitterly oppressed during this time.
- On the 5th of November, 1605, a radical Catholic named Guy Fawkes was discovered beneath the halls of Parliament, along with three dozen kegs of gunpowder. Fawkes and his conspirators had planned to blow up the King, the Queen, and Parliament in one fell swoop, in order to bring Catholicism back to prominence in Great Britain. Though Fawkes and his friends were caught and brutally drawn and quartered in public, this set off a wild campaign of hatred and persecution towards Catholics in England. Guy Fawkes day is still celebrated to this day.
- His relations with Parliament continued to deteriorate. He was convinced that he had God on his side, and that he was superior to the common man due to his education. When Parliament refused to give him money one time, he publicly chastised them, saying, ""I will not thank where I feel no thanks due... I am not of such a stock as to praise fools ... You see how many things you did not well ... I wish you would make use of your liberty with more modesty in time to come." This high handed arrogance did not endear him to the English, Parliament least of all.
- Parliament, sick of James' personal habits and spending, put him on a yearly allowance. This infuriated James, who felt it was Parliament's JOB to find money for any and everything he wanted to do.
- Hated tobacco. He wrote an entire book on how evil tobacco was... but, he wanted to see how well it would do based on its logic alone... so he wrote it under a pen name. It didn't sell... in fact, it was openly mocked in public as a stupid and insipid piece of prattle. Enraged, James reissued it under his own name, and made smoking illegal for a time. (This was, of course, not enforced.)
- Famously held a meeting in which he demanded that Henry VIII's "Great Bible" be updated to match new ecclesiastical laws in Great Britain. This would, of course, lead to the King James Bible, which you've seen if you ever stopped in an American hotel for the night.
- Wound up in the middle of a fight with Parliament over two things... The marriage of his son Charles, and the 30 Years' war. The Protestants like Sweden and the Lutherans expected James to enter the war on their side, as most of Parliament and Scotland wanted to. James was opposed to another war, hoping to keep up his good relations with Catholic Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor. This caused no end of complaining and anger on both sides of the argument, and James found himself battling Parliament again, especially the Puritans, who were ALL about war and Protestantism. Prince Charles attempted to force the issue by stealthily entering Spain to marry the young Princess himself... but was shocked to find out that she detested him. Charles returned empty handed. When Parliament found out that not only had the royals went behind their back, but had also embarrassed themselves in the process, they were FURIOUS with Prince Charles. (this would later come back to haunt him when he became King.)
- By now, James' oldest son had died of Typhus, and he STILL hadn't been back to Scotland. When he finally did return, he only did so to try to force the Scottish people to accept Anglicanism as their state religion. Needless to say, this went over like a lead-lined balloon. When James left his visit, Scotland was in an uproar and fighting a religious civil war of its own. This also would come back to haunt young Charles.
- James's sexual appetites were also becoming legendary. He was now OPENLY bisexual, and was often in the company of George Villiers, a handsome and well built courtier. The English people were known to say, "Elizabeth was our king, now James is our queen!" Villiers became more and more powerful in the court, as James lavished him with power and wealth, naming him the Duke of Buckingham. This disgusted and infuriated the Puritanical Parliament, and there was, for a time, even talk of giving James the same treatment old Edward II had been given.
- Now visibly aging, James I was wracked with Kidney stones, arthritis, and bouts of fainting. Though only 50, he was said to have looked far more aged. Villiers, his boyfriend, never left his side, and nursed the dying king as best as he could.... James held on for another decade, but his years of debauchery and excess had caught up with him. He had a major stroke and died in 1625, at the age of 60. Villiers was at his bedside, and the people of England openly mourned James. As bull headed and high handed as he was, it seems that England was going to miss the man they called the "Most Educated Fool in England."
Charles, his youngest son, stepped into his father's role as King... he now faced an openly hostile Parliament, a financially struggling kingdom, and religious warfare boiling just across the channel.