King James (1566-1625) ruled Scotland from 1567, and then, from 1603, became monarch in England. His fate was described in the “Prophecies of Nostradamus” as “a life between two blocks” due to the tragic fate of the government itself and the entire Stuart dynasty.
Relations between England and Scotland: History
Relations between England and its northern neighbor are connected by centuries-old attempts at submission. The royal Stuart dynasty, which led Scotland from the late 14th century, originates from an old feudal family. Its founder was the court administrator of King Malcolm II, who had a relationship with the princess, and his son Robert subsequently became king.
All men - representatives of the dynasty - bore the name Jacob. The very first of them became king in 1406, but spent almost his entire life in captivity, and only in 1424 could the rich Scots buy him for 40 thousand pounds. Returning to his homeland, he took up the confiscation of the lands of large feudal lords and was able to conquer the clans of the mountainous regions of the country. The result of such violent political activity was his death at the hands of his own courtiers and his uncle.
Four more descendants of the Stuarts died tragically in the struggle with England, but Jacob IV managed to intermarry with Margarita, daughter of the English king Henry VII Tudor, which later allowed the Scottish rulers to claim the English crown.
Mary Stuart
The most tragic fate in the history of this family was reserved for Mary Stuart, the granddaughter of King James IV, who ruled Scotland in 1560-1567. It was she who became the mother of the future king of England, who was born in her marriage to Lord Henry Darnley. Jacob VI of Scotland was born June 16, 1566 in the castle of Edinburgh and received the name James. Shortly afterwards, his father G. Darnley died in an explosion organized by the conspirators at his house in Kirk-o'Fild on February 10, 1567.
Mary Stuart, with the help of her associates, declared herself a contender for the English throne, but was defeated. When her son James was one year old, she was captured and was imprisoned in the castle of Loch Leuven, where on July 24, 1567 she renounced the crown in favor of her son. After 20 years, she was executed by decree of Queen Elizabeth Tudor.
Accession to the throne, period of regency
James, at the age of 1 year, was declared king under the name Jacob VI of Scotland. Since childhood, during the move from one castle to another, he was accompanied by mentors, thanks to whom he received an excellent education. The boy was fluent in Latin, French and Greek, composed poetry, published his first book anonymously at the age of 16, and wrote theological and philosophical treatises. However, his health was poor due to the ongoing stressful situation, until the age of 7 he hardly walked, but lay and read more. He grew up unfriendly and suspicious, but later his favorite pastime was deer hunting, where he could spend all the time in the saddle.
During the years of his growing up in the state, many regents were replaced: Lennox, J. Erskine, Mar, J. Douglas, Earl Morton and others. Under the latter, Protestantism was introduced in the country. The king led his party, and supporters of M. Stuart, who was held captive by Elizabeth, formed the "Queen's Party", dreaming of returning her to the throne.
All the young years of the life of King James VI passed under religious strife and conspiracy between radical Protestants, led by Count Angus and W. Rutven, and conservative Catholics, led by Count Huntley. At 12, the king was captured, but then his regent was accused of treason and executed. The "party war" ended only after the capture of Edinburgh in 1573, after which the supporters of M. Stuart swore allegiance to King James VI.
At age 13, Jacob appointed his cousin, Catholic Esme Stuart, as Lord Chancellor under the name of the Duke of Lennox, who came from France, where he left his wife and 5 children. According to some reports, the young king already had a weakness for men, and Lennox captivated him with his romantic tales of the French court. During these years, the Jesuits came to Scotland; a gradual rapprochement with the neighboring states of Europe was outlined in politics.
Upheaval
At age 14, the king declared himself an adult and ruled with the participation of the Lord Chancellor. However, the main political forces (Catholic conservatives and radical Protestants) continued to sort things out and conspire. The local clergy strongly criticized the king, and another coup took place in 1582: the Scottish Protestant lords captured Jacob VI and forced Lennox to leave the state under threat of death. However, a year later, the king managed to escape and return to power.
Subsequent political events were associated with the name of Count Arran, who led the Scottish government, crushing the rebellion of the Protestant radicals. The Black Acts were approved, which condemned Presbyterianism in the church, and a military-political alliance was concluded with Edinburgh. In 1584, Protestants again returned from exile with the assistance of England, led by Count Argus, after which King Jacob Stewart was forced to put him at the head of a new radical government.
For all the years of rule, the Scottish king learned to maneuver in politics, but did not forget about his own interests. This became a feature of his further political actions.
Peace with England
In 1586, a peace treaty was concluded on mutual assistance and alliance with Queen Elizabeth of England, which was necessary for the survival of the country. For this, Scotland received financial subsidies and the right to inherit the English throne. The execution of Mary Stuart, who spent all these years in captivity, became a test of the strength of the relationship between the two states. This measure was necessary for the tranquility of both countries.
The king of Scotland took this event wisely and calmly as a state, because an alliance with a southern neighbor promised security to the country's borders.
For the period of the Anglo-Spanish War of 1587-1604. and the reflection of the invasion of the Great Armada - a flotilla of Spanish ships - the mobilization of the armed forces of Scotland was announced. The victory over the Spaniards was crushing: 60 ships were sunk, many ships were thrown to the coast due to a storm.
Marriage with Anna Danish
In 1589, the Scottish king James VI married Anna of Denmark, the daughter of Frederick II, King of Denmark and Norway. The wedding was held by proxy in Copenhagen. The Queen lingered in Oslo due to storms, and an impatient groom rode out to meet her. On November 23, the wedding took place, and the newlyweds lived together in Norway for several more months.
On May 17, 1590, Anna was crowned and became Queen of Scotland. She was a cheerful and charming young woman, however uneducated, she spent most of her time playing games with her maids of honor. Marital relations, initially warm and cordial, gradually became cool. Anna preferred to live in her residence in Greenwich, the couple rarely met and lived separately, Queen Jacob called "with his heart." For several years of marriage, 7 children were born, three of whom survived, ensuring the future legal succession to the throne: Henry, Karl and Elizabeth.
Life at court was courteous, the queen gave balls, loved the theater, music, which caused discontent among the Protestants and the clergy, which was aggravated after her transition to the Catholic faith.
Interest in theology and witchcraft
Having great knowledge in sciences and languages, the future king of England, Jacob, after a visit to Denmark, where the “witch hunt” flared up during these years, became interested in studying witchcraft and magic. Due to the delay in the Queen’s arrival in Scotland, women were executed in the country who were accused of obstructing Anna’s arrival.
The young monarch wrote an independent path called "Demonology", where he opposed witchcraft. Moreover, he was personally present at the execution and supervised the torture suffered by women accused of witchcraft.
Also in Denmark, he became interested in research and visited the observatory of the scientist-astronomer Tycho Brahe on the island of Vienna. Jacob even dedicated poetry to him, admiring the talent and systematic high-precision observations.
Scotland Independence
Despite rapprochement with England, King Jacob supported his powerful friends in Scotland, but severely suppressed the rebellion of the Protestants. He did not oppose the growing influence of the Presbyterians, while supporting the Puritans. In 1592, Jacob signed an act of the Scottish Parliament on the reform of the church towards Presbyterianism. The last act of the struggle against the church was a campaign in 1594, together with the reformer E. Melville and ultra-protestants against the Catholic counts from the northern lands, which ended with their expulsion from the country and confiscation of property and possessions.
The years of the reign of the king of Scotland were associated with constant danger and anarchist performances of noble families. Jacob dreamed in his country to create absolute power, which was the reason for his writing in 1597-1598. two books in which he examined the religious foundations of the monarchy.
King Jacob's book, The True Law of a Free Monarchy, contains a political theory about the absolute power and divine right of kings. In accordance with this concept, the king is above all people, can establish his own laws, but he must respect traditions and God. Another book, The Gift of the King (Basilicon Doron), presents state management instructions written for 4-year-old Prince Henry.
During these years, the issue of succession to the throne came to the fore for Jacob, because Elizabeth was aging, very sick, she had no children. In recent years, she found a favorite of Count Essex, who in 1599 was declared a traitor and put under arrest. After one attempted coup in 1601, he was beheaded.
Jacob leads the kingdom of England
In March 1603, the dying Queen of England Elizabeth declared the Scottish monarch her heir. After her death, the Privy Council proclaimed Jacob Stuart king of England, France, and Ireland.
First of all, ascending the throne, he gave the decree on the destruction of the castle, in which his mother was kept in prison for many years. Then the body of Mary Stuart was transferred to the royal tomb of Westminster Abbey.
In the first year, the king maintained a balance between the two religious camps of England - Catholics and Protestants, who gathered at a conference in Hampton Court. However, already in 1604, James I of England became an intermediary between the Church of England and the radical Puritans. The latter wanted to accept the new edition of the Bible, and the king not only gave his consent, but also oversaw the translation process. The book was completed by 1611 and called the “Official Version”, which later became mandatory in the performance of religious rites.
The next conference ended with Yakov getting angry at the representatives of militant Puritanism, after which 102 representatives of this church fled to Holland, and then to America.
During these years of reign, the English king James I instituted laws against Catholic conformism, to which they responded with attempts to assassinate his life. The most famous was the Gunpowder plot of 1605, when in the basement of the parliament the conspirators hid the barrels of gunpowder, but they were discovered in time, and the organizer Guy Fox was put to death.
In a desire to reconcile both religions, Jacob followed his motto and wanted to become a king-peacemaker, for this purpose he tried to unify the laws of England and Scotland.
Relations with Europe gradually improved: in 1604, the 15-year war with Spain was over. To save the world, King of England Jacob I gave his daughter Elizabeth as Elector of the Palatinate Frederick V and signed the accession to the Protestant Union.
After coming to power, the king of England tried to improve the financial support of his family with the permission of the parliament, but here they began to blame him for extravagance, especially when the debt increased to 600 thousand pounds. Clarification of monetary relations with parliament lasted several years.
Villiers Board
In 1612, his treasurer and loyal secretary R. Cecil died, and a representative of the Howard family took his place. During the years of their sovereignty, the king’s debt greatly increased, and the whole country was shocked by loud scandals. In 1618, this position was taken by J. Villiers, who later became the new favorite of Jacob. For several years he advanced in his career, received the title of Duke of Buckingham (1623) and became an almost complete master of England.
In the same years, Jacob had a conflict with parliament, which he then dissolved in 1614 and then until 1621 he ruled without him.
In 1620, England was drawn into the war when Elector Frederick, together with his wife, daughter Jacob, was in exile. In 1624, with the participation of the Duke of Buckingham, the convened parliament voted in favor of the war with Spain. Money was raised for a military expedition, but it all ended in defeat.
In March 1625, King James of England died at the age of 57, and his son Charles, who almost immediately married a French princess, ascended the English throne. After 24 years of rule, in 1649, he was overthrown during the English bourgeois revolution and executed.
The role of Jacob I in the unification of states
The English king James I became the first monarch to rule two states on the British Isles at once. Before him, England and Scotland existed separately, as sovereign powers.
Attracting representatives of the middle class, the king was able to completely get rid of aristocratic coups and aspirations for power and ensured a single government in the state. Thanks to his encouragement of trade and production, industry appeared in Scotland (weaving, sugar and glass production, coal mining, etc.). During the reign of Jacob I was able to maintain peace in the country and supported it for 40 years; internecine conflicts and duels were banned, judicial reform was carried out, which had a beneficial effect on the development of the state.