King James I of England and VI of Scotland

Born 19 June 1566, Edinburgh Castle, Scotland - Died 27 March 1625, Theobalds House, Hertfordshire, England

On 24 March 1603, Queen Elizabeth I of England died after a long reign, unmarried and childless. Her funeral was on the 28th of April, 1603, and accordingly, James, through his hereditary rights as next in line of succession, was on his way to London to take the throne of England as James I. At all costs, coming south, he avoided appearing in public; overnight, he stayed at the home of Oliver Cromwell, the uncle of the infant nephew who would sign the death warrant for the execution of James’s son, Charles. James was the King who united the crowns of England and Scotland, but not the two kingdoms. That was to come a century later. He was to rule over a divided Protestant church despite his efforts to unite the English church with the Kirk, the Scottish counterpart, through the King James Bible.

James made his way to England to take up his crown, but not before Elizabeth's body had been buried. That was the protocol, avoiding any act that might diminish the honour and dignity attaching to the English queen, so that English subjects could mourn their sovereign without conflicting loyalties. Despite the embittered feeling between the Scots and the English, it is surprising how swiftly and without much fanfare, the English crowd received their foreign king, certainly downplaying any signs of adoration. The English court that greeted the king, however, was full of suspicion and mistrust.

King James I, a Pius man and a staunch protestant, came to the throne of England at the age of 36, and had been married in 1590, to Anna, the sister of the Danish king Christian IV, with one son Henry, the King that never was, who unfortunately at the age of 18 died of illness after a swim in the Thames. James’s daughter, Elizabeth, married Frederick, Prince of a German Palatinate, later crowned King of Bohemia and Queen of Bohemia, but they were to suffer greatly at the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War of 1618. James also had his youngest son, Charles. Well, we all know what happened to him. He is, after all, the ultimate hero of our story. With the exception of a sickly disposition, he was left in Scotland; the entourage arrived at Windsor Castle with over 250 carriages and 5000 horses.

Anne of Denmark, Queen Consort

Born 12 December 1574, Skanderborg Castle, Skanderborg, Denmark - Died 2 March 1619, Hampton Court Palace, England

James and Anna were crowned in Westminster Abbey on the 25th of July 1603. An occasion that prompted a massive gathering of foreign dignitaries from Spain, France, Venice, Savoy, the Dutch Republic, Poland, and from all across the German Palatinate, as well as representatives from Persia, all in the hope of gaining England's favour, each trying to secure the diplomatic initiative.

James was often described as too passive, maybe even deceptive. His ideas were to preserve equilibrium between the European dynasties, giving them hope and no further. A rather indolent individual of inaction, promising little, he did nothing. After all, King James VI & I, the first British ruler of the Stuart Monarchy, which comprised England, Scotland, and Ireland, and indirectly France in his royal title. Indeed, the idea of Great Britain was his dream, which he hoped would take shape when he travelled across the island from Scotland to England in 1603.

He wished for a union of the two countries, their parliaments, national churches, and a single Protestant belief. Alas, such ideas were to remain elusive until the Anglo-Scottish union was negotiated in 1707 under his great-granddaughter Queen Anne. Unfortunately, at the time, influencers from both England and Scotland, as well as many Europeans, poured cold water on such ideas, especially given the traditions of mutual enmity and ill will that existed between the two peoples, and the fact that such an Anglo-Scottish connection was far too soon to be considered. As with joining the EU today, there was fear that there would be a loss of individual Scottish and English identities, laws, and influences, and above all, the loss of the Magna Carta and the burial of the honourable name of England, describing the two as “the golden beams of the sun for a cloudy day”. There was an argument about the design of the flag, the Union Jack (the name derived from Jacobus James) of Great Britain, regarding which of the crosses to take centre stage: the George Cross superimposed on the cross of St Andrew's, the Saltire, or vice versa.

To appreciate the Stuart Dynasty is to put Religion in the forefront and to understand the central role it played in the reign of James I, his son Charles I and his grandson Charles II. Religion, in many ways, affected politics and society across the three kingdoms: England, Scotland and Ireland. In this period, church and state were deeply intertwined. The monarch was expected to defend and uphold the “true religion”, but for now, each kingdom believed it held the true religion. Any hint of religious compromise could be seen as weakness or even treason. The legacy of Elizabeth did not bode well. Her legacy saw England as Protestant (Anglican), with Puritans hot on its heels to purify it and distance it from Catholicism and Popery. Scotland ended up with Presbyterianism (Calvinism), which clashed with English ceremonial episcopal Anglicanism while leaving Ireland predominantly Catholic but ruled by a Protestant elite, leading to constant tension and rebellion.

James’s argument was, “I will make them as one nation”, as the two countries are not separated by sea or great rivers; they were only divided by ideas rather than any effect, and not divided by nature. Citing Iberian parallels, with a country simply termed 'Spain' rather than the former kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal. Besides, for James, there was an added dilemma: how to govern Scotland independently of England while wearing different hats. More difficult is how to react to Spain, the Dutch, and France as King of Scotland, when one needs to adopt policies different from those emanating from being King of England. And what France and Spain expect from him as King of the two kingdoms. He was never to be granted that union.

By and large, James I was genuine in his efforts to unite the three churches of the three kingdoms. But he was walking on glass. On the one hand, how to deal with the Catholic minority without encouraging it in Ireland or upsetting Catholic Europe, rumoured to be at the point of invasion. James believed in religious uniformity under royal authority, but his dilemma centred on the fact that his Catholic subjects were tied to foreign powers like Spain and the Papacy. The next best thing he introduced was ‘Freedom of Conscience’, no prosecution for private belief, but that must be tied to the Church of England. In theory, Catholics are free to think what they like, but they must attend Anglican services. Those who refused (recusants) have to pay fines. In today’s world, this was not modern religious freedom — it was controlled toleration, subordinated to political loyalty.

The turning point was not far behind. More than anything, at this time, what destroyed any prospects of religious unity was the attempt to assassinate the King. Discovered on the night of the fifth of November, 1605, the Gunpowder Plot in effort to counter his Protestantism. There were thirty-six barrels of gunpowder about to explode that could have destroyed the entire wing of the House of Commons and would certainly have killed the King and his entire family. There followed the arrest of Catholic Guy Fawkes, hiding in the cellar, who later admitted that Jesuit priests put him up to this mischievous deed, angry that James had not relaxed the Elizabethan freedom of worship against Catholics despite his other tolerations.

James was beside himself; this incident dashed any hopes of further tolerance. The Oath of Allegiance followed in 1606, a political move which mainly denied the authority of the Pope. King over Papacy. As in the century that followed, religious belief was tolerated only so far as it did not challenge political authority. In return, the Pope issued a proclamation asking all Catholics in England to desist from swearing such an Oath. In retaliation, James barred all Catholics from living ten miles within London, and all Catholics remaining in England were to be identified as terrorists.

Here we have the seeds of religious diversity, which were to form the core of Charles I's rule.

By 1623, Prince Charles unexpectedly became heir to the Stuart thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland on Prince Henry’s death. Also by then, England was considering military intervention to oust the Catholic Spanish-led Habsburg troops that had occupied the Protestant Palatinate, where his sister and her husband, Frederick, a staunch Protestant, as I touched on earlier, had acquired the Crown as Queen and King of Bohemia. Both had fled to the Netherlands after losing a battle against Spain. An added complication here was that Charles had met the Spanish Infanta Maria Anna, the youngest daughter of King Philip III of Spain, a Catholic, whom he intended to marry. Raising the Spanish hope that Charles intends to convert to Catholicism significantly increases the chances of England and Scotland abandoning the Protestant heresy and removes the need for Papal dispensation for the marriage to take place, ending, of course, the Castilians' dislike of this heretic Prince. There was no point in letting the Infanta marry this heretic if there were not going to be improvements in the religious and political situation of Catholics in England and Scotland.

Charles I, King of England and Scotland

Perish the thought that the English public can possibly share such absurdities. Nevertheless, a betrothal between the two had been arranged, and a massive celebration was taking place in Spain. Among the presents the couple received were five camels and an elephant; these were shipped to England and kept at St James’s Park. Charles was never sure whether the Camels were a sign of confirmation of the tie or were instead a sign of the Infanta. The bombshell arrived when lovestruck Charles accepted the Pope’s dispensation, as well as the relaxing of the laws on Catholics. But the real bombshell was to follow. The Pope's dispensation included the requirement that Virginia (in America) and Bermuda be surrendered to Spain. Portsmouth, Plymouth and the Isle of Wight were garrisoned with Spanish soldiers; liberty of Conscious be imposed in England; a Jesuit college opened in England to educate the prince’s children; and, in one account, King Philip of Spain had also demanded Scotland and Wales in dowry. Hearing of this, King James nearly flipped and ordered his son to return to England immediately. Sign any treaties, but just come back. He did come back without the infanta.

Since we have Catholic Spain on our mind, here is how some in Spain observed Good Friday. It so happened, Easter, when writing this, not far behind us:

“Their heads and faces covered with ash; others with crowns of thorns and thistles, with much blood flowing from them, Others with ropes and chains around their bodies and necks, carrying crosses, with shackles and fetters on their feet, others entwined and tied up with ropes, others beating their chests with stones, and others with gags and bones of the dead in their mouths.” Extracted from ‘Devil-Land’ by Clare Jackson.

To mark Charles's return, huge festivities took place; church bells and bonfires were lit at Whitehall in celebration that he had come back on his own, and general rejoicing spread across London. While in Spain, a monument was erected extolling the glorious future of the England-Habsburg alliance, confirming the marriage. La Columna del Adios (The Column of Farewell) is a reconstruction of it, still standing in Madrid today. Ahead of the planned ceremony, the King’s Spanish court built decorative galleries, making all possible preparations for the marriage. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, they received a letter from the English royal court requesting a postponement of the marriage. This angered the Spanish, who considered it an insult; they dismantled all and wanted to cancel the marriage altogether, blaming England for the collapse of the Spanish match.

At the same time, England was demanding the restitution of Frederick and Elizabeth, but Spain, as well as the Pope, was demanding an exorbitant price for it. Primary demands for Catholic emancipation further insisted on Charles’s conversion to the Catholic faith. King James, on the other hand, was slowly giving up his timidity but considering war against Spain to secure his son-in-law and daughter’s restitution in Bohemia. The same consideration against England was being held in Spain. Bearing in mind that all this jostling about was being held in the background of what was later called the Thirty Years' War, when the Spanish and French, both Catholics, were at each other's throats.

After all, contrary to what many believe, the Thirty Years' War was far more than just about religion; it was about State supremacy, power, and territorial gains, and about seeing strength in alliances. Taking advantage of the situation and, through dynastic rapprochements, opportunistically arranging a French Bourbon marriage for Prince Charles with Louis XIII’s sister, Henrietta Maria. The French, on the other hand, opposed this out of hand, on the grounds that heretic England was in a miserable situation, without friends or reputation, only assuming glory that was not worth a dowry. Eventually, though the French downplayed their insistence that the marriage treaty would ensure freedom of conscience, they accepted that a military alliance against Spain would come later. King James signed this marriage proposal in February 1625.

James VI and I, King of England and Scotland, died on 27th May 1625, and Prince Charles, having shelved his travel to Paris to marry Henrietta Maria, attended to arranging his father’s funeral, a massive affair that would cost some £50,000. The most important legacy associated with King James is the King James Version of the Bible (KJV). A scholarly translation from Greek and Hebrew that has gradually become the standard English Bible in use today.