James I Impact On Society

On the 19th day of June 1566, a man named James Charles Stuart VI of Scotland was born to be King of Scotland James VI and later King of England James I. His birth and ascension to the throne changed the future of his family and the English Monarchy by his disdain for parliament (Wormald 1). Not only would he lay the seed of Monarchical dissent with the death of His son, Charles I, and the Establishment of The Commonwealth of Cromwell, but would leave the trail for the “Glorious Revolution” to occur, where the Parliamentarians and nobles preferred a foreign King than King James II, the grandson of King James I, they were serving before. At only the Age of one year old, James became king of Scots when his Mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was
forced to abdicate her role. The reason for her abdication of the Scottish throne was due to disdain of her marriage to James, Earl of Bothwell, who was thought to be the Murderer of Jame's father. who James IV was known as minority leader, one who is a child, for many years as King of Scotland. To lead in his stead, as he was too young to lead anybody, he had many Regents (Bell 2). Early in his reign, a civil war dragged on until 1573 where English troops assisted James' Army during the Siege of Edinburgh (Wormald 5). Early during his true rule as The King of Scotland, he had to deal with a large group of Presbyterians vying for control over Scotland, and until then he could not have full control.
His main opponent was a man named Andrew Melville who threatened his power as king. This conflict caused riots in Edinburgh and intrigue from Queen Elizabeth of England, who thought of James as a rival. In 1582 a group of Protestant nobles were able to kidnap him until he was able to escape just the next year (“James I” 1). All during this time, he was taught as a scholar and became very knowledgeable from his tutor named George Buchanan, known as “one of the best-known scholars in the period” (Bell 2). Eventually, James VI of Scotland was able to retake full control of his own country and established State control over the Presbyterian Church (“King of Scotland James VI”
3). In the year 1589, King James married Anne of Denmark and shortly after succeeded the English throne in 1603 after the death of Queen Elizabeth I ( “King of Scotland James VI” 3). King of Scotland, James VI, now James I, found it challenging to lead his own country with little understanding of it's culture and parliament. His most controversial opinion was his belief of “Divine Right” which had little space for a parliament that would limit his power. One of his first diplomatic affairs was to bring peace with Spain in 1604. He then Authorized a new Translation of the Holy Bible which he would name after himself. This would become the best selling book ever produced in the hundreds of years that it was printed and received as very popular with both Protestants and Baptists along other Pauline Christians. Throughout his role as King Of England, he had issues with the Scottish Presbyterians again when they clashed in 1617. As a Calvinist, he preferred the English church over his Presbyterian, Scottish counterparts. Catholics, though, had less of a hard time than they did with Queen Elizabeth before Him. Even still, he did execute many Catholics during his reign (which would not help later schisms within England) (Wormald 16). One of the most well known Catholic issues was the “Gunpowder Plot” in which a group of Roman Catholics led By Guy Fawkes attempted to assassinate King James I of England and as many parliamentarians by exploding “36” (“Gunpowder Plot” 1) barrels of black powder during the opening of Parliament on November 5, 1605. Their plot was discovered and Guy Fawkes was arrested and later executed for his crimes along with many of his associates on January 31st, 1606. In 1604 Parliament would refuse his Claim as King of a United Britain and left him as king of England, as he wished to stay as king of Scotland while Ruling in England. His conflict with the parliament would grow ever hotter when the Commons in 1607 refused James' Union with Scotland, which King James was quite fond of.(“King of Scotland James VI” 7). This, in essence denied him his wish of Uniting both England and Scotland as one Union, which he dearly negotiated for. This conflict came to a peak when he tried to dissolve the Parliament in 1611, where he was successful in his attempts. ( “King of Scotland James VI” 9) He did not reinstate the Parliament until 1621. This would have heavily angered both nobles and members of the House of Commons as they believed the were the ones to check the king's own power. Without a parliament, the King can do what he wishes without petition except levy taxes. The idea of representative taxation was a very popular and fundamental idea for the English people. They would resist and taxation that was not levied by the Parliament. Especially if the Nobles(each had a seat in the House of Lords) did not have a say, they would not give him money this would be a common theme among the Stuarts and the Glorious Revolution. Discontent from your own Lords and nobles is not a healthy state, and is a state where civil war is only a breath away.
Eventually, in 1621, he gave in and Brought back parliament to request tax money for His son in law's activities in the Thirty Year's War. In doing so, James abolished many monopolies and The parliament voted to Impeach his lord Chancellor, Francis Bacon (“King of Scotland James VI” 9). King James' involvement in the Thirty Year's war was a blunder which made him lose allies without directly involving England as a nation. When his kinsman and protestant ally, Frederick V of Spain, Lost land in Bohemia, James Did not assist and damaged his relationship with both the Holy Roman Empire and Spain (Wormald 17). He never did directly engage in the War, but he did leave an effect on the
war. King James would later die in 1625 leaving his Heir Charles I to inherit his reign as Both King of England and Scotland. (“James I” 3) His legacy is that of relative peace, but conflict with his own government. The British have a long history of government changes and rules, but their parliament is one with the highest respect by most citizens. This body helps limit the power of The King from being absolute, which the Lords and common people did not wish to happen. The Magna Carta was a document that separated powers, gave people some rights, and showed a direction for the Kingdom as a whole. This document was the founding stone for the British people from the 1200's onward as foundation to check their government. King James I did something that other kings did not dare to do, and that was to challenge the Power of parliament and try to dismantle it bit by bit. The only that truly stopped him from doing so, was the people's refusal from paying taxes not levied by Parliament. One of the major powers of the parliament was the power to levy taxes, which the king could not do due to the phrase “no taxation without representation” which was coined over one hundred years after James' reign. His rebel like behaviour was spread to his son who tried to Dissolve the Parliament which in doing so Caused the English Civil war that caused the execution of Charles I and the creation of Cromwell's “lord Protector” rule. After his death Charles I son Charles II which later brought about the Glorious Revolution that wiped out the Stuart dynasty and which brought in a foreign king to rule instead of the tyrannical Stuarts. James I's actions and influence indirectly caused the death of his son and his Dynasty and spurred more enlightenment on the idea of Monarchical powers.