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I am currently researching King James I - this is for a sequel to my paranormal romance novel, Witch Hunter's Moon, which is currently with LUNA Books, which dealt with the early days of the notorious witch hunts in Scotland.
King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) (1566-1625)
- Son of Mary, Queen of Scots and Darnley
- He had a lonely, isolated childhood and a physical deformity that gave him an unsteady gait resulting in many accidents and injuries, a tongue too large for his mouth that made him dribble and slur his words. He suffered from extreme pain from crippling arthritis, abdominal colic, gout and kidney stones. On the death of Queen Anne he suffered severe depression.
- He was well educated, well-read and an intelligent man. Was said to be an intellectual King but a poor statesman.
- Crowned King of Scotland after his mothers abdication in 1567, he was aged 13 months.
- He was brought up as a Scottish Presbyterian though his mother was Catholic
- 1589 Married Anne of Denmark when he was 23, she was 15
- They had 3 sons and 4 daughters
- Became King James I of England on the death of Queen Elizabeth I,
- He was the first of the Stuarts
- He was responsible for the Unicorn of Scotland being incorporated in the royal coat of arms.
- He believed in the 'divine right of the King', maintaining the King was above the law (this became the downfall of his son, Charles I)
- His high personal ideals did not flow into his statesmanship. His reign was troubled, his court favorites ill-chosen and extravagant which roused lots of animosity.
- 1605 he and his government were the target of catholic sympathisers in the failed Gunpowder Plot which brought a new wave of anti-Catholicism
- Small religious groups found little tolerance leading to the Puritan demands for Elizabeth I Church settlement. The Pilgrim Father's 1620 departure for America on the Mayflower, and the 1611 printing/publishing of the Authorised Version of the Bible - a landmark for religion in England and literature. It eclipsed all past and future version and is still the best-selling book of all time.
- He was a prolific writer and many were among the most important and influential British writings of their period. (Basilicon Doron - he wrote as a manual for his son on what it took to be King and his duties to God that despite the secrecy and the fact that only 7 copies were printed, news of it got out and in the end demand for it was so great that the King released it for general publication and it became a best seller in English, Welsh, Latin, French, Swedish, and German for over 50 years.)
- Was rumored to be a homosexual though this is disputed, many historians admit that he was more than likely bisexual - his close relationships to male partners including Esme Stuart, Earl of Lennox, and Francis Stewart Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, and George Villiers being some involved in the rumors surrounding the King. This spawned the saying -"Elizabeth was King, now James is Queen" leading to a label 'queen' often applied homosexuals to this day.
- He was responsible for the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh at the behest of Spain on a charge that was thirteen years old.
- He was patron to William Shakespeare
- He was the first monarch to unite Scotland England and Ireland into Great Britain - a name he coined.
- He was one of the few monarch to die peacefully in his bed, and pass Royal power on, in tact, to his adult son (King Charles I)
http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/king-james.html
www.houseofstuart.com
www.kingsandqueensofengland.com
