James I of England

James I of England was King James VI of Scotland before succeeding his cousin Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1603.¹ He ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland as James I of England, James VI of Scotland for 22 years until his death on March 27, 1625.²

James I became King James VI of Scotland at the age of one when his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots abdicated the Scottish throne. As James VI of Scotland, he permitted Parliament to establish Presbyterianism in Scotland and negotiated peace between warring Scottish clans.

Upon Elizabeth I's death in 1603 James VI become King James I of England, King James VI of Scotland.⁷ James' belief in the Divine Right of Kings, which held kings answerable only to God, was at odds with Parliament and laid the foundation for the English Civil War.

Solider and munitions expert Guy Fawkes was discovered guarding about twenty barrels of gunpowder in the cellar of the Palace of Westminster on the morning of November 5, 1605. Fawkes and a radical group of English Catholics hoped to assassinate James I and many members of the Protestant aristocracy by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening. Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators were tried and executed for treason in late January 1606.⁸

A 2005 British television special, The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend, recreated the events of the conspiracy. The show destroyed an historically accurate reproduction of the Palace of Westminster using the same amount of gunpowder as the original plot. The resulting blast would have killed everyone in Lords chamber, sent debris raining in a 100 meter radius and would have been heard as far as five miles away.⁹

James I wrote many texts during his reign, including a blistering treatise on the dangers of tobacco use written long before the negative effects of tobacco were widely known.¹⁰

• 1585: The Essays of a Prentise, in the Divine Art of Poesie
• 1591: His Majesty's Poetical Exercises at Vacant Hours
• 1597: Daemonlogie
• 1598: The Trew Law of Free Monarchies
• 1599: Basilikon Doron
• 1604: A Counterblaste to Tobacco
• 1607: Apology for the Oath of Allegiance

1. History of the Monarchy: James VI and I

2. BBC History: James I, King of England, VI of Scotland

3. BBC History: James I, King of England, VI of Scotland

4. BBC History: James I, King of England, VI of Scotland

5. MSN Encarta: James I of England

6. History of the Monarchy: James VI and I

7. History in Focus: Elizabeth I and James VI and I

8. The Gunpowder Plot Society: The Gunpowder Plot

9. Times Online: Gunpowder Plotters Get Their Wish, 400 Years On (October 31, 2005)

10. The New Yorker: Up in Smoke (November 21, 2005)