Portrait: AI-generated imagined likeness
Monarch · Writer · Poet
A monarch who was King of Scotland and King of England. The Stuart dynasty was founded by the union of the crowns, and they advocated the divine right of kings. He is a person who reads the early modern British state.
View in catalogEdinburgh
Birth
London
Work
The True Law of Free Monarchies
1598
Book
Union of the Crowns
1603
Political event · Leader
Early Stuart monarchy
1603–1625
Political event · Leader
Map: Natural Earth (PD)
He was born in Edinburgh to Mary Stuart and became King of Scotland at an early age. He stood between Scotland after the Reformation and England, which was facing succession issues.
In 1603, he succeeded Elizabeth I as James I of England. Despite tensions with the parliament and religious conflicts, he ruled the three kingdoms through a coalition of princes.
James I was a scholarly king and wrote works on kingship and the devil. The image of an intelligent monarch coexisted with a view of royal authority that led to conflict with parliament.
When we study James I, we can see the pre-Revolutionary history of England, where the absolute monarchy and parliamentary politics collided. It provides the basis for understanding state formation during the mercantilist period. It can also be used for comparison with surrounding areas from the same era.
