© Richard Randall

Caribbean

Sundries

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

seven years. Faced with financial difficulties due to the failure of Parliament to approve new taxes, James sought to enter into a profitable alliance with Spain by marrying his eldest surviving son, Charles, Prince of Wales, to the daughter of the King of Spain. The proposed alliance with a Roman Catholic kingdom was not well-received in Protestant England. James' unpopularity, furthermore, was augmented by the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh. In Scotland, James was despised for his insistence on the passage of the Five Articles of Perth, which were seen as attempts to introduce Roman Catholic and Anglican practices into Presbyterian Scotland.

In 1614 James was introduced to George Villiers, then the son of a minor noble. The king became besotted, writing to him: "I desire only to live in this world for your sake...God bless you, my sweet child and wife, and grant that ye may ever be a comfort to your dear dad and husband." (Bergeron, King James, p175) James bestowed honour upon honour upon the young man, culminating with creating Villiers the Duke of Buckingham in 1623, so making him the first commoner to be elevated to a dukedom in more than a century. In 1624, fearing rivalry for Villier's affections, James wrote to him to ask: "whether you loved me now...better than at the time I shall never forget at Farnham, where the bed's head could not be found between the master and his dog."(Bergeron, ibid)

From 1618 onwards, the religious conflict known as the Thirty Years' War engulfed Europe. James was forced to become involved because his daughter, Elizabeth, was married to the Protestant Frederick V, Elector Palatine, one of the war's chief participants. He was also put under pressure to join the religious war because England, at the time, was one of the major protestant nations. When James Spanish marriage plot failed, a humiliated Prince Charles and George Villiers urged James and his parliament to go to war. From a financial perspective, James could not afford to go to war with Spain. James told parliament that if they granted him the huge subsidy of £1,000,000, he would go to war. England eventually joined the war after James had died. During the conflict between Protestants and Catholics, James' attempt to ally himself with Catholic Spain via the Spanish Marriage plot fostered much distrust.

Queen Anne died on 4 March 1619 at Hampton Court Palace and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

The third and penultimate Parliament of James' reign was summoned in 1621. The House of Commons agreed to grant James a small subsidy to signify their loyalty, but then, to the displeasure of the King, moved on to personal matters directly involving the King. Villiers, by now James' primary advisor, was attacked for his plan to have the Prince of Wales marry the Spanish Infanta. The practice of selling monopolies and other privileges was also deprecated. The House of Commons sought to impeach Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, who was implicated in the sale of such privileges during his service as Lord Chancellor, on charges of corruption. The House of Lords convicted Bacon, who was duly removed from office. Although the impeachment was the first in centuries, James did not oppose it, believing that sacrificing Bacon could help deflect parliamentary opposition. In the end, James released Bacon from prison and granted him a full pardon.

A new constitutional dispute arose shortly thereafter. James was eager to aid his son-in-law, the Elector-Palatine, and requested Parliament for a subsidy. The House of Commons, in turn, requested that the King abandon the alliance with Spain. When James declared that the lower House had overstepped its bounds by offering unsolicited advice, the House of Commons passed a protest claiming that it had the right to debate any matter relating to the welfare of the Kingdom. James ordered the protest torn out of the Commons Journal, and dissolved Parliament.

In 1623, the Duke of Buckingham and Charles, the Prince of Wales, travelled to Madrid in an attempt to secure a marriage between the latter and the Infanta. They were snubbed, however, by the Spanish courtiers, who demanded that Charles convert to Roman Catholicism. They returned to England humiliated, and called for war with Spain. The Protestants backed them and James summoned Parliament, which granted some funding for the war. Parliament was prorogued, on the understanding that it would later return to grant more funds.

Parliament, however, never actually met when scheduled. Charles had promised that even if he would marry a Roman Catholic, he would not repeal political restrictions that applied to Roman Catholics. When, however, he agreed to marry the Catholic French Princess, Henrietta Maria, he reneged on his earlier promise and undertook to abolish the same religious qualifications. Charles then ensured that Parliament did not actually meet, in order to avoid a confrontation over the diverging promises.

James lapsed into senility during the last year of his reign. Real power passed to Charles and to the Duke of Buckingham, although James kept enough power to ensure that a new war with Spain did not occur while he was King. James died at Theobalds House in 1625 of 'tertian ague' (fever one day in every three), probably brought upon by kidney failure and stroke, and was buried in the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey. Charles, Prince of Wales, succeeded him as Charles I. James had ruled in Scotland for almost sixty years; no English, Scottish or British monarch, with the exceptions of Victoria and George III, has surpassed his mark.

Legacy

Almost immediately after James I's death, Charles I became embroiled in disputes with Parliament. The disputes escalated until the English Civil War began during the 1640s; the monarchy was overthrown, and a military dictatorship established. The Stuart dynasty, however, was later restored in 1660. Some historians blame James for the Civil War. However, the general view now is that Charles I was more responsible for the state of affairs in 1640 than his predecessor.

In the Virginia Colony in the New World, the Jamestown Settlement, established in 1607, and the James River were named in his honour. Both names remain in common use almost 400 years later. In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale named his new promising "Citie of Henricus" (sic) in honour of his son, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, who died in 1612. Although Henricus was wiped out in the Indian Massacre of 1622, its naming survives as Henrico County, Virginia in modern times.

Revisionism

Traditionally, Historians such as Samuel Rawson Gardiner and D. H. Wilson viewed James I as a poor King. This interpretation on James I had almost solely depended on the writings of Sir Anthony Weldon. Weldon had previously been dismissed by James for his writings against Scotland. Furious, Weldon wrote 'The Court and Character of King James', a book which would be notorious for influencing early 20th century Historians who overlooked Weldon's bias.

Recent historical revisionism has argued that James I was not a terrible King, contrary to popular belief. This revisionism effort originated from a study of James' ruling in Scotland by historians such as Gordon Donaldson and Jenny Wormald. Their argument was based on how James was so successful in Scotland, yet apparently quite unsuccessful in England. Revisionism of King James has restored his reputation as an unfortunate king who simply fell short of some of his greatest achievements. It was not until the 1970's that British and US scholars began accepting this new outlook on James.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oceania