Union of Two Crowns
~ Yet not United

Upon the death of his first cousin twice removed (Queen Elizabeth I of England), King James VI of Scotland, the great-grandson of Margaret Tudor (the elder of Henry VIII’s sisters who had married James IV of Scotland) was next in line for the English throne. In 1603, James VI of Scotland also became King James I of England. Consequently, the two nations that had traditionally warred throughout time now shared one ruler. Following his English coronation James never gave his homeland Scotland so much as a second thought. During the following twenty-two years he only went “home” once.

Already middle-aged when he took the English throne, James at once built an impressive tomb for his predecessor Queen Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey but he made her share her final resting place with her predecessor, her elder half-sister, Mary Tudor. The new king also erected a separate but equally impressive tomb for his mother Mary, Queen of Scots, thereby causing the beheader and the beheaded to forever rest peacefully side-by-side.

King James I’s English subjects never knew quite what to make of him. The son of a Catholic, he had been brought up in a Presbyterian country, therefore both English dissenters and Catholics hoped he might be sympathetic to them. Both groups were to be disappointed. One plan to blow him up, now known as the Gunpowder Plot was foiled on November 5, 1605 and is remembered now as Guy Fawkes Day.

Although bookish and considered “clever” in a somewhat peculiar way the new king’s literary talents proved less than equal to that of Elizabeth I. He believed strongly in witches and demons and upon taking the English throne ordered his 1597 Edinburgh publication, Daemonologie, to be republished in England, purportedly to enlighten his new subjects.

James was a chronic invalid all his life, subject to severe attacks of pain. His physicians said, “By nature he is a poor sleeper and often at night calls for servants to read to him aloud.” He suffered several physical defects, among them a tongue too large for his mouth, which caused him to drool like a Great Dane. A heavy man with a “barrel-shaped” body, his legs were too weak to support him, therefore, even when not ill, he was forced to lean on a pair of courtiers when walking. For a period of four months in 1619, he completely lost the use of both legs and had to be carried about in a “Neapolitan portative chair.” Historians say that James had a “flaming case of the family disease”, i.e. porphyria, the famous madness that later afflicted King George III. It was conjectured that James inherited the disease from his mother Mary, Queen of Scots, who was also a great invalid.

The new king proved wildly extravagant, handing out money, titles and properties to his favorite courtiers, and ordering expensive velvets, lace and jewels for himself which seems a bit odd, since he seldom bathed, never washed his hands, and would often wear the same costume until it hung in tatters from his body.

He generously indulged his wife’s costly passion for the newest rage at court, “masques,” expensively costumed extravaganzas complete with scenery designed by Inigo Jones. The king also commissioned Jones to build a new palace exclusively for the Queen. The Queen’s House at Greenwich became one of London’s most highly visited attractions.

 

Despite all his weaknesses and foibles, King James I is best remembered for three things: keeping England out of war throughout his twenty-two year reign, authorizing the King James Version of the Bible, and introducing the game of golf, although considering his inability to walk without aid one cannot help but wonder how he managed to play the game?

In spite of being known throughout the ages as the father of the Bible—which in actuality James had nothing to do with writing, he merely authorized the translation—the one area of King James’ life that to this day remains clouded in controversy is that of his sexual preference. Because he did have children, it is assumed that rather than homosexual, James was bisexual, although in the king’s day, his sexuality was debated in pubs and taverns throughout England and Scotland. When James I inherited the crown from Queen Elizabeth, Londoners openly quipped, “Elizabeth was King, now James is Queen.”

In 1625, at the age of 59, James died of gout and senility. He is buried in the Henry VII chapel in Westminster Abbey, flanked by a pair of his favorite male courtiers, one on the right, the other to his left.

 

 

James I of England

 

 

Marilyn Clay is the author of six Regency romances and the Publisher and Founder of The Regency Plume. She is also the artist of Romance Writers of America's RITA award. Her latest novel, Deceptions: A Jamestown Novel is a July 2010 release which is a Five Star Expressions hardcover from Gale. You can visit Marilyn at theregencyplume.tripod.com.

 

 

Editor's note:

Why James I of England who was most definitely not a medieval king?   I thought you might like to know a wee bit about the king who joined Scotland and England under one crown.  Joined not by a decisive battle but merely by being the next in line by birth, it seems though that 'one royal crown' did not a united kingdom make.  It would take centuries—if ever—for Scotland to accept English rule. 

 

 

Any underlined word or phrase

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