King James I and VI

Today is the four hundredth anniversary of the death of King James I and VI.

In recent years, there seems to have been renewed interest in his life and reign both as King of Scots and as King of England, even if this is sometimes you somewhat sensational nature reflecting contemporary interests and enthusiasms. His reign in England at least is perhaps now  seen as more than an interval between however one views the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and however one views the reign of King Charles I.

Much of the interest of his life and reign is brought out in an article which turned up in my inbox this morning. It is by Ed West of The Wrong Side of History and offers a useful perspective on the King. His quotations are entertaining and insightful, although it is perhaps a pity that he did turn to any other contemporary historian than Peter Ackroyd. 

In his discussion of the monarch’s attempts to create a sense of a greater Britain I was sorry to see no mention of the proposal for him to take the title Emperor of Britain. As I understood it the emphasis on King James’ slovenly appearance derives from the memoir of one disgruntled courtier, but West suggests more sources. A number of his stories were new to me, including Queen Anne ( or Anna ) shooting the royal pet dog and King James’ views on women clergy. 

One event which is not mentioned which must have been profoundly upsetting to the Royal family was the death of Henry Prince of Wales. This occasioned much grief not only within his family but to the wider nation. It must remain one of the great.”what  ifs” of British history, and I sense that King Charles I lived the rest of his life thinking about what his more confident and out-going elder brother would have done. I posted about those ideas in 2012 in Henry Prince of Wales and in 2013 in The Lost Prince

The article on King James, which is well worth perusing, can be read at The First Briton