Timeline - Overview - Stuarts
King James I
The death of the ‘Virgin Queen’ Elizabeth I meant that for the first time since the War of the Roses, there was no clear successor to the throne. Tension in England was high and so there was much relief when her Protestant cousin, James VI of Scotland became James I of England and Scotland, uniting the two countries for the first time, under a Protestant monarchy. However the relief was short lived. James I was dictatorial and unpopular. Within two years of his ascent to the throne, a group of Catholic conspirators concocted the Gunpowder Plot to assassinate the King. Though the plot was foiled James I’s relationship with Parliament deteriorated.
In his lifetime the king was respected as a most learned and intelligent man however he was also both a profligate individual and a firm believer in the Divine Right of Kings, two traits which meant that he resented and resisted the influence of Parliament. His son, Charles I, inherited his father’s profligacy and his belief in the Divine Right of Kings and added to this, he was also suspected of Catholic leanings as his wife was a practising Catholic. Unlike his father, he did not temper his autocratic beliefs but soon after taking the throne he disbanded Parliament and for eleven years he ruled alone. Only when he needed money to raise an army did the king recall Parliament and by that time MPs were determined to limit the king’s power. A furious Charles I responded by bursting into the House of Commons with an armed guard and demanding that the leading MPs be arrested. The MPs had already fled but to this day the monarch is forbidden to enter the House of Commons. Instead the Queen’s Speech takes place from the House of Lords and the Queen sends a representative – Black Rod – to knock on the door of the House of Commons and the door is ceremoniously closed in his face to symbolise the independence of Parliament from the monarch. Charles I’s infringement of Parliamentary privilege eventually led to a civil war between the king’s supporters – the Royalist Cavaliers – and the Parliamentarian Roundheads.
The Civil War
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King James I bible
sed diamaccusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam eaquep. Store veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt, explicabo.
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