Scottish History - The House of Stewart
James VI of Scotland, I of England Part 3 of 4

• Robert II (1371-1390) & Robert III (1390-1406)
• James I (1406-1437)
• James II (1437-1460)
• James III (1460-1488)
• James IV (1488-1513)
• James V (1513-1542)
• Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587)
• James VI (1567-1603)

James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 3

• James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 1
• James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 2
• James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 3
• James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 4

Witchcraft

When James returned from Denmark, he found that some witches had been casting spells so that he would be drowned at sea. Witch hunting was becoming quite common and the Kirk was determined to stamp out the old pagan religions which were still being practiced in many parts of Scotland. The Earl of Bothwell was the leader of the group of witches who were casting spells on James. The Earl of Huntley eventually joined Bothwell and it did not look good for James but by joining together they turned the Kirk and most of the Protestant nobility against them. James won a victory in the Highlands and Bothwell and Huntley left the country.

James survived such a crises by being a master of deceit. No one knew exactly where he stood and thus he was able to play one against the other. The fighting was over for the time being and James could turn to governing the country. However, James was not a great manager of money. He was always short of cash. Elizabeth was supposed to pay him a pension but did not always do so. He tried to improve his situation by appointing a group of advisors, the Octavians. These were not great nobles as in the past. They were men James could count on for their loyalty. As he said, they were men he could hang if he wanted to.

Successor to Elizabeth 1st

With only a few minor troubles to divert his attention, James now concentrated on making sure that he succeeded Elizabeth. He became friendly with everyone who could help him. His dealings could have caused trouble but Elizabeth's secretary Sir Robert Cecil decided to support James' claim.

In 1603, at the age of 36, he achieved his ambition and became James I of England upon the death of Elizabeth I.

James felt he had worked hard to become King of England and he planned to enjoy the privileges. He moved to London and made that his permanent home. The Union of the Crowns was the first break in Scotland's independence. The King no longer held court in Scotland and many of the Scottish nobles left Scotland to join him in London. Trades people suffered from this move and law and order began to break down in Scotland.

The people were pleased to see James as he travelled to London. Elizabeth had waited so long to name a successor that most were afraid there would be fighting among claimants. However, they now had James who was an experienced King and who had sons to follow him.

James was ignorant of English law and made mistakes before even getting to London, for instance, ordering a thief to be hanged without trial. As always, he had a tendency to claim more power for himself than he should. He also gave honours away freely and recklessly. He knighted 300 people alone on his way to London. "Within four months, he had knighted more people than Elizabeth did in the whole of her reign." This, of course, led to corruption and jealousy among the Knights.

Arthur Wilson: Life and Reign of James I

"He, by multiplicity of them [honours] made them cheap and invalid in the vulgar opinion; for nothing is more destructive to monarch than lessening the nobility; upon their decline the commons rise, and anarchy increases."

He spent a fortune on clothes and bestowed gifts of money. As stated before, he was not the best at managing his money. He felt that England was a rich country and the money was his to spend. Prices were rising and in order to meet her obligations, Elizabeth had sold off some of her holdings. James and his Queen were supposed to live from the rents of his lands but he, too, sold some of the lands to pay his creditors.

Peace to Scotland and England

James, however, brought peace to the two countries. The border fighting stopped and although administered separately, the two countries were united under one crown.

James left the running of his Kingdom to the Privy Council which was headed by Robert Cecil. Henry VIII and Elizabeth had started to set up a civil service council but for the most part the country was still run by the King's friends. Art, literature and education flourished even though James was lazy in governing. He was a great patron of the sciences and arts. The Queen enjoyed masques which were expensive to produce. Masques were a combination of singing, dancing and poetry and were not always genteel. Wine flowed freely and some of the players ended up being, as we might say, falling down drunk.

Because of his belief that it was his divine right to rule, he felt that he could overrule anything that Parliament enacted. This did not endear him to the legislators. Elizabeth had always seen that some of her Privy Council were also members of the House of Commons. James did not do this and, therefore, there was no one to transmit information and policy to the King.

The Gunpowder Plot

This plot was again the result of religious convictions and fighting between Catholics and Protestants. Because of the recent peace with Spain, the Catholics hoped that James would relax attitudes and policies toward Catholics. James promised to lessen the laws and abolish such things as fines for attending services. However, he did not realize the outcry that this would bring. At this point in time people still remembered the Protestant martyrs who had gone to the stake when Mary Tudor was on the throne. So James vacillated and reinstated the old laws.

This enraged a group of Catholic fanatics and they decided that they would blow up the House of Lords. If it worked, the "King, Queen, Prince, nobility, clergy, judges and the principal gentlemen of the realm," according to Cecil, would have been killed. Apparently the plotters were planning on also capturing the two younger children of James and Anne, Elizabeth and Charles, and declaring one or the other of them as the successor to the throne.

The plotters, led by Robert Gatesby, tried to tunnel under Parliament from a house they had rented. They never would have finished the tunnel in time but found a cellar that they rented which was right under the House of Lords. There were so many people in on the plot that it was a foregone conclusion that there would be leaks. The House of Lords was warned about the plot. Guy Fawkes, who was one of the conspirators, was found in the cellar room. Cecil might have known about the plot to start with but let it develop as a trap for the Catholics.

James turned against the Catholics after this. He was frightened of gunpowder especially after what had happened to his father, Lord Darnley. Most of the plotters were captured, tortured and executed. Once again, Catholics had to swear an oath of allegiance against the pope and had to go to Anglican churches. Priests found themselves in danger. However, in areas where there were many Catholics, the new regulations were hard to enforce.

James became enamoured of theological argument and spent most of his time studying theology and hunting. He left more and more of the workings of the government to Cecil.

Robert Carr

James found a new favourite. A young Scot named Robert Carr, Viscount Rochester and later Earl of Someset. Carr, too, meddled in the workings of Parliament and urged James to dissolve it when it could not come up with a workable plan to help with James' money problems. James was very fond of Carr, perhaps substituting him for his oldest son, Henry, Prince of Wales who had died at the age of 18 of typhoid. When Henry died, Charles became the heir to the throne. Carr had a disastrous influence on James as had his other favourites. He encouraged extravagance of the court and became involved in a couple of scandals which reflected on the King.

Carr fell in love with Lady Frances Howard. Unfortunately she was already married to the Earl of Essex. She applied for a divorce and James rigged the court so that it would be granted. Carr had a good friend, Sir Thomas Overbury. Overbury saw Lady Frances as a threat to his friendship and any power he had and opposed the marriage between Carr and Frances. James was a little jealous of Overbury, offered him a post abroad and when he refused, James put him in the Tower where he died. It was discovered later that Lady Frances had had him poisoned. Carr and Lady Frances were brought to trial and found guilty. This was the end of Carr's influence.

James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 3

• James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 1
• James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 2
• James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 3
• James VI (1567 - 1603) - Part 4