James I (Stuart) King of SCOTLAND

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: 24 Mar 1603, Acceded
• Fact 1: 25 Jul 1603, Crowned at Westminster Abbey

Notes:

Name:
When James ascended the English throne in 1603, he had already been king of Scotland for 36 years. There, he had ruled by the Divine Right of Kings - whereby kings were appointed by God and so were not answerable to men. This style of government was unacceptable inEngland, so he ruled for long periods without Parliament. He thus squandered the legacy of strong government left to him by Elizabeth I.

The two principal favourites of James I were, in succession, Robert Ker and George Villiers. Ker, Earl of Somerset, was entrusted with the King's most intimate business. He angered the nation by encouraging the King to make an alliance with Spain, and by helping to raise dubious taxes. By 1616 the King had taken to Villiers, who became Earl of Buckingham.

The Gunpowder Plot was hatched by conspirators disgruntled with the King's failure to grant toleration of Catholics. they planned to blow up the House of Lords when the King came for the opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605. they dug a tunnel under the House of Lords and filled a cellar with barrels of gunpowder. However, he plot was foiled when one of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes, was discovered in the cellar with the gunpowder. the conspirators were arrested, tried, and executed.

Although well educated, James appeared foolish, and was known as the 'wisest fool in Christendom'.

James married Anne Of DENMARK on 23 Nov 1589. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Charles I King Of ENGLAND was born on 19 Nov 1600 in Dunfermline Palace, Fife; died on 30 Jan 1649 in Banqueting House, Palace of Whitehall, London.

Henry married Mary Stuart Queen Of SCOTS on 29 Jul 1565 in Palace of Holyroodhouse. Mary (daughter of James V King Of SCOTLAND and Marie Of GUISE) was born on 08 Dec 1542 in Linlithgow Palace, Linlithgow, West Lothian; died on 08 Feb 1587. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Mary I Of Scotland
• Fact: 09 Sep 1543, Crowned Queen of Scotland in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle

Notes:

Princess Mary Stuart was born at Linlithgow Palace, Linlithgow, West Lothian, on December 7 or December 8, 1542 to King James V of Scotland and his French wife, Mary of Guise. In Falkland Palace, Fife, her father heard of the birth and prophesied, "The devil go with it! It came with a lass, it will pass with a lass!" James truly believed that Mary's birth marked the end of the Stuarts' reign over Scotland. Instead, through Mary's son, it was the beginning of their reign over both the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England.

The six-day-old Mary became Queen of Scotland when her father died at the age of thirty, probably from cholera, although his contemporaries believed his death to have been caused by grief over the Scots' loss to the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran was the next in line for the throne after Mary; he acted as regent for Mary until 1554, when he was succeeded by the Queen's mother, who continued as regent until her death in 1560.

In July 1543, when Mary was six months old, the Treaties of Greenwich promised Mary to be married to Edward, son of King Henry VIII of England in 1552, and for their heirs to inherit the Kingdoms of Scotland and England. Mary's mother was strongly opposed to the proposition, and she hid with Mary two months later in Stirling Castle, where preparations were made for Mary's coronation.

When Mary was only nine months old she was crowned Queen of Scotland in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on September 9, 1543. Because the Queen was an infant and the ceremony unique, Mary's coronation was the talk of Europe. Mary was dressed in heavy regal robes in miniature. A crimson velvet mantle, with a train furred with ermine, was fastened around her tiny neck. A jeweled satin gown, with long hanging sleeves, enveloped the infant, who could sit up but not walk. She was carried by Lord Livingston in solemn procession to the Chapel Royal. Inside, Lord Livingston brought Mary forward to the altar, put her gently in the throne set up there, and stood by holding her to keep her from rolling off.

Quickly, Cardinal David Beaton put the Coronation Oath to her, which Lord Livingston answered for her. The Cardinal immediately unfastened Mary's heavy robes and began anointing her with the holy oil. When the chilly air struck her, she began to cry. The Earl of Lennox (whose son Henry, Lord Darnley, later became Mary's 2nd husband) brought forward the Sceptre and placed it in her baby hand. Then the Sword of State was presented by the Earl of Argyll, and the Cardinal performed the ceremony of girding the three-foot sword to the tiny body.

Then, the Earl of Arran carried the Crown. Holding it gently, Cardinal Beaton lowered it onto the child's head, where it rested on a circlet of velvet. The Cardinal steadied the crown and Lord Livingston held her body straight as the Earls of Lennox and Arran kissed her cheek in fealty, followed by the rest of the prelates and peers who knelt before her and, placing their hands on her crown, swore allegiance to her.