On July 29th 1567 King James VI was crowned King of Scots at Stirling.
Mary Queen of Scotâs son was crowned only a few days after she herself was forced to abdicate, which I covered this on July 24th, more on her and Jamesâs faither later.
James was born into a political cauldron on June 19th 1566, in Edinburgh Castle and, as a firstborn son, he automatically became Duke of Rothesay, Prince, and Grand Lieutenant of Scotland. He was baptised in a Catholic ceremony and received the name of Charles James. Elizabeth I, as godmother in absentia, sent a significant amount of gold to Edinburgh as a gift for the newbornâs baptism. It was not unusual for monarchs to use another given name for their term on the throne.
When he was only eight months old, Lord Darnley, his father, was assassinated at Kirk oâ Field on February 10, 1567. After the death of her husband, Mary married for a third time with James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who was suspected of being the architect of Lord Darnleyâs assassination.
His uncle, James Stuart, Earl of Moray, ruled in his place and became first of 4 regents, two were assassinated, a third died after a short illness, some historians point to poisoning, others say natural causes, the fourth and last of his Regents lost his head after being found guilty of playing a part in Darnleyâs murder, it wasnât a job with prospects and you wouldnât be relying on collecting a pension from it.
From that moment onwards, the power, at least in theory, was held by the king himself rather than by a regent.
Nonetheless, James VI of Scotland did not reign directly: he relied on the advice of his closest courtiers, such as his cousin EsmĂ© Steward, Duke of Lennox, and James Stuart, who received the title of Earl of Arran for his testimony against Morton. Since Lennox was Catholic, and Arran favoured episcopalism, the Scottish Presbyterian lords did not like the government. During the Ruthven Raid of 1582, some Presbyterian nobles, led by William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, captured James and held him captive for almost a year in Ruthven Castle (now known as Huntingtower Castle), in Perthshire. Arran was also held captive while Lennox was forced into exile in France. In 1583, the king and Arran managed to escape: Gowrie was executed whilst the rebels were forced to flee to England. The Scottish Parliament, which was loyal to the king, passed the Black Acts, which placed the Church of Scotland under the kingâs control.
The acts were extremely popular but the clergy was opposed to them and denounced the king. In fact, the church was trying to keep Jamesâ influence under control before he became powerful and bold enough to attack Presbyterianism, in the end no attack was made.
In 1586, thanks to the Treaty of Berwick, James VI and Elizabeth I became allies. James decided to continue to support the virgin queen of England, since, as a descendant of Margaret Tudor, he was a potential successor to her crown. Elizabethâs father, Henry VIII, feared that the English crown would fall under the sovereignty of the Stuarts. To prevent this, he excluded Margaret and her descendants from the line of succession in his will. Nonetheless, since they were Elizabethâs closest relatives, both Mary and James were both serious contenders for the Crown of England.
There is so much more about James to read, I have covered parts here and their in the past, in particular his persecution of women as witches. He did go on to be James I of England and during his troubled reign Guy Fawkes attempted to blow him, and his Parliament up.
James did gain some favour in both Scotland and England by marrying a protestant Princess, Anne of Denmark, they had 7 children, 4 of whom died in infancy, their son Charles became King and was of course executed.
James died in 1625 aged 58 and is buried at Westminster Abbey.
