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King James I Of England Essay Research

King James I Of England Essay, Research Paper


This is a paper over King James I of England that I wrote for my honors


english class. I received


an A on the the assignment.


King James I


On June 19, 1566 in Theobalds, Hertfordshire, England, Mary Queen


of Scots gave birth


to her only child, a boy whom she named James. James’ father was Henry


Stewart, also known


as Lord Darnley. Darnley was killed in an unexplained explosion at his


house when James was


eight months old. Only seven months later, Mary Queen of Scots had to


give up her throne


because she was defeated by rebels. Mary left the country and James


never saw her again.


James took the throne of Scotland when he was only 15 months old and


became King James


VI of Scotland (”James I” 481).


James got most of his culture and education before he was 14


years old. During his


early life, the boy king spent most of his time with Scottish lords and


his tutors, especially


George Buchanan, his favorite tutor (”James I, King of England” 1). He


received a superior


education and was known for his great knowledge. He always had a great


respect for the


Scottish lords that were around him as he grew up (”James I” 481).


James enjoyed writing. He wrote and published many poems and translated many long


French works. Later in life he also wrote many books on topics such as kingship, theology,


withcraft, and tobacco. He also ordered the translation of acient Greek and Hebrew versions of


the Bible into English in the Authorized King James Version of the Bible (”James I, King of


England” 1).


2


He also enjoyed riding horses and hunting. This may be due to the fact that he was very


frail and sometimes needed help walking. When he was on a horse, he was able to function


normally. Despite his physical hinderances, King James was regarded as being very confident


in his decisions. At the age of 15, James ordered the execution of a man suspected to have


been involved with the death of Henry Stewart, James’ father (”James I” 481).


James wanted to follow Queen Elizabeth I of England to the throne so badly that he


would have done anything to keep peaceful relations with her. When his mother was beheaded


in 1587, he merely made a formal protest and let the incident blow over (”James I, King of


England”1).


In 1589, James was married with Anne of Denmark, the daughter of Fredrick II of


Denmark. They had there first child, Prince Henry, in 1594 (”James I” 481). Prince Henry was


an ideal prince and won the love of the people. Following Henry were Princess Elizabeth and


Prince Charles. Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth were both very beautiful children, but


Prince Charles was a different story. Charles, like his parents, was a sickly child and had to


have help walking when he was young (Chute 260). Apparently James was not very fond of


women and never had a mistress (”James I” 481). The only time he ever paid a great deal of


attention to his wife was when she converted to Roman Catholicism (”James I, King of England”


1).


King James was a very giving man. He liked to gain support from people by buying


them gifts. In 1605, he spent 2530 pounds at two jewellers (Levi 4). Although he spent a lot of


money, he was not very good at budgeting it (”James I” 481).


In 1603, King James VI got his wish. As Stanford E. Lehmberg states in the Grolier


Electronic Encyclopedia, “Since Elizabeth had no children and there were no other descendants


Guy 3 of Henry VIII, the Tudor line was extinguished upon her death. Throughout her reign


Elizabeth refused to designate a successor, but it is clear that she expected King James VI of


/>

Scotland to follow her. When Elizabeth died on Mar. 24, 1603, James, the son of Mary Queen


of Scots, but a Protestant, succeeded without incident as King James I of England” (1). King


James I was also the first Stuart king of England. Many people came to see the new king’s


coronation in London. The town was bustling with people and unfortunately the plague. At the


time the king was crowned, over 1100 people a week were dying from the plague (Chute 258).


There were two things that James loved even more than giving or receiving money; and


those were peace and expansion. He tried his hardest to keep the peace. One of his men


stated that he would “rather spend 100,000 pounds on embassies, to keep or procure peace


with dishonor, than 10,000 pounds of an army that would have forced peace with honor” (Chute


261-2). King James greatly supported the expansion in America. He chartered the London


Company in 1606. By doing this, he hoped to start a colony in North America. The London


Company founded Jamestown in Virginia in 1607 (”London Company” 1).


King James I made many great contributions to the theater. Shortly after he became


king, he made the Chamberlain’s Men, a group of travelling actors who made their living


preforming plays, royal servants. The Chamberlain’s Men were changed to the King’s Men.


There were nine actors named to the elite group. Among them was none other than William


Shakespeare. The King’s Men were sponsered by James, which was a great relief for thier


pocket books. They were issued scarlet cloth to make uniforms that represented the king. The


royal family saw five times as many plays a year as Queen Elizabeth had (Reese 155).


4


Shakespeare made references to events surrounding King James in many of his plays.


In 1605, the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. Someone planted several barrels of gunpowder


under the Parliament. If their plan would have worked, King James, his family, and all of the


Lords and Commons would have been killed. Shakespeare was thought to have based his play


Macbeth on those events (Rowse 379). In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet made a speech


against Danish drunkenness. Once, when Christian of Denmark payed a visit to his son in law,


King James I, he did not stay sober past dinner. His daughter, the Queen of England, passed


out while dancing, three other women were too drunk to appear in masque, someone else was


sick, and another woman spilt custard on the King. It quite an embaressment for James, but it


made Shakespeare a great anecdote (Levi 219).


Although it appeared the King James I of England was a great ruler, it was said that the


fall of English politics and religion that led to the English Civil War can be traced back to him.


On March 27, 1625, after warning his heir, Charles I, of future dangers to the monarchy from the


Parliament, King James I breathed his last breath (”James I, King of England” 2).


750


Chute, Marchette. Shakespeare of London. New York: Penguin Books,


1991.


“James I.” The New Encylopedia Britannica. Chicago: Encylopedia


Britannica, Inc., 1992.


“James I, King of England.” Multimedia Encyclopedia Version 1.5.


CD-ROM. Grolier Electronic


Publishing. 1992.


Lehmberg, Standford E. “Queen Elizabeth I.” Multimedia Encyclopedia


Version 1.5. CD-ROM.


Grolier Electronic Publishing. 1992.


Levi, Peter. The Life and Times of William Shakespeare. New York: Henry Holt and Company,


1988.


“London Company.” Multimedia Encyclopedia Version 1.5. CD-ROM Grolier Electronic


Publishing.


1992.


Reese, M. M. Shakespeare: His World and His Work. New York: St.


Martin’s Press, 1980.


Rowse, A. L. William Shakespeare: A Biography. New York: Harper and


Row, 1963.

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