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History of King James IV
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King James I born June 19, 1566, Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland died March 27, 1625, Theobalds, Hertfordshire, England King of Scotland (as James VI) from 1567 to 1625 and first Stuart king of England from 1603 to 1625, who styled himself “king of Great Britain.” James was a strong advocate of royal absolutism, and his conflicts with an increasingly self-assertive Parliament set the stage for the rebellion against his successor, Charles I. James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. Eight months after James's birth his father died when his house was destroyed by an explosion. After her third marriage, to James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, Mary was defeated by rebel Scottish lords and abdicated the throne. James, one year old, became king of Scotland on July 24, 1567; Mary left the kingdom on May 16, 1568, and never saw her son again. During his minority James was surrounded by a small band of the great Scottish lords, from whom emerged the four successive regents, the earls of Moray, Lennox, Mar, and Morton. There did not exist in Scotland the great gulf between rulers and ruled that separated the Tudors and their subjects in England. For nine generations the Stuarts had in fact been merely the ruling family among many equals, and James all his life retained a feeling for those of the great Scottish lords who gained his confidence. The young king was kept fairly isolated but was given a good education until the age of 14. He studied Greek, French, and Latin and made good use of a library of classical and religious writings that his tutors, George Buchanan and Peter Young, assembled for him. James's education aroused in him literary ambitions rarely found in princes but which also tended to make him a pedant. Before James was 12 he had taken the government nominally into his own hands when the Earl of Morton was driven from the regency in 1578. For several years more, however, James remained the puppet of contending intriguers and faction leaders. After falling under the influence of the Duke of Lennox, a Roman Catholic who schemed to win back Scotland for the imprisoned Queen Mary, James was kidnapped by William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, in 1582 and was forced to denounce Lennox. The following year James escaped from his Protestant captors and began to pursue his own policies as king.
Mary was born December 8, 1542. Her parents were King James V and Mary of Guise. James, the King of Scotland, died shortly after Mary was born. He died six days after Mary was born. Mary became the Queen of Scots when she was six days old. There was lots of talk of who would take over being ruler until Mary became old enough to rule. Mary’s Uncle Henry the VIII declared that he wanted to take control of Scotland while Mary was still growing up. Mary’s mother wanted to rule while Mary was growing up. Mary’s mother acted as the regent. Mary finally became old enough and Mary’s mother had big plans for her to help the country of Scotland. (Mary, Queen of Scots Biography)
James’s family life was just as spectacular. He added 27 children to the human race, seven of whom were illegitimate. With his first wife, Anne Hyde, he had eight children, with his second, Mary of Modena, he had 12, and with at least two other mistresses, including Arabellla Churchill, he had seven.
At the age of eleven, the marquis was sent to school in Paris at the College du Plessis. He resided there for four years, learning various subject matter and proper etiquette that would enable him in change to become an educated and well-mannered noble. The curriculum included Latin, the study most emphasized in France at the time; and French rhetoric, which he greatly favored (Gottschalk 18, 19).
Through the English Bill, the Parliament of England wished to replace the evil James the Second
The book of 1 Samuel, a part of the Old Testament, sparks the dawn of the United Kingdom of Israel by telling of its first king, Saul. Samuel is one of the first talked about pre-literary prophets in the bible perhaps because he anointed the first king of the United Kingdom. He is a prophet by definition because he possessed the ability to converse with the almighty Yahweh. Samuel and Saul are key players to the rise of the kingdom but Saul runs into trouble and disobeys God, which leads him to his own inevitable demise.
In late 1600’s, England was in turmoil from events as King Phillip’s War to the Bacon Rebellion. All this chaos caused disorder all throughout England but it reached its height in the 1680’s when King James's policies of religious tolerance was met with an increasing opposition. People were troubled by the king's religion and devotion to Catholicism and his close ties with France and how he was trying to impose Catholicism on everyone, preventing them from worshiping anything else. This made the Protestant unhappy. It was seen that the crisis came to its peak with the birth of the king's son, James Francis Edward Stuart in 1688. In 1688, the struggle for domination of English government between Parliament and the crown reached its peak in the Glorious Revolution. This bloodless revolution occurred in which the English people decided that it’s enough that they tolerated King James and his extreme religious tolerance
A prophecy said to Mac Beth by one of the three witches "All hail, MacBeth, that shalt be King hereafter1 ." was what prompted Gruoch, MacBeth's wife to plot the murder of Duncan I as he slept in their castle. In history, Mac Beth established himself as the King of Scots after killing his cousin Duncan I, in battle near Elgin not as in Shakespeare's play by killing him in his sleep. Duncan I was killed on August 14, 1040. Mac Beth then reigned as king for seventeen years.As previously stated Duncan I and Mac Beth were cousins, a fact not brought out in the play.
In 1603 King James VI of Scotland published The Trew Law of Free Monarchies and a revised and expanded version of Basilikon Doron in London for his new English subjects (McIlwain, ix; Kinney, 61). Basilikon Doron , which was entered in the Stationer's Register on March 26, 1603 (only one day after Elizabeth's death and James' accession were announced), became immediately popular as Londoners sought an introduction to their new king (--). Shakespeare may or may not have read these pamphlets, but as a member of the newly-appointed King's Players it was certainly in his best interest to become familiar with the attitudes of his patron. We can imagine that one of Shakespeare's goals must have been to gain the King's favor without losing relevence for a wider audience. Macbeth seems to be one attempt at such a compromise. Since Henry Paul's The Royal Play of Macbeth in 1971, many have argued that Macbeth - rich with topical allusions to James' ancestry, events of ...
Bonnie Prince Charlie who is also known as “The Young Pretender”, was the cause of the failed Jacobite rebellion of 1746 in an attempt become king of Scotland, England, and Ireland. Charlie was the great grandson of James II of England who was disposed as King of England because of his absolutism and pro-catholic beliefs. James II, his son James, and his grandson Charlie lived in exile in France. During this time, there were some rebellious conflicts to bring James II back to the throne, but to no avail. As Charlie got older, he wanted to lead an army to take back the throne of England, Scotland, and Ireland. When he was old enough and he had the resources to do so, he set out on his conquest to take back Scotland. He was hoping to get support from England or France, because the countries did not trust Charlie as a leader. (Wikipedia)
Written early in the reign of James I (16031625), Shakespeare's Macbeth is a typical "Jacobean" tragedy in many important respects. Referred to superstitiously by actors as "the Scottish play," the script commemorates James's national heritage by depicting events during the years 1040 to 1057 in his native Scotland. The play also celebrates the ruler's intense interest in witchcraft and magic, which was recorded in a book he wrote in 1597 entitled Demonology. Further topical allusions to the king include all the passages in the script mentioning sleeplessness, which are relevant since James was a well-known insomniac.
To conclude, Mary had a very hard and complicated life, especially with England tying to kill her. James VI replaced his mother’s throne, and later he took the English throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603. Mary was bought up in France. She only had reign over Scotland for 6 years. Mary and Elizabeth I never actually met. Mary died on February 8, 1587 (“Fun Trivia MQoS”). “In my end is my beginning.” – Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.
A Catholic, Mary married the Hapsburg prince of Spain, the soon-to-be Philip II. Mary would come to be known as "Bloody Mary" for her harsh treatment of English Protestants in her attempt to restore Catholicism to England. When Sir Thomas Wyat the Younger's Rebellion threatened Mary's rule, she believed Elizabeth to have been involved in the plot and imprisoned her in the Tower of London. By a combination of luck and skillful persuasion on the part of her political allies, Elizabeth survived this ordeal and became queen when Mary died in 1558.
In order to understand Macbeth's historical context, one must examine the political culture of the reign of King James I Stuart. James reigned over Scotland from 1567 to 1625 and England from 1603 to 1625, and was the first of a wave of monarchs claiming a divine right to rule (BBC). As the first ruler of a consolidated Kingdom of Great Britain, James issued public statements affirming his...
King Henry VII was next in line to take over the throne, but could not, because of Richard the 3rd was king at that time. In August 22, 1485, Henry changed all of that, during the battle of Bosworthfield Henry killed Richard and became king of England (Meyer, G.J. pg114). During the time of King Henry’s reign there was a war going on between two families, The York and The Lancaster family. This war was known as the War of the Roses and had gone on for centuries, but Henry changed that on January 18, 1486, Henry of the Lancaster family and Elizabeth of the York family got married, because of their marriage the war had ended and it brought peace to England once again. King Henry and Elizabeth ended up having four kids, Arthur, Margaret, Henry, and Mary. Only two of them became rulers of England.
Quen Mary Stuart was born to James V, son of Margaret Tudor, and Mary of Guise. The unfortunate death of he father when she was six days old left her to be Queen of Scotland. Since she was too young, however, Mary’s mother ruled Scotland as regent. Growing up, she was a devout Catholic, which unfortunately did not carry onto her reign when she travelled back to the Protestant Scotland. “Her claims to the throne of England were almost as strong as her claims to the Scottish throne” (“Mary, Queen of Scots (r. 1542-1567).”). Mary was, in fact, next in line to the English throne after Henry VII’s legitimate children. Though she was a Tudor, she did not rule over France.