J A M E S I (1603-1625)

DATES

• Elizabethan period
- 1559: Act of Uniformity (39 Articles)
- 1570: Elizabeth I excommunicated
- 10 Jan 1581: Act of Persuasion
o Royal proclamation ordering the arrest of all Jesuits in England & Wales

• James I
- 25 July 1603: James I’s coronation
- 15 March 1604: James I’s royal entry in London

• union of the crowns

- 1604: bi-partite commission to study the union of the E. & S. Parliaments
- October 1604: James I’s assumed the title ‘King of Great Britain” by proclamation
o rather than statute
- 1606: creation of the Union Jack < Jacobus, the Latin version of James
o Symbolic unifica°: English cross of St George + Scottish cross of St Andrew

• 1603: The Millenary Petition (signed by 1k Puritan ministers)

- Request for changes in practices w/in Church of England
o Ex: the priest making the sign of the cross during Baptism
o Ex: get rid of “poperies” (anything reminiscent of Roman Catholicism)

• Jan. 1604: The Hampton Court Conference (was attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury)
- Goal: ease tensions btw Puritans & bishops (Church gvt, vestments & liturgy)
o James I’s accession raised new hopes among the Puritans
- a chance for the Puritans to gain a measure of toleration or begin a further reformation
= outcome of the conference: James rejected most of the Puritans’ demands
- Rejection of any change in the episcopal form of church gvt = “no bishop, no king” – James I

• 1604: the Somerset House Conference (= peace treaty btw England & Spain)

• 5 Nov. 1605: Gunpowder Plot

• 30 Jan 1606: execution of 4 of the Gunpowder Plotters

• May 1606: the Oath of Allegiance (“an act for the better discovering & repressing of popish
recusants”)

• 1607: collapse of James’ plans for Anglo-Scottish Union on legal & pol terms

• 1611: King James’s Bible (the Authorised Version)

• 1617: James I’s Workes (topics : smoking, politics, theology, witchcraft)

• 1623: The Spanish Match (fail : Charles married Henrietta Maria, a French Princess)
QUOTES
• by James I:
- About England & Scotland :
o “compassed with one sea and of itself by nature indivisible”
o “join and coalesce together in a sincere and perfect union, as two twins bred
in one belly”
- “No bishop, no King”
- “A peacemaker”

• There should be “one only translation of the Bible to be authentical & read in church” – John
Reynolds

TOPICS
• succession crisis
- James had strong claim to E. Throne
o Family tree > John of Gaunt + HVII & HVIII
- Yet : fear of unrest (was a Scot)

• scotophobia + outbreak of the plague

• unionism VS anti-unionism (in favour of retaining a degree of priority over Scotland)

• providence behind James & union of Scotland & England

• idea of the divine right of kings (monarch’s authority to rule comes > God)
- + King as a father to his ppl
= VS idea popular w/ Scottish kirk that a monarch rules in accordance w/ some form of soc contract
w/ their ppl

• James I’s ambition: 1 monarch, 1 parliament, 1 law

• threats: Puritans
- + Jesuits from the Society of Jesus (idea of spiritual renewal, purification & missions)
o Catholic religious order of priests (“the school masters of Europe”)
o Associated w/ disguise & secrecy

• recusants: ppl who refused to abide by the Church of England (had to pay fines)

• the issue of religion

- Under Elizabeth I: persecution of Catholics
o Harsh laws, imprisonment, torture, death…
- Under James I: moderation
o Reduces recusancy fines

• an new English translation of the Bible: request of the Puritans

- Two rival E. translations at the time
 o 1568: The Elizabethan Church’s official Bishops’ Bible
 Pb : Huge book, bad translation, unpopular
o 1560: The Geneva Bible
 Pb : James did not like it (kings // tyrants)
= led to the crea° of the King James’s Bible (by 50 translators, biblical scholars & linguists)
- Clarity of language, poetic & music
FIGURES
• male favourites:
- Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset
- Georges Villiers, Duke of Buckingham
o 1625: Buckingham gave some medicine to James
 Legend: may have poisoned James
o The only man who maintained his position under Charles I

• St Robert Southwell: Catholic priest & poet

- Was executed at Tyburn on 21 Feb 1595
= 1 of the most symbolical executions at the end of Elizabeth I’s reign

• Henry Garnet (Jesuit) : ministered secretly to recusant Catholics, went from house to house…
- 1598: A Treatise of Equivocation
o Taught how to lie to English authorities while staying true to one’s catholic faith
o Echoes Macbeth
= 3 May 1606: Executed at Tyburn

• Gunpowder Plotters: (English Catholics)

- Leader: Robert Catesby
- Guy Fawkes: expert in gunpowder
- Thomas Percy: helped fund the group
o secured the lease for the undercroft in which the gunpowder was placed (37 barrels)
- Thomas Wintour : lawyer & soldier who was sent to the King of Spain by Catesby
- Sir Everard Digby (became a Catholic + 1603: knighted + supported James’s accession
o Only plotter to plead guilty

• Earl of Salisbury, Robert Cecil

- Was raised by James I as Baron Cecil of Essendon (peer)
- main discoverer of the Gunpowder Plot
- 1605: became Lord Treasurer
- Was VS persecution for religion (tried to distinguish loyal & peaceful Roman Catholics and
those who organised plots)

• Thomas Tresham: Catholic landowner

- Known for having connection w/ Jesuit named Edmund Campion
- Wrote to Monteagle telling him not to attend the opening of Parliament that day

• Edward Coke: Attorney General for England & Wales + ally of Robert Cecil