Author: W. B. Patterson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2000-09-14
Total Pages: 432
ISBN-13: 9780521793858
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This book shows King James VI and I, king of Scotland and England, in an unaccustomed light. Long regarded as inept, pedantic, and whimsical, James is shown here as an astute and far-sighted statesman whose reign was focused on achieving a permanent union between his two kingdoms and a peaceful and stable community of nations throughout Europe.
Author: Alan Stewart
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2011-10-31
Total Pages: 458
ISBN-13: 1448104572
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →As the son of Mary Queen of Scots, born into her 'bloody nest', James had the most precarious of childhoods. Even before his birth, his life was threatened: it was rumoured that his father, Henry, had tried to make the pregnant Mary miscarry by forcing her to witness the assassination of her supposed lover, David Riccio. By the time James was one year old, Henry was murdered, possibly with the connivance of Mary; Mary was in exile in England; and James was King of Scotland. By the age of five, he had experienced three different regents as the ancient dynasties of Scotland battled for power and made him a virtual prisoner in Stirling Castle. In fact, James did not set foot outside the confines of Stirling until he was eleven, when he took control of his country. But even with power in his hands, he would never feel safe. For the rest of his life, he would be caught up in bitter struggles between the warring political and religious factions who sought control over his mind and body. Yet James believed passionately in the divine right of kings, as many of his writings testify. He became a seasoned political operator, carefully avoiding controversy, even when his mother Mary was sent to the executioner by Elizabeth I. His caution and politicking won him the English throne on Elizabeth's death in 1603 and he rapidly set about trying to achieve his most ardent ambition: the Union of the two kingdoms. Alan Stewart's impeccably researched new biography makes brilliant use of original sources to bring to life the conversations and the controversies of the Jacobean age. From James's 'inadvised' relationships with a series of favourites and Gentlemen of the Bedchamber to his conflicts with a Parliament which refused to fit its legislation to the Monarch's will, Stewart lucidly untangles the intricacies of James's life. In doing so, he uncovers the extent to which Charles I's downfall was caused by the cracks that appeared in the monarchy during his father's reign.
Author: Steven Veerapen
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
Published: 2023-09-07
Total Pages: 484
ISBN-13: 1788856406
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England and Ireland, has long endured a mixed reputation. To many, he is simply the homosexual King, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless man behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or the drooling fool whose speech could barely be understood. For too long, he has paled in comparison to his more celebrated Tudor and Stuart forebears. But who was he really? To what extent have myth, anecdote, and rumour obscured him? In this new and ground-breaking biography, James's story is laid bare and a welter of scurrilous, outrageous assumptions penned by his political opponents put to rest. What emerges is a portrait of Elizabeth I's successor as his contemporaries knew him: a gregarious, idealistic man obsessed with the idea of family, whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality. With reference to letters, libels and state papers, it casts fresh light on the personal, domestic, international and sexual politics of this misunderstood sovereign. 'A real page-turner for lovers of history' - Philippa Gregory
Author: Fiona Reynoldson
Publisher: Heinemann
Published: 1998
Total Pages: 102
ISBN-13: 9780435309770
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Living Through History is a complete Key Stage 3 course which brings out the exciting events in history. The course is available in two different editions, Core and Foundation. Every core title in the series has a parallel Foundation edition. Each Evaluation Pack includes the Assessment and Resource Pack and a free compendium volume student book. The resource packs include a variety of tasks which students should find interesting and enjoyable. They also include differentiated exercises to provide support for less able students and challenging work for more able students. Assessment exercises for the compulsory study units aim to help teachers monitor progress through NC levels.
Author: Nigel Kelly
Publisher: Heinemann
Published: 1998
Total Pages: 166
ISBN-13: 9780435309596
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Living Through History is a complete Key Stage 3 course which brings out the exciting events in history. The course is available in two different editions, Core and Foundation. Every Core title in the series has a parallel Foundation edition, and both are supported by teachers' packs.
Author: Diana Newton
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 184
ISBN-13: 9780861932726
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →A new look at the beginning of James VI and I's reign in England, arguing for a reappraisal of his capabilities as a monarch. The early years of the reign of James VI and I have been much examined, but this book takes a new approach, via an overall survey rather than focussing on what are traditionally perceived as the most important moments, such as theHampton Court Conference and the Gunpowder Plot. This enables the author to show how circumstances and events immediately after James' accession were crucial to shaping his approach to ruling England, and provides a fresh understanding of his reign in England. Unusually, the book draws on both English and Scottish sources, governmental and ecclesiastical, and makes extensive use of central and local records, in order to illustrate how the king managed the Elizabethan legacy he inherited by reference to his Scottish experience. The author argues that after initial misunderstandings, James proved himself to be a king of real political acumen, as he supervised foreign policy, finance, local government and religious policy in England whilst simultaneously ruling Scotland as an absentee monarch. DIANA NEWTON is Research Fellow at the University of Teeside.