James I , The King Who United Scotland and England

James VI, who united England and Scotland under one crown and became James I in 1603, was a deep theological thinker and inspired a superstitious frenzy. He was a married family man and ruler who lavished indiscreet affection on a series of men. This book approaches James through the lens of his relationships with his major favorites, including Anglo-French lord Esme D Aubigny, Scottish squire Robert Carr, and George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. It also looks at his relationship with his wife, sponsorship of the arts, and contains a reappraisal of the first and most neglected historical mystery of his first reign, the Gowrie Conspiracy.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 06 April 2023
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd

The life of King James VI, who united England and Scotland under one crown and became James I in 1603, is marked by contradictions. Generally praised as a good king of Scotland and a poor English one, James was a deep theological thinker but also inspired a superstitious frenzy that resulted in the North Berwick witch hunt and trials in the 1590s. Scholar and pedant, he was in his own view God's appointed ruler, yet also a foul-mouthed sloven and forever tarnished with the title of the Wisest Fool in Christendom.

The most glaring contrast in his personal life was between his image as a married family man and as a ruler who lavished indiscreet affection on a series of men whom he invested with considerable power. This book approaches James through the lens of his relationships with his major favorites.

First was Anglo-French lord Esme D'Aubigny, then Scottish squire Robert Carr (later Earl of Somerset), and finally the consummate nobleman George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.

A king will have need to use secrecy in many things, the king wrote in one of his books. Although his private life was sometimes astonishingly visible, there are still many mysteries about James I as a man rather than a ruler. This work tracks the king's life from a barren childhood through a succession of plots, intrigues, and conspiracies in Scotland that largely forged or deformed his character. Beyond his complex and disputed connection with these men, the book looks at his relationship with his wife, sponsorship of the arts, and contains a reappraisal of the first and most neglected historical mystery of his first reign, the Gowrie Conspiracy.

Weight: 542g
Dimension: 239 x 166 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399093590