Editing James VI and I (section)

{{Short description|King of Scotland from 1567 to 1625, King of England and Ireland from 1603}}
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{{Use British English|date=May 2020}}
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{{Infobox royalty
| image        = JamesIEngland.jpg
| caption      = Portrait attributed to [[John de Critz]], {{circa| 1605}}
| succession   = [[King of England]] and [[Monarchy of Ireland|Ireland]]
| moretext     = ([[Styles of English and Scottish sovereigns|more...]])
| reign        = {{Nowrap|24 March 1603 – 27 March 1625}}
| coronation   = 25 July 1603
| cor-type     = [[Coronation of James I and Anne|Coronation]]
| predecessor  = [[Elizabeth I]]
| successor    = [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]
| succession1  = [[King of Scotland]]
| moretext1    = ([[Styles of Scottish sovereigns|more...]])
| reign1       = {{Nowrap|24 July 1567 – 27 March 1625}}
| coronation1  = 29 July 1567
| cor-type1    = [[Coronation of James VI|Coronation]]
| predecessor1 = [[Mary, Queen of Scots|Mary]]
| regent1      = {{Collapsible list|title={{Nobold|''See list''}}
| [[James Stewart, Earl of Moray]] (1567{{Nbnd}}1570)
| [[Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox|Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox]] (1570{{Nbnd}}1571)
| [[John Erskine, Earl of Mar (died 1572)|John Erskine, Earl of Mar]] (1571{{Nbnd}}1572)
| [[James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton|James Douglas, Earl of Morton]] (1572{{Nbnd}}1579)}}
| reg-type1    = Regents
| successor1   = [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]
| spouse       = {{Marriage|[[Anne of Denmark]]|20 August 1589|2 March 1619|reason=d}}
| issue        = {{Plainlist|
* [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales]]
* [[Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia]]
* [[Margaret Stuart (1598–1600)|Margaret]]
* [[Charles I, King of England]]
* [[Robert, Duke of Kintyre and Lorne]]
* [[Mary Stuart (1605–1607)|Mary]]
* [[Sophia Stuart|Sophia]]
}}
| issue-link   = #Issue
| issue-pipe   = more...
| house        = [[House of Stuart|Stuart]]
| father       = [[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley]]
| mother       = [[Mary, Queen of Scots]]
| full name    = James Charles Stuart
| birth_date   = 19 June 1566
| birth_place  = [[Edinburgh Castle]], Edinburgh, [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]]
| death_date   = 27 March 1625 (aged 58)
| death_place  = [[Theobalds House]], Hertfordshire, [[Kingdom of England|England]]
| burial_date  = 7 May 1625
| burial_place = [[Westminster Abbey]]
| signature    = James I of England signature.svg
| alt          = James's signature
}}
'''James VI and I''' (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was [[King of Scotland]] as '''James VI''' from 24 July 1567 and [[King of England]] and [[King of Ireland|Ireland]] as '''James I''' from the [[union of the Scottish and English crowns]] on 24&nbsp;March 1603 until [[Death and funeral of James VI and I|his death]] in 1625. Although he long tried to get both countries to adopt a closer political union, the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of England|England]] remained [[sovereign state]]s, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, ruled by James in [[personal union]]. 

James was the son of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], and a great-great-grandson of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]], King of England and Lord of Ireland, and thus a potential successor to all three thrones. He acceded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother was forced to [[abdicate]] in his favour. Although his mother was a Catholic, James was brought up as a Protestant. Four [[regent]]s governed during his [[Minor (law)|minority]], which ended officially in 1578, though he did not gain full control of his government until 1583. In 1589, he married [[Anne of Denmark]]. Three of their children survived to adulthood: [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales|Henry Frederick]], [[Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia|Elizabeth]], and [[Charles I of England|Charles]]. In 1603, James [[Succession to Elizabeth I|succeeded his cousin Elizabeth I]], the last [[House of Tudor|Tudor]] monarch of England and Ireland, who died childless. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known as the [[Jacobean era]], until his death in 1625. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England (the largest of the three realms) from 1603, returning to Scotland only once, in 1617, and [[Style (form of address)|styled]] himself "[[King of Great Britain and Ireland]]". He advocated for a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the [[Plantation of Ulster]] and [[English colonisation of the Americas]] began.

At 57 years and 246 days, James's reign in Scotland was the [[List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign#Scotland|longest of any Scottish monarch]]. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced great difficulties in England, including the [[Gunpowder Plot]] in 1605 and conflicts with the [[English Parliament]]. Under James, the "Golden Age" of [[Elizabethan literature]] and drama continued, with writers such as [[William Shakespeare]], [[John Donne]], [[Ben Jonson]], and [[Francis Bacon]] contributing to a flourishing literary culture.{{Sfn|Milling|2004|p=155}} James was a prolific writer, authoring works such as ''[[Daemonologie]]'' (1597), ''[[The True Law of Free Monarchies]]'' (1598), and ''[[Basilikon Doron]]'' (1599).<ref>{{Harvnb|Fischlin|Fortier|2002|p=39}}</ref> He sponsored the [[translation of the Bible]] into English (later named after him, the [[Authorized King James Version]]), and the [[Book of Common Prayer (1604)|1604 revision]] of the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Rhodes|Richards|Marshall|2003|p=1}}: "James VI and I was the most writerly of British monarchs. He produced original poetry, as well as translation and a treatise on poetics; works on witchcraft and tobacco; meditations and commentaries on the [[Scriptures]]; a manual on kingship; works of [[political theory]]; and, of course, speeches to parliament ... He was the patron of Shakespeare, Jonson, Donne, and the translators of the "Authorized version" of the Bible, surely the greatest concentration of literary talent ever to enjoy royal sponsorship in England."</ref><ref name="OxClass">{{Cite book |title=The Book of Common Prayer: The Texts of 1549, 1559, and 1662 |date=2011 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |editor-last=[[Brian Cummings (academic)|Cummings, Brian]] |series=[[Oxford World's Classics]] |location=[[Oxford]] |page=737}}</ref> Contemporary courtier [[Anthony Weldon]] claimed that James had been termed "the wisest fool in [[Christendom]]" (wise in small things, foolish otherwise) an epithet associated with his character ever since.<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|2003|p=238}}: "The label 'the wisest fool in Christendom', often attributed to [[Henry IV of France]] but possibly coined by Anthony Weldon, catches James's paradoxical qualities very neatly"; Anthony Weldon (1651), ''The Court and Character of King James I'', quoted by {{Harvnb|Stroud|1999|p=27}}: "A very wise man was wont to say that he believed him the wisest fool in Christendom, meaning him wise in small things, but a fool in weighty affairs."</ref> Since the latter half of the 20th century, historians have tended to revise James's reputation and treat him as a serious and thoughtful monarch.<ref>{{Harvnb|Croft|2003|p=6}}: "Historians have returned to reconsidering James as a serious and intelligent ruler"; {{Harvnb|Lockyer|1998|pp=4–6}}; {{Harvnb|Smith|2003|p=238}}: "In contrast to earlier historians, recent research on his reign has tended to emphasize the wisdom and downplay the foolishness".</ref> He was strongly committed to a peace policy, and tried to avoid involvement in [[religious war]]s, especially the [[Thirty Years' War]] that devastated much of Central Europe. He tried but failed to prevent the rise of hawkish elements in the English Parliament who wanted war with Spain.<ref>{{Harvnb|Davies|1959|pp=47–57}}</ref> The first English king of the [[House of Stuart]], he was succeeded by his second son, Charles I.