Editing James VI and I (section)

==Childhood==

===Birth===
[[File:King James I of England and VI of Scotland by Arnold van Brounckhorst.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Portrait of James as a boy, after [[Arnold Bronckorst]], 1574]]

James was the only son of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], and her second husband, [[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley]]. Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of [[Henry VII of England]] through [[Margaret Tudor]], the older sister of [[Henry VIII]]. Mary's rule over Scotland was insecure, and she and her husband, being [[Roman Catholic Church in Scotland|Roman Catholics]], faced a rebellion by [[Protestant]] noblemen. During Mary's and Darnley's difficult marriage,<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=236–237, 241–242, 270}}; {{Harvnb|Willson|1963|p=13}}.</ref> Darnley secretly allied himself with the rebels and conspired in the murder of the queen's private secretary, [[David Rizzio]], just three months before James's birth.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=248–250}}; {{Harvnb|Willson|1963|p=16}}.</ref>

James was born on 19 June 1566 at [[Edinburgh Castle]], and as the eldest son and [[heir apparent]] of the monarch automatically became [[Duke of Rothesay]] and [[Prince of Scotland|Prince]] and [[Great Steward of Scotland]]. Five days later, the English diplomat [[Henry Killigrew (diplomat)|Henry Killigrew]] saw the queen, who had not fully recovered and could only speak faintly. The baby was "sucking at his nurse" and was "well proportioned and like to prove a goodly prince".<ref>Joseph Bain, ''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 290.</ref> He was [[Baptism of James VI|baptised]] "Charles James" or "James Charles" on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at [[Stirling Castle]]. His godparents were [[Charles IX of France]] (represented by [[John III, Count of Ligny|John, Count of Brienne]]), [[Elizabeth I of England]] (represented by the [[Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford|Francis Russell, Earl of Bedford]]), and [[Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy]] (represented by ambassador [[Philibert du Croc]]).{{Efn|As the Earl of Bedford was a Protestant, his place in the ceremony was taken by [[Lady Jean Stewart|Jean, Countess of Argyll]].{{Sfn|Willson|1963|p=17}} }} Mary refused to let the [[John Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews)|Archbishop of St Andrews]], whom she referred to as "a pocky priest", spit in the child's mouth, as was then the custom.{{Sfn|Donaldson|1974|p=99}} The [[Baptism of James VI|subsequent entertainment]], devised by Frenchman [[Bastian Pagez]], featured men dressed as satyrs and sporting tails, to which the English guests took offence, thinking the satyrs "done against them".{{Sfn|Thomson|1827|pp=171–172}}

[[Murder of Lord Darnley|Lord Darnley was murdered]] on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o' Field, Edinburgh, perhaps in revenge for the killing of Rizzio. James inherited his father's titles of [[Duke of Albany]] and [[Earl of Ross]]. Mary was already unpopular, and her marriage on 15 May 1567 to [[James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell]], who was widely suspected of murdering Darnley, heightened widespread bad feeling towards her.{{Efn|Elizabeth I wrote to Mary: "My ears have been so astounded, my mind so disturbed and my heart so appalled at hearing the horrible report of the abominable murder of your late husband and my slaughtered cousin, that I can scarcely as yet summon the spirit to write about it ... I will not conceal from you that people for the most part are saying that you will look through your fingers at this deed instead of avenging it and that you don't care to take action against those who have done you this pleasure." Historian [[John Guy (historian)|John Guy]] nonetheless concludes: "Not a single piece of uncontaminated evidence has ever been found to show that Mary had foreknowledge of Darnley's murder".{{Sfn|Guy|2004|pp=312–313}} In historian David Harris Willson's view, however: "That Bothwell was the murderer no one can doubt; and that Mary was his accomplice seems equally certain."{{Sfn|Willson|1963|p=18}} }} In June 1567, Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in [[Lochleven Castle]]; she never saw her son again. She was forced to [[Act Anent the demission of the Crown in favour of our Sovereign Lord, and his Majesty's Coronation 1567|abdicate on 24 July 1567]] in favour of the infant James and to appoint her illegitimate half-brother [[James Stewart, Earl of Moray]], as [[regent]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|2004|pp=364–365}}; {{Harvnb|Willson|1963|p=19}}.</ref> This made James the third consecutive Scottish monarch to ascend to the throne as an infant.

===Regencies===

[[File:Mary Stuart James.jpg|thumb|James (right) depicted aged 17 beside his mother, 1583. In reality, they were separated when he was still a baby.]]

The care of James was entrusted to the [[John Erskine, Earl of Mar (died 1572)|Earl]] and [[Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar|Countess of Mar]], "to be conserved, nursed, and upbrought"<ref>Letter of Mary to Mar, 29 March 1567, quoted by {{Harvnb|Stewart|2003|p=27}}: "Suffer nor admit no noblemen of our realm or any others, of what condition soever they be of, to enter or come within our said Castle or to the presence of our said dearest son, with any more persons but two or three at the most."</ref> in the security of Stirling Castle.<ref>{{Harvnb|Stewart|2003|p=33}}; {{Harvnb|Willson|1963|p=18}}.</ref> James was [[Coronation of James VI|anointed King of Scotland]] at the age of thirteen months at the [[Church of the Holy Rude]] in Stirling, by [[Adam Bothwell]], [[Bishop of Orkney]], on 29 July 1567.{{Sfn|Croft|2003|p=11}} The sermon at the [[Coronation#Scotland|coronation]] was preached by [[John Knox]].{{Sfn|Courtney|2024|p=18}} In accordance with the religious beliefs of most of the Scottish ruling class, James was brought up as a member of the Protestant [[Church of Scotland]], the Kirk. The [[Privy Council of Scotland|Privy Council]] selected [[George Buchanan]], [[Peter Young (tutor)|Peter Young]], [[Adam Erskine]] (lay [[abbot of Cambuskenneth]]), and [[David Erskine, Commendator of Dryburgh|David Erskine]] (lay [[abbot of Dryburgh]]) as James's [[preceptor]]s or tutors.{{Sfn|Willson|1963|p=19}} As the young king's senior tutor, Buchanan subjected James to regular beatings but also instilled in him a lifelong passion for literature and learning.{{Sfn|Croft|2003|pp=12–13}} Buchanan sought to turn James into a God-fearing, Protestant king who accepted the limitations of monarchy, as outlined in his [[treatise]] ''De Jure Regni apud Scotos''.{{Sfn|Croft|2003|pp=13, 18}}

In 1568, Mary escaped from Lochleven Castle, leading to several years of sporadic violence. The Earl of Moray defeated Mary's troops at the [[Battle of Langside]], forcing her to flee to England, where she was subsequently kept in confinement by Elizabeth. On 23 January 1570, Moray was assassinated by [[James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh]].<ref>[[Spottiswoode, John]] (1851), ''History of the Church in Scotland'', Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofchurcho02spot#page/120/mode/2up vol. 2, p. 120].</ref> The next regent was James's paternal grandfather, [[Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox|Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox]], who was carried fatally wounded into Stirling Castle a year later after a raid by Mary's supporters.{{Sfn|Croft|2003|p=13}} His successor, the Earl of Mar, "took a vehement sickness" and died on 28 October 1572 at Stirling. Mar's illness, wrote [[James Melville of Halhill|James Melville]], followed a banquet at [[Dalkeith Palace]] given by [[James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton|James Douglas, Earl of Morton]].{{Sfn|Thomson|1827|pp= 248–249}}

Morton was elected to Mar's office and proved in many ways the most effective of James's regents,<ref>{{Harvnb|Stewart|2003|p=45}}; {{Harvnb|Willson|1963|pp=28–29}}.</ref> but he made enemies by his rapacity.{{Sfn|Croft|2003|p=15}} He fell from favour when Frenchman [[Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox|Esmé Stewart, Sieur d'Aubigny]], first cousin of James's father Lord Darnley and future [[Earl of Lennox]], arrived in Scotland and quickly established himself as the first of James's powerful favourites.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lockyer|1998|pp=11–12}}; {{Harvnb|Stewart|2003|pp=51–63}}.</ref> James was proclaimed an adult ruler in a [[Entry of James VI into Edinburgh|ceremony of Entry to Edinburgh]] on 19 October 1579.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wiggins |first1=Martin |title=British Drama 1533–1642: A Catalogue |last2=Richardson |first2=Catherine |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-1992-6572-5 |volume=II: 1567–1589 |pages=242–244 |ol=25969471M}}</ref> Morton was executed on 2 June 1581, belatedly charged with complicity in Darnley's murder.<ref>[[David Calderwood]] quoted by {{Harvnb|Stewart|2003|p=63}}: "So ended this nobleman, one of the chief instruments of the reformation; a defender of the same, and of the King in his minority, for the which he is now unthankfully dealt with."</ref> On 8 August, James made Lennox the only duke in Scotland.{{Sfn|Stewart|2003|p=63}} The king, then fifteen years old, remained under the influence of Lennox for about one more year.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lockyer|1998|pp=13–15}}; {{Harvnb|Willson|1963|p=35}}.</ref>