KING JAMES VI & I
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
1566 James Charles Stuart is born at Edinburgh castle in Scotland to Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots. 1567 James' father is killed. Soon afterwards, Mary Queen of Scots is forced to abdicate the Scottish throne due to her suspected involvement in the murder. Little James is crowned King James VI of Scotland at 13 months old. John Knox preaches the sermon at his coronation. 1587 After 19 years of imprisonment in England, Mary Queen of Scots is executed for her part in a Roman Catholic conspiracy to assassinate her cousin Queen Elizabeth I in order to gain control of the English throne. 1589 James marries Anne of Denmark--first by proxy and then in person. The couple will eventually beget nine children, most of whom will die in early childhood. 1603 Upon the death of Elizabeth I, James accedes to the English throne. He is now King James VI of Scotland and I of England. He calls his new kingdom, "Great Britain." 1604 James holds the Hampton Court Conference in order to hear of, "things pretended to be amiss in the church." It is here that King James agrees that a new translation of the scriptures is in order. He appoints 54 men to the translation work. The translators will divide into six groups that meet at Cambridge, Oxford, and Westminster. 1605 Discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, a Roman Catholic conspiracy to blow up James and Parliament. Guido (Guy) Fawkes, Jesuits Garnet and Owldcorne, and other conspirators are tried and executed. 1606 In response to Roman Catholic recusancy, Parliament issues legislation that includes an Oath of Allegiance. Ensuing controversy over the Oath will rage across Europe. 1607 Colonists sent by the Virginia Company arrive in Jamestowne, Virginia. Jamestowne (James' namesake) will go on to become the first permanent English settlement on the American mainland—thereby making King James VI & I the founding monarch of the United States. 1611 The Authorized (King James) Version of the scriptures is published. 1612 Prince Henry, James' eldest son and heir apparent, dies at 18 years of age. James has the body of Mary Queen of Scots interred in Westminster Abbey in London.
1616 The Workes, a collection of the king's writings, is published. 1618 James issues The Kings Maiesties Declaration to His Subjects Concerning Lawfull Sports to be Used∗ in response to the Puritan practice of barring their fellow citizens from lawful recreations on Sundays. 1619 James' wife, Queen Anne, dies. 1620 Two meditations are appended to The Workes--A Meditation Vpon the Lords Prayer; and, A Meditation Vpon the 27. 28. 29. Verses of the XXVII Chapter of Saint Matthew Or a Paterne for a Kings Inavgvration. 1625 King James VI & I dies and his adult son accedes to the throne as Charles I. On a cold day in January 1649, King Charles I will be executed by order of Puritan Oliver Cromwell and other insurgents after their takeover of the British government.