James I, born June 19, 1566, was the King of England, Great Britain, and was Scotland 's short-lived king. James was known to be a controversial ruler and was hated by Parliament. He thought he had the “divine right” to rule England and the rest of its territories. Divine right means to have been given power by God, himself. James I was first born the king of Scotland but James I became king of England after Queen Elizabeth died. (For more information on Queen Elizabeth, go to her section). James I, was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots and Scottish nobleman Henry Stewart Darnley. James I became the king of Scotland at only 13 months old after his mother was dethroned and captured by the English (James I, n.d.). Because of his immense power he …show more content…
He followed her every word to get closer to the crown, but one: James married Anne, the crowned princess of Denmark, whereas Elizabeth wanted to choose his wife. On Elizabeth’s deathbed, she crowned James the king of England. After this James was as happy as could be, whereas the people were skeptical. Because he was Mary’s son, the Catholics thought that he would stop their persecution and side with their religion, and the Puritans thought he would side with the Catholic religion as well. Because of this, Puritans were saying that James was a corrupt, lazy, coward to try to discredit him as a ruler. But, James was actually for the Puritans, so when the people learned of this, Catholics got very upset. This led to the Gunpowder Plot which was a plot to destroy Parliament at an event that included James and a few people from noble factions in one foul swoop. Their plan was foiled before the meeting between James I and Parliament, and the people responsible were punished. After this plot, many people were left wondering if the country would have been better of if James I and Parliament and gone up in flames. ( (Go read more in the Main Events