What James I wisest fool in Christendom

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• What James I wisest fool in Christendom?

James as a young boy
James VI I
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Appearance

• large ugly nose, small, mean mouth, thin brown
  beard
• Bow-legged and walked clumsily, often needed
  support of an attendant
• High pitched voice with strong Scottish accent

Miniature of James by Nicholas Hilliard
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Character

• Alcoholic
• Preferred hunting to government
• Terrified of assassination - knife-proof jacket
• Personal habits food spilt from his mouth,
  picked his nose, rarely washed due to skin
  disease
• Well-educated - published books on music,
  kingship and witchcraft

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Patronage

• Great lover of music and the arts
• Architecture, e.g. Banqueting House designed by
  Inigo Jones
• Paintings, e.g. Rubens ceilings for Banqueting
  House
• Writers like Shakespeare and Jonson wrote about
  him, e.g. Macbeth

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Money

• Under Elizabeth I, royal household spent 9,500
  p.a.
• Under James I, royal household spent 35,000 p.a.
• Increased use of monopolies on everything from
  belts, buttons and butter to currants, coaches
  and coal

Gold coins from the reign of James
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Parliament

• Scottish Parliament weak
• English Parliament more closely involved in
  business of government under Henry VIII and
  Elizabeth I
• James preferred to work with favourites, e.g.
  Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham
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Religion

• Puritans wanted to make England even more
  Protestant some Puritans left England Pilgrim
  Fathers (1620)
• Feared Catholic plots against him Gunpowder
  Plot (1605) challenged by historians
• Divine Right of Kings
• Hampton Court Conference Authorised Version of
  Bible (1611)

The Gunpowder plotters
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? Task 1

• Write a school report on James I, describing his
  strengths and areas for development
• You might want to mention the following subjects
  and link them to aspects of his reign English
  Business Studies Politics Modern Foreign
  Languages R.E. History
• Include a headteachers overall report and a grade

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? Task 2

• Write a brief speech either attacking or
  defending the divine right of kings
• You might want to refer to sections in the
  sources
• Think about the language you use in order to be
  as persuasive as possible
• Identify the weaknesses in your opponents
  arguments
• Think about your tone of voice and body language
  when delivering the speech

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? Task 3

• The Sunday Times newspaper has a regular feature
  entitled A Day in the Life of . A journalist
  shadows a celebrity for a day and records events,
  conversations, encounters with others that
  reflect the character of their celebrity and are
  typical of the things they usually get up to.
  Write a similar article based on the life of
  James I.

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patronage

• A patron of the arts is someone who pays
  artists, writers, musicians and others to produce
  work for them. For example, James asked Inigo
  Jones, an architect to design the new Banqueting
  House for him.

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assassination

• Murder of important person for political
  reasons. James was worried Catholic assassins
  might kill him and put a Catholic ruler on the
  throne.

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royal household

• The staff who worked in the royal palaces, e.g.
  the maidservants, grooms, chamberlains etc.

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puritans

• Extreme Protestants, who thought that the Church
  and its services should be much plainer and there
  should be even greater emphasis on the Bible and
  preaching the word of God.