Author Description

James VI and I (James Stuart) (1566-1625) was King of Scots, King of England, and King of Ireland. He was the first to style himself King of Great Britain. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567; from the 'Union of the Crowns', he ruled in England and Ireland as James I, from 24 March 1603 until his death. He was the first monarch of England from the House of Stuart, succeeding the last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He was a successful monarch in Scotland, but experienced difficulties in England. He was involved in many conflicts with the more active and hostile English Parliament. He was a talented scholar, writing works such as Daemonologie (1597), The True Law of Free Monarchies (1598), Basilikon Doron (1599), and A Counter-Blaste to Tobacco (1604). King James was known by the epithet "the wisest fool in Christendom. "