James I, The King Who United Scotland and England by Keith Coleman - #BookReview @penswordbooks

 

The king's first child, and his great hope as the rightful ruler of the two island kingdoms, Prince Henry, was born in Stirling Castle in February 1594. The great hopes of the father were set down in the Basilikon Doron, the 'royal gift,' an extended missive to Henry which the king published when his son was five. As he grew, it seemed to some that Prince Henry was everything that his father was not: comely in appearance, attractive in personality, upright in morality. In later years, after the shady favouritism of his father's court and the weakness of his brother, Charles, as king, there was a retrospective urge to idealise the lost prince who died before maturity...

***

The life of King James VI who united England and Scotland under one crown and became James I in 1603 is marked by contradictions. Generally praised as a good king of Scotland and a poor English one, James was a deep theological thinker, but he also inspired a superstitious frenzy which resulted in the North Berwick witch hunt and trials in the 1590s. Scholar and pedant, he was in his own view God’s appointed ruler, yet also a foul mouthed sloven and forever tarnished with the title of the Wisest Fool in Christendom.

The most glaring contrast in his personal life was between his image as a married family man and as a ruler who lavished indiscreet affection on a series of men whom he invested with considerable power. This book approaches James through the lens of his relationships with his major favourites. First was Anglo-French lord Esme D’Aubigny, then Scottish squire Robert Carr (later Earl of Somerset), and finally the consummate nobleman George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. ‘A king will have need to use secrecy in many things,’ the king wrote in one of his books. Although his private life was sometimes astonishingly visible, there are still many mysteries about James I as a man rather than a ruler.

This work tracks the king’s life from a barren childhood through a succession of plots, intrigues and conspiracies in Scotland which largely forged, or deformed, his character. Beyond his complex and disputed connection with these men the book looks at his relationship with his wife, sponsorship of the arts, and contains a reappraisal of the first and most neglected historical mystery of his first reign, the Gowrie Conspiracy.

***

If I wandered into a bookshop, any bookshop, and browsed the history shelves I suspect that I would find the section on British royalty dominated by the Tudors. That is not a criticism as it was an extremely interesting period of history. Comparitively, I wonder how many books on the Stuarts I would find? This is certainly one such book that should feature on those shelves. 

It is rich in scope and whilst it discusses those events pertinent to King James VI/I's reign in England (1603 - 1625), the author offers something a little different in his book. The witch hunts, the Gowrie conspiracy and his unification of Scotland and England into a United Kingdom are all expectedly there. 

However, we learn much about King James the man. Mr. Coleman portrays the contradictory lifestyle led by James VI/I. On one hand, he portrayed himself as a husband and father. On the other, he openly displayed and elevated a series of 'favourites,' all men who were believed to be his bedfellows. As an historically apparent homosexual, (although the author explains that the concept of homosexuality was not the same as we understand it today)  he would still have been expected to fill the royal nursery and provide the country with an heir.

Mr. Coleman's book has been extensively researched and is presented in an accesible manner. I have read many books on this period in history and this is an excellent addition to the canon. It is suitable for those who are already familiar with Stuart history or to those who are new to the period. It explains much about King James himself and would entice a reader to find out more about the historical events of the period. It is an excellent book which I highly recommend.

ISBN: 978 1399093590

Publisher:  Pen & Sword History

Formats:  e-book, hardback

No. of Pages:  240 (hardback)

About the Author:

Keith Coleman has a MA degree in Celto-Roman Studies from the University of Wales, Newport. His book Aedán of the Gaels: King of Scots (Pen & Sword Books, 2022) was his latest long-term study of the legends and history of the Scottish kings. He is also the author of The Afterlife of Kings James IV, Otherworld Legends of A Scottish King (Chronos Books, 2019) and maintain several blogs about the legends and history of Scotland and its kings. He is currently working on a book on latter day Jacobites to be published by Pen & Sword.

(author photo courtesy of Amazon)

(ARC courtesy of NetGalley)

(author bio courtesy of Pen & Sword)