HOORAY FOR KING JAMES I of ENGLAND
(and VII of SCOTLAND)
Shakespeare was very lucky that he was born and lived during the reigns of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and James I (1603-1625). Both of these monarchs were keen supporters of the new-style theatre, i.e. a secular theatre and not one dominated by the Church and its somewhat restrictive and religious influence.
In this blog, I will talk about King James. He was born in Scotland and was Mary, Queen of Scots' only child. His father was Henry Darnley, a nasty aristocrat who departed this life somewhat violently by being blown up one night. It is thought that the Earl of Bothwell, Mary's next husband and another nasty piece of work had something to do with Darnley's untimely demise.
James received a good education and in 1589 married, Anne, the daughter of Frederick II of Denmark. Even then the Scottish king (as James VI) enjoyed drama and the theatre and asked his cousin, Elizabeth I for the loan of 'for Her Majesties players for to repayer into Scotland.' When Elizabeth died at the ripe old age (for then) aged 70 in March 1603, James was invited by the English parliament to come south to London to become the new king as the (allegedly) Virgin Queen had not left any descendants.
King James' wife - Queen Anne of Denmark
One of the first things he did was to turn WS's acting company into the royal one, calling them the King's Men. Even though he'd taken them under his regal wing, he did not interfere in any way with their everyday management. However, his parliament did pass the 1606 Act of Abuses which imposed a stricter censorship of plays and also aimed to prevent the speaking of oaths on the stage.
King James was probably the most intellectual and academic of all of the English monarchy and regularly wrote treatises including one against witches and another against the evils of tobacco and smoking, a new fad that had started at the time. However, not everyone was impressed by this opinionated monarch and a French official called him 'the wisest fool in Christendom.'
James I tended to wear heavy padded clothing as a protection against being stabbed! - an act that had threatened his life several times while he was King of Scotland.
Physically, he was small and clumsy, tended to lean on people as his bandy legs didn't seem to support him and if he wasn't a homo, then he was known to have preferred young men and boys to women. One of his favourites was George Villiers, whom he made the Earl of Buckingham. In a letter to the newly created earl, James called him 'sweet child and wife.' It was said that his tongue was too large for his mouth and it tended to loll about and made his speech indistinct.
The Catholic community of England was pleased when he ascended the throne as they thought that as the Catholic son of the 'martyred' Mary, Queen of Scots, he would relax Queen Elizabeth's anti-Catholic laws. He did no such thing. When a group of Catholic aristocrats and others tried to kill him in the famous Gunpowder Plot (Nov 1605), he had them brought to trial and hanged the eight survivors after severely torturing their gunpowder 'technician,' Guy Fawkes.
The Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes, third from right, above.
(Right) Guy Fawkes about to set light to 36 barrels of gunpowder secretly stored in the cellars under the Parliament building.
Shakespeare, who may possibly have been a secret Catholic (a Catholic tract was later found in the attic of his parents' house in Stratford-upon-Avon) hinted about the Gunpowder Plot in the Porter's speech in Macbeth, but here, as in all of his plays, the Bard never expressed any political opinions. He didn't want to pay a long visit to the Tower of London's dungeons and he also wished to keep his head firmly fixed on his shoulders.
Two acts that James I carried out that annoyed many people included believing in the "Divine Right of Kings." This meant that his authority came directly from God and that he couldn't be questioned by mere men. This attitude was to get him into much trouble with his more democratic, power-seeking Parliament. Unfortunately, his son and successor, Charles I also inherited this idea and took it too far. In the end it cost him his life. At the end of the Civil War he was executed for war crimes against the nation in January 1649 - the only king to be put to death by Parliament.
James also annoyed Parliament and the people by the selling of baronetcies, a new rank he invented, for one thousand pounds at a time (about half a million pounds in today's money). He did so because as he ruled for long periods without Parliament and had to resort to this trick in order to raise money without imposing any more taxation.
He died in 1625 and there were rumours that he was poisoned. Although he was never popular, he probably died of kidney failure due to an unhealthy diet of too much food and wine. His legacy was two-fold. He turned the strong monarchy of Elizabeth I into a weakened institution which ultimately gave Parliament more power and he also supported our William's drama company. It was during James' reign that WS wrote:
King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Pericles, The Tempest, Henry VIII and more.
For comments: Facebook and: wsdavidyoung@gmail.com
Nest time: WS's rival - Ben Jonson
(and VII of SCOTLAND)
Shakespeare was very lucky that he was born and lived during the reigns of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and James I (1603-1625). Both of these monarchs were keen supporters of the new-style theatre, i.e. a secular theatre and not one dominated by the Church and its somewhat restrictive and religious influence.
In this blog, I will talk about King James. He was born in Scotland and was Mary, Queen of Scots' only child. His father was Henry Darnley, a nasty aristocrat who departed this life somewhat violently by being blown up one night. It is thought that the Earl of Bothwell, Mary's next husband and another nasty piece of work had something to do with Darnley's untimely demise.
James received a good education and in 1589 married, Anne, the daughter of Frederick II of Denmark. Even then the Scottish king (as James VI) enjoyed drama and the theatre and asked his cousin, Elizabeth I for the loan of 'for Her Majesties players for to repayer into Scotland.' When Elizabeth died at the ripe old age (for then) aged 70 in March 1603, James was invited by the English parliament to come south to London to become the new king as the (allegedly) Virgin Queen had not left any descendants.
One of the first things he did was to turn WS's acting company into the royal one, calling them the King's Men. Even though he'd taken them under his regal wing, he did not interfere in any way with their everyday management. However, his parliament did pass the 1606 Act of Abuses which imposed a stricter censorship of plays and also aimed to prevent the speaking of oaths on the stage.
King James was probably the most intellectual and academic of all of the English monarchy and regularly wrote treatises including one against witches and another against the evils of tobacco and smoking, a new fad that had started at the time. However, not everyone was impressed by this opinionated monarch and a French official called him 'the wisest fool in Christendom.'
Physically, he was small and clumsy, tended to lean on people as his bandy legs didn't seem to support him and if he wasn't a homo, then he was known to have preferred young men and boys to women. One of his favourites was George Villiers, whom he made the Earl of Buckingham. In a letter to the newly created earl, James called him 'sweet child and wife.' It was said that his tongue was too large for his mouth and it tended to loll about and made his speech indistinct.
The Catholic community of England was pleased when he ascended the throne as they thought that as the Catholic son of the 'martyred' Mary, Queen of Scots, he would relax Queen Elizabeth's anti-Catholic laws. He did no such thing. When a group of Catholic aristocrats and others tried to kill him in the famous Gunpowder Plot (Nov 1605), he had them brought to trial and hanged the eight survivors after severely torturing their gunpowder 'technician,' Guy Fawkes.
(Right) Guy Fawkes about to set light to 36 barrels of gunpowder secretly stored in the cellars under the Parliament building.
Shakespeare, who may possibly have been a secret Catholic (a Catholic tract was later found in the attic of his parents' house in Stratford-upon-Avon) hinted about the Gunpowder Plot in the Porter's speech in Macbeth, but here, as in all of his plays, the Bard never expressed any political opinions. He didn't want to pay a long visit to the Tower of London's dungeons and he also wished to keep his head firmly fixed on his shoulders.
Two acts that James I carried out that annoyed many people included believing in the "Divine Right of Kings." This meant that his authority came directly from God and that he couldn't be questioned by mere men. This attitude was to get him into much trouble with his more democratic, power-seeking Parliament. Unfortunately, his son and successor, Charles I also inherited this idea and took it too far. In the end it cost him his life. At the end of the Civil War he was executed for war crimes against the nation in January 1649 - the only king to be put to death by Parliament.
James also annoyed Parliament and the people by the selling of baronetcies, a new rank he invented, for one thousand pounds at a time (about half a million pounds in today's money). He did so because as he ruled for long periods without Parliament and had to resort to this trick in order to raise money without imposing any more taxation.
He died in 1625 and there were rumours that he was poisoned. Although he was never popular, he probably died of kidney failure due to an unhealthy diet of too much food and wine. His legacy was two-fold. He turned the strong monarchy of Elizabeth I into a weakened institution which ultimately gave Parliament more power and he also supported our William's drama company. It was during James' reign that WS wrote:
King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Pericles, The Tempest, Henry VIII and more.
For comments: Facebook and: wsdavidyoung@gmail.com
Nest time: WS's rival - Ben Jonson
