1603-1610: The Union of the Crowns & The King of Great Britain
King James I (reigned 1603 - 1625)
Succeeded the Scottish throne at only 13 months. Was not officially in control until 1583. Major advocate of a single parliament between England and Scotland. The first Stuart king of England. Only visited Scotland once in 1617. Sponsored a translation of the bible which was around for 250 years and proved to be very successful.
Succeeded the Scottish throne at only 13 months. Was not officially in control until 1583. Major advocate of a single parliament between England and Scotland. The first Stuart king of England. Only visited Scotland once in 1617. Sponsored a translation of the bible which was around for 250 years and proved to be very successful.
24th March 1603 - Union of the Crowns
In 1603, James VI of Scotland was declared the new King after the death of Queen Elizabeth I on 24th March. Despite Henry VIII’s act of Parliament in 1543 that stated any of Margaret Tudor’s descendants (James VI being one of them) were unable to take the throne, the act was completely ignored partly due to good relations between James and England and the ‘’union of the crowns’ was achieved with deceptive ease.’[1] England were also keen to proclaim James VI as the new king because he was Protestant and offered the promise of two male heirs.
19th May 1603 - 19th March 1604 – Proclamation of England and Scotland
King James VI proclaims the union of England and Scotland. James’s vision was to have a ‘perfect union’, meaning ‘he wanted a ‘union of hearts and minds’ which would merge his peoples into one and pave the way for a full institutional union.’[2] However, the English Parliament were very hostile towards the idea of a union, despite James’s proclamation, and during James’s first session of Parliament for debates on the union of the kingdoms, judges felt that for a union to happen, England as it is would have to be dissolved and along with it, all the established laws in force and it quickly became apparent that a union would not be as forthright as King James first hoped.
20th October 1604 - The King of Great Britain
King James assumes the name of King of Great Britain - King James VI goes ahead without the consent of parliament and ‘issued a proclamation assuming the ‘name and style of King of Great Britain’’.[3] Realising the hostility from the English government towards the idea of a union, James takes up a more ‘gradualist’ strategy towards the union and in a letter to Cecil, he writes ‘the full accomplishment of the Union… should be left to the maturity of time, which must piece by piece take away the distinction of nations as it hath already done here between England and Wales.’[4]
April 12th 1606 - The Union Flag
King James VI proclaims a single ‘Union Flag’ for England and Scotland. Photocopy diagram of flag designs from the book to support this point.
November 1606 - July 1607 - Sessions in Parliament
These sessions in parliament highlighted just how hostile the English were towards the union of England and Scotland because ‘when the commissioners of both nations recommended the abolition of mutually hostile laws and the freeing of trade between the two kingdoms, prolonged and bitter debate ensued.’[5] The main debate and worry amongst the English was that the prosperous England at the time would suffer Scotland’s poverty if many Scots attempt to move to England in search of wealth and ‘serious proposals for union in effect came to an end with the parliamentary session in July 1607.
[1] David L. Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles 1603-1707, (Blackwell Publishers: Oxford, 1998), p. 5.
[2] Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, p. 24.
[3] Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, p. 25.
[4] Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, p. 25.
[5] Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, p. 25.
[2] Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, p. 24.
[3] Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, p. 25.
[4] Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, p. 25.
[5] Smith, A History of the Modern British Isles, p. 25.