Sat 21 Jun 2008
Tristan asked:
James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. Did he convert when he succeeded Elizabeth 1?
James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. Did he convert when he succeeded Elizabeth 1?
June 22nd, 2008 at 2:52 am
“…in accordance with the religious beliefs of most of the Scottish ruling class, James was brought up as a member of the Protestant national Church of Scotland, his education supervised by historian and poet George Buchanan, who subjected him to regular beatings but also instilled in him a lifelong passion for literature and learning.”
This is from Wikipedia, but the statement is footnoted as being from a book titled King James, by Pauline Croft.
So no, he didn’t convert. He was raised Protestant.
June 22nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
No he was already a Protestant, which is why he was chosen to be king of England. Elizabeth was Protestant, her sister Mary was Catholic.
King James Bible
Mary Queen of Scots
Google
Wikipedia
Your textbook
June 24th, 2008 at 12:19 am
ooo no. That kind of thing didn’t really happen, the monarch unilaterally decinding to convert to another faith as they were supposed to be god’s representative on earth. Until, of course, Henry VIII came along, the polygamous chauvinist who wanted a divorce. The pope forbade it and Henry decided to create his own church which he was the head honcho of, ie Church of England. But, in the end Elizabeth I succeeded Henry and she was pretty liberal about religion adopting the sensible view that people can believe whatever they wish as long as they don’t oppose her. Course, MAry Queen of Scots, defiant to the last, did oppose her for the crown and was a devout Catholic and many catholics were being arbitrarily burned at the stake around about that time. Anyway, mary beheaded, against Elizabeths better judgement, her son James I, the first in the line of the Stewarts, was always going to be a protestant at a time when catholics were persecuted and especially after the wanton begaviour of his mad old lady. It was sort of the official government line on the matter.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
As has already been pointed out by other responses, no, James did not convert to Protestantism. He was raised as a Protestant. However, it is interesting to note that his mother (Mary, Queen of Scots) was a practicing Catholic. If you do more research you will find out that James had a very hard time as King because of his religious ideas and family background. He never got along with parliament and even went so far as to set up a marriage between his son (Prince Charles) and a Spanish princess. Spain of course, being a Catholic country and home to the Inquisition, did not sit well with English politicians. James’s main idea was to bring both sects of Christianity together. He was even willing to concede that his son convert to Catholicism to marry the Spanish Infanta. I know this is a bit off topic, but this period of English history is especially captivating!
June 27th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Just a little clarification on Mickey Lindsay’s response - Henry VIII was not a polygamist. Yes, he married 6 times, but he was not married to more than one wife at any given time. Unless, of course, one considers his divorce from Katherine of Aragon to be illegal. Oh boy, what a can of worms!