King James VI and I was king of Scotland, England, and Ireland, beginning his English reign in 1603. He had already been king of Scotland for 36 years before rising to power in England, and attempted to unite the two countries, as well as Ireland, under one government. The son of Mary, Queen of Scots, he followed more in Queen Elizabeth’s path, helping the growth of the arts and imposing strict regulations on Catholics, especially after the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. However, King James “himself was fairly tolerant in terms of religious faith” (p 2) and strong in his own faith, issuing the King James translation of the Bible and believing in the divine right to rule as a monarch in Europe. Despite this, he still understood that “his actions were subject to the law” (p 4). It was during this time that Parliament was also high in power as an influence to the monarch’s rule, and had been since the days of King Henry VIII. In respect, King James called sessions of Parliament many times, but the two influences in government were bound to clash. This is referenced in the novel Orlando by Virginia Woolf, when Orlando comes back to his estate from a hiatus of writing under the oak tree. His housekeeper fills him in on everything that has happened within the last few decades: “The towel horse in the King’s bedroom (‘and that was King Jamie, my Lord,’ she said, hinting that it was many a day since a King had slept under their roof; but the odious Parliament days were over and there was now a Crown in England again) lacked a leg” (Woolf 108). The quote illustrates how much time has past, as Orlando has been around long enough to see Queen Elizabeth reign, yet the reign of King James has happened long ago at this point in time. 

Fisher, Connie. “James I (r. 1603-1625).” The Royal Family, 3 Aug. 2018, www.royal.uk/james-i.

Woolf, Virginia. Orlando: a Biography. Harcourt, Inc, 1973.