King James VI and I

Book categories: The King, Writings, Wife & Children, Favorites, Court, Religion & Bible, Gunpowder Plot, Fiction, Mary, Queen of Scots, The Stuarts

The King

The Cradle King: The Life of James VI and I by Alan Stewart. Biography that focuses on key relationships with his mother, favorites, wife, and others.

King James by Pauline Croft. A biography of King James VI and I, and an authoritative analysis of his remarkable, though flawed, achievements.

James I: The Masque of Monarchy by James Travers. Examines the reign of James I through original papers and letters held at Britain's National Archives.

King James VI and I of Scotland and England by Bryan Bevan. Paints a very human portrait of the king.

After Elizabeth: The Rise of James of Scotland and the Struggle for the Throne of England by Leanda de Lisle. Focuses on the critical year Elizabeth I's reign ended, and the scheming of courtiers and clergy to find her successor.

The Making of the Jacobean Regime: James VI and I and the Government of England, 1603-1605 by Diana Newton. Shows how circumstances and events immediately after James' accession were crucial to shaping his approach to ruling England.

James VI and I: Ideas, Authority, and Government edited by Ralph Houlbrooke. Essays exploring the union of England and Scotland, Scotland's government, and James' involvement in culture, raising questions about the king's judgement and skill as a monarch.

King James VI of Scotland and I of England by Antonia Fraser. Out of print, but available from Alibris.

King James VI and I and the Reunion of Christendom by W.B. Patterson focuses on the king's peace-making and diplomacy in Europe.

Kingship and Crown Finance Under James VI and I, 1603-1625 by John Cramsie. This book rejects the stereotypical image of James VI and I as mindlessly extravagant.

The Reign of James VI edited by Julian Goodare and Michael Lynch. Analyzes the royal court, noble factionalism, relations with England, James VI's paymaster, and tension between church and state.

James I by Christopher Durston. Examines the personality of the king who was called "the wisest fool in Christendom."

The Accession of James I: Historical and Cultural Consequences edited by Glenn Burgess, Rowland Wymer, and Jason Lawrence. Twelve essays analyzing the consequences of the accession of James I in 1603 for British history, politics, literature and culture.

The King's Writings

King James VI and I: Selected Writings edited by Neil Rhodes, Jennifer Richards, and Joseph Marshall. Provides a broad selection of King James's writings on secular and religious topics.

Political Writings: King James VI and I edited by Johann P. Somerville. James' political philosophy was a moderated absolutism, with an emphasis on the monarch's duty to rule according to law and the public good.

Royal Subjects edited by Daniel Fischlin and Mark Fortier. James I wrote everything from political treatises to love poems. In this book of essays, 16 scholars discuss the king's writings.

Reading Monarchs' Writing edited by Peter C. Herman. Criticism of the poetry of Henry VIII, Mary Stuart, Elizabeth I, and James VI/I.

The King's Family

Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography by Leeds Barroll is about King James's wife.

Women and Culture at the Courts of the Stuart Queens edited by Clare McManus. Literature, theater, patronage, and commissioning in the courts of Anna of Denmark (1603-19) and Henrietta Maria (1625-42).

Prince Henry Reviv'd: Image and Exemplarity in Early Modern England edited by Timothy Wilks. Essays re-examine the extraordinary artistic and cultural response to King James I's son Prince Henry, who died young.

Henry, Prince of Wales and England's Lost Renaissance by Roy Strong. A biography of James I's eldest son, who died at the age of 18. From Alibris.

Books About Elizabeth of Bohemia
Books About Mary, Queen of Scots
Books About King Charles I

The King's Favorites

King James and Letters of Homoerotic Desire by David Moore Bergeron examines letters King James I wrote to three male favorites.

Royal Family, Royal Lovers: King James of England and Scotland by David M. Bergeron. Out of print, but may be available from Alibris.

Unnatural Murder: Poison at the Court of King James I by Anne Somerset. Robert Carr, earl of Somerset, was one of King James's favorites. He was accused of murdering Sir Thomas Overbury, but was he really guilty? Doubt still lingers, as Somerset's book explains. From Alibris.

The Politics of Court Scandal in Early Modern England by Alastair James Bellany. About the Overbury Affair.

The Romance of George Villiers by Philip Gibbs. About the first Duke of Buckingham, who was one of the king's favorites. Available from Alibris.

The World of the Favourite edited by J.H. Elliott and L. W. B. Brockliss. Royal favorites in 16th and 17th century Europe.

The Royal Court

Francis Bacon: The Temper of a Man by Catherine Drinker Bowen. Biography of philosopher Francis Bacon, who was the king's lord chancellor.

Inigo Jones by John Newenham Summerson and Howard Colvin. About the famous architect, who helped produce court masques and built the Queen's House at Greenwich.

Sir Walter Raleigh: The Controversial Hero of the Elizabethan Age by Raleigh Trevelyan. Biography of the writer and explorer, who was executed during James I's reign. The author is one of Raleigh's descendants.

Eros and Poetry at the Courts of Mary Queen of Scots and James VI by Sarah M. Dunnigan. Argues that in this period, erotic poetry can only be considered in relation to the figure of the monarch.

Religion & the Bible

King James I and the Religious Culture of England by James Doelman.

In the Beginning by Alister McGrath. The story of the King James Bible and how it changed a nation, a language, and a culture.

Wide as the Waters by Benson Bobrick. The story of the English bible and the revolution it inspired.

The Bible: Authorized King James Version With Apocrypha. The translation of the Bible ordered by King James.

The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: A Horrible and True Story of Deception, Witchcraft, Murder and the King of England by J.A. Sharpe. About a witchcraft trial in which the king became involved.

Government by Polemic: James I, the King's Preachers, and the Rhetorics of Conformity, 1603-1625 by Lori Anne Ferrell.

Publishing, Politics, and Culture: The King's Printers in the Reign of James I and VI by Graham Rees and Maria Wakely. The King's Printing House monopolized the right to print the Bible and other works promoted by the king. The office of King's Printer, potentially very lucrative, created bitter rivalry among booksellers.

The Gunpowder Plot

Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser. The term "guy," slang for any man, comes from Guy Fawkes, the ringleader of the bungled plot to blow up King James I and Parliament. Distinguished historian Fraser shows the harsh persecution of Roman Catholics under Jacobean rule. (Review © Amazon.com)

God's Secret Agents: Queen Elizabeth's Forbidden Priests and the Hatching of the Gunpower Plot by Alice Hogge. Jesuit priests tried to return England to the Catholic Church, but their mission was shattered by the actions of the Gunpowder Plotters. This book follows "God's secret agents" from their schooling on the Continent, through their perilous return journeys to England during the reign of Elizabeth I and their lonely lives in hiding, to, ultimately, the gallows.

Other Books About the Gunpowder Plot

Fiction

Right Royal Friend by Nigel Tranter. Novel about the cupbearer of King James VI of Scotland (who was also King James I of England).

The Murder in the Tower by Jean Plaidy. Novel about the court of James I and the murder of Thomas Overbury. This is the first book in Plaidy's Stuart Saga. Out of print, but available from Alibris.