Jacobean era facts for kids
| 1603–1625 | |
King James I by Mijtens (1621)
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| Preceded by | Elizabethan era |
|---|---|
| Followed by | Caroline era |
| Monarch | James VI and I |
The Jacobean era was a period in English and Scottish history. It happened when James VI of Scotland also became King James I of England in 1603. This era came after the Elizabethan era and before the Caroline era. The word "Jacobean" also describes the special styles of art, buildings, and books from this time. The name 'Jacobean' comes from 'Jacobus', which is the Latin word for James.
Contents
King James I's Reign
When James became king of both England and Scotland, it was a big change for both countries. This joining of the crowns shaped their future. Another important event was the start of British colonies in North America. These included Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, Newfoundland in 1610, and Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620. These settlements helped create Canada and the United States later on. In 1609, the Scottish Parliament also began settling parts of Ireland.
The Gunpowder Plot
A famous event during James's rule happened on November 5, 1605. A group of English Catholics, including Guy Fawkes, tried to blow up the King and Parliament. They planned to destroy the Palace of Westminster. However, the Gunpowder Plot was discovered and stopped. The people involved were caught and punished.
Royal Money Troubles
The Jacobean era's political events were linked to money problems. James was already in debt in Scotland. When he became king of England, he inherited a huge debt of £350,000 from Queen Elizabeth. By 1608, England's debt grew to £1,400,000. It was increasing by £140,000 each year.
The King's treasurer, Robert Cecil, tried to fix this. He sold off royal lands to reduce the debt. By 1610, the debt was down to £300,000. But they couldn't keep selling land. This led to many difficult talks with Parliament about money. These money problems got worse for James and his son, Charles I. They eventually led to the English Civil War.
The Jacobean era ended with a serious economic downturn from 1620 to 1626. A bad outbreak of bubonic plague in London in 1625 made things even worse.
King James's Foreign Policy
King James I truly wanted peace for his kingdoms and for all of Europe. He even called himself "Rex Pacificus," which means "King of Peace." Europe was divided and close to a huge war, the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Smaller Protestant countries faced attacks from larger Catholic empires.
In 1604, James made peace with Catholic Spain. He even planned for his daughter to marry the Spanish prince. His daughter, Princess Elizabeth, married Frederick V, Elector Palatine in 1613. This wedding was a big social event. It also had important political meaning. German princes were forming a Protestant alliance based in Heidelberg. King James thought his daughter's marriage would give him influence among Protestants. He hoped to help make peace between the two sides. However, both sides were using him for their own goals.
Lord Buckingham, who was very powerful at court, wanted an alliance with Spain. He took James's son, Charles, to Spain to meet the Spanish princess, Infanta Maria Anna. But Spain demanded that Britain stop being anti-Catholic. Buckingham and Charles felt humiliated. After this, Buckingham led the call for war against Spain in Britain.
Meanwhile, Protestant princes looked to Britain for military help. James's son-in-law and daughter became king and queen of Bohemia. This angered the Catholic Habsburg Emperor. The Thirty Years' War began when the Emperor removed the new king and queen of Bohemia. Catholic Bavaria then invaded the Palatine. James's son-in-law asked for James's military help. James finally realized his plans had failed. He refused to get involved in the war. He successfully kept Britain out of the devastating European war for three decades.
James's next plan was for his son Charles to marry a French Catholic princess. She would bring a large dowry. Parliament and the British people strongly opposed any Catholic marriage. They wanted war with Spain and supported the Protestant cause in Europe. James upset both important people and the general public in Britain. Parliament began cutting his funding. Historians praise James for avoiding a major war and keeping Britain peaceful.
Frederick and Elizabeth's election as King and Queen of Bohemia in 1619 started the terrible Thirty Years' War. King James's choice to stay out of this war, even when people wanted to fight in 1623, is seen as one of the most important and positive parts of his rule.
Culture and Arts
Literature
Many of Shakespeare's famous plays were written during James I's reign. These include King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1606), and The Tempest (1610). The King and his wife, Anne of Denmark, supported writers. Other great writers of this time were John Webster, Thomas Middleton, John Ford, and Ben Jonson.
Ben Jonson also wrote some of the best poetry, along with the Cavalier poets and John Donne. In prose (regular writing), important works include those by Francis Bacon and the King James Bible. In 1617, George Chapman finished his huge translation of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey into English poetry. These were the first complete English translations of these classic Greek poems.
Jonson also helped develop the "masque," a special type of play with music, dance, and elaborate costumes. He worked with Inigo Jones on these shows. However, these masques were very expensive. This spending made the Stuart kings seem wasteful compared to Queen Elizabeth. It also upset the middle classes and Puritans.
Science
Francis Bacon greatly influenced modern science during this period. Scientists like Johannes Kepler in Germany and Galileo Galilei in Italy were making big discoveries. Bacon helped lay the groundwork for modern scientific study. He strongly believed in using observation and experiments to understand the natural world. This was different from the older way of thinking, which relied on ancient texts.
On a practical level, much work was done in navigation, map-making, and surveying. An important book in this area was John Widdowes' A Description of the World (1621). Work also continued on magnetism, building on William Gilbert's earlier studies. Science had important royal supporters during this time. Not so much the King, but his son, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and even his wife, Anne of Denmark, supported intellectual pursuits.
Arts and Architecture
Jacobean architecture was a continuation of the Elizabethan style. It added more classical elements like columns. Details and decorative patterns came from European designs, especially from France, Flanders, and Italy. Inigo Jones is perhaps the most famous English architect of this time. His works include the Banqueting House and the portico of Old St Paul's Cathedral.
Important Jacobean buildings include Hatfield House, Bolsover Castle, Aston Hall, and Charlton House. Many churches have beautiful monuments in the Jacobean style. These often feature colorful designs. The sculptor Nicholas Stone created many statues for tombs and stone decorations for buildings.
The fine arts were mostly led by foreign artists during the Jacobean era. Paul van Somer and Daniel Mytens were the main portrait painters. However, English painters like Robert Peake the Elder, William Larkin, and Sir Nathaniel Bacon also made progress.
Decorative arts, like furniture, became very rich in color and design. Materials from other parts of the world, such as mother-of-pearl, were now available through trade. These were used for decoration. Even common materials like wood and silver were carved and shaped into detailed, three-dimensional designs. The goldsmith George Heriot made beautiful jewelry for Anne of Denmark.
See also
Sources
- Anderson, Roberta. "'Well Disposed to the Affairs of Spain?’ James VI & I and the Propagandists: 1618–1624." British Catholic History 25.4 (2001): 613–635.
- Burgess, Glenn, Rowland Wymer, and Jason Lawrence, eds. The Accession of James I: historical and cultural consequences (Springer, 2016).
- Coward, Barry. The Stuart Age: England, 1603–1714 (4th ed. 2014) excerpt
- Croft, Pauline King James (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
- Davies, Godfrey The Early Stuarts: 1603–1660 (2nd ed 1959), pp 1–80.
- Fincham, Kenneth, and Peter Lake. "The ecclesiastical policy of King James I." Journal of British Studies 24.2 (1985): 169–207.
- Fischlin, Daniel and Mark Fortier, eds. Royal Subjects: Essays on the Writings of James VI and I (2002)
- Fraser, Antonia. The gunpowder plot: Terror and faith in 1605 (Hachette UK, 2010).
- Gardiner, S.R. "Britain under James I" in The Cambridge Modern History (1907) v 3 ch 17 online
- Houlbrooke, Ralph Anthony, ed. James VI and I: Ideas, Authority, and Government (Ashgate, 2006).
- Howat, G.M.D. Stuart and Cromwellian Foreign Policy (1974)
- Houston, S. J. James I (Routledge, 2014).
- Lee, Maurice. Great Britain's Solomon: James VI and I in his three kingdoms (U of Illinois Press, 1990).
- Lindquist, Eric N. "The Last Years of the First Earl of Salisbury, 1610–1612." Albion 18.1 (1986): 23–41.
- Lockyer, Roger. James VI and I (1998).
- Lockyer, Roger. Tudor and Stuart Britain: 1485–1714 (3rd ed. 2004), 576 pp excerpt
- Perry, Curtis. The Making of Jacobean Culture: James I and the Renegotiation of Elizabethan Literary Practice (Cambridge UP, 1997).
- Stilma, Astrid. A King Translated: The Writings of King James VI & I and their Interpretation in the Low Countries, 1593–1603 (Routledge, 2016).
- Waurechen, Sarah. "Imagined Polities, Failed Dreams, and the Beginnings of an Unacknowledged Britain: English Responses to James VI and I's Vision of Perfect Union." Journal of British Studies 52.3 (2013): 575–596.
- Wormald, Jenny. "James VI and I (1566–1625)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14592
Historiography
- Coward, Barry ed., A Companion to Stuart Britain
- Lee, Maurice. "James I and the Historians: Not a Bad King After All?." Albion 16.2 (1984): 151–163.
- Schwarz, Marc L. "James I and the Historians: Toward a Reconsideration." Journal of British Studies 13.2 (1974): 114–134. in JSTOR
- Underdown, David. "New ways and old in early Stuart history," in Richard Schlatter, ed., Recent views on British history: essays on historical writing since 1966 (Rutgers UP, 1984), pp 99–140.
- Wormald, Jenny. "James VI and I: Two Kings or One?" History 68#223 (1983), 187–209.
- Young, Michael B. "James VI and I: Time for a Reconsideration?" Journal of British Studies 51.3 (2012): 540–567.
Primary sources
- Akrigg, G. P. V., ed. Letters of King James VI & I (U of California Press, 1984).
- Coward, Barry and Peter Gaunt, eds. English Historical Documents, 1603–1660 (2011).
- Rhodes, Neil; Richards, Jennifer; Marshall, Joseph, eds. King James VI and I: Selected Writings (Ashgate, 2003).
