King James I

James Charles Stuart was born on June 19, 1566, in Edinburgh Castle, the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. His mother was forced to abdicate when he was thirteen months old, making him King James VI of Scotland in July 1567 under a series of regents who controlled the realm during his minority.

He took personal rule of Scotland in 1583 and proved a learned monarch, writing treatises on demonology, tobacco, and the divine right of kings. His 1589 marriage to Anne of Denmark produced seven children, including the future Charles I and Elizabeth of Bohemia, ancestor of the present British royal line through the House of Hanover.

On the death of the childless Elizabeth I in March 1603, he inherited the English throne as James I, uniting the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland under one ruler for the first time. He survived the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605, when Guy Fawkes and fellow conspirators attempted to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament.

He commissioned a new English translation of the Bible at the 1604 Hampton Court Conference, and the resulting Authorized Version, published in 1611, shaped English-language scripture and prose for four centuries. He died at Theobalds House on March 27, 1625, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The name James derives from the Hebrew Ya'aqov, meaning supplanter or one who follows, the same root that produces Jacob. He gave the name lasting royal weight in the English-speaking world, and it has remained a steady classic for boys ever since his reign placed it on three thrones.