James VI and I

In 1603 James VI of Scotland succeeded to the throne of England as James I. He was born in 1566 and was crowned King of Scotland in the following year, following the forced abdication of his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots. A well-educated man, he was said to have been called "the wisest fool in Christendom" by his contemporary Henri IV of France. Notoriously timorous, he wished to be known as a peacemaker, and his foreign policy was regarded as pusillanimous by many of his subjects. He died in 1625.