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Union of the Crowns
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Union of the Crowns
The Union of the Crowns (Scottish Gaelic: Aonadh nan Crùintean; Scots: Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the thrones of England and Ireland as James I on 24 March 1603, and the consequent formation of a personal union between the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It followed the death of James's cousin, Elizabeth I of England, the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
England, Scotland, and Ireland remained separate states with separate parliaments until the Acts of Union of 1707 united England and Scotland into a unitary Kingdom of Great Britain; Ireland retained a legally separate Crown and Parliament, albeit as a practical dependency, until 1801. However, there was a republican interregnum in the 1650s, during which the Tender of Union of Oliver Cromwell created the Commonwealth of England and Scotland, which ended with the Stuart Restoration.
In August 1503, James IV of Scotland married Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, and the spirit of the new age was celebrated by the poet William Dunbar in The Thrissil and the Rois. The marriage was the outcome of the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, concluded the previous year, which, in theory, ended centuries of war and border raids between the two states. The marriage brought Scotland's Stuarts into England's Tudor line of succession, though no Scottish prince was likely to inherit the English throne. Nonetheless, many on the English side were concerned by the dynastic implications of matrimony, including some Privy Councillors. To allay these fears, Henry VII is reputed to have (correctly) predicted that an Anglo-Scottish union would be ruled from London, not Edinburgh, saying:
our realme wald receive na damage thair thorow, for in that caise Ingland wald not accress unto Scotland, bot Scotland wald acress unto Ingland, as to the most noble heid of the hole yle...evin as quhan Normandy came in the power of Inglis men our forbearis.
The peace did not last in "perpetuity"; it was disturbed in 1513 when Henry VIII of England, who had succeeded his father four years before, declared war on France in the War of the League of Cambrai. In response France invoked the terms of the Auld Alliance, her ancient bond with Scotland. James duly invaded Northern England leading to the Battle of Flodden, which England won decisively. James died at Flodden and the loss of a large proportion of the nobility led to a political crisis in Scotland.
In the decades that followed, England repeatedly invaded Scotland, including burning its capital. By the middle of Henry's reign, the problems of the royal succession, which seemed so unimportant in 1503, acquired ever larger dimensions, when the question of Tudor fertility or the lack thereof entered directly into the political arena. Margaret's line was excluded from the English succession though during the reign of Elizabeth I, concerns were once again raised. In the last decade of her reign it was clear to all that James VI of Scotland, great-grandson of James IV and Margaret, was the only generally acceptable heir.
From 1601, in the last years of Elizabeth I's life, certain English politicians, notably her chief minister, Sir Robert Cecil, maintained a secret correspondence with James to prepare in advance for a smooth succession. Cecil advised James not to press the matter of the succession upon the queen but simply to treat her with kindness and respect. The approach proved effective: "I trust that you will not doubt", Elizabeth wrote to James, "but that your last letters are so acceptably taken as my thanks cannot be lacking for the same, but yield them you in grateful sort". In March 1603, with the queen clearly dying, Cecil sent James a draft proclamation of his accession to the English throne. Strategic fortresses were put on alert, with London placed under guard. English agents including Thomas Chaloner were advising James in Edinburgh on forms of government. Elizabeth died in the early hours of 24 March. Within eight hours, James was proclaimed king in London, with the news received without protest or disturbance.
On 5 April 1603, James left Edinburgh for London and promised to return every three years, which he failed to keep by returning only once, in 1617. He progressed slowly from town to town to arrive in the capital after Elizabeth's funeral. Local lords received James with lavish hospitality along the route, and James's new subjects flocked to see him and were relieved above all that the succession had triggered neither unrest nor invasion. As James entered London, he was mobbed. The crowds of people, one observer reported, were so great that "they covered the beauty of the fields; and so greedy were they to behold the King that they injured and hurt one another". In June, James gave Tobias Matthew, Bishop of Durham, orders to travel north from London to meet Anne of Denmark, who was bringing Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth to Windsor Castle.
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Union of the Crowns
The Union of the Crowns (Scottish Gaelic: Aonadh nan Crùintean; Scots: Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the thrones of England and Ireland as James I on 24 March 1603, and the consequent formation of a personal union between the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It followed the death of James's cousin, Elizabeth I of England, the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
England, Scotland, and Ireland remained separate states with separate parliaments until the Acts of Union of 1707 united England and Scotland into a unitary Kingdom of Great Britain; Ireland retained a legally separate Crown and Parliament, albeit as a practical dependency, until 1801. However, there was a republican interregnum in the 1650s, during which the Tender of Union of Oliver Cromwell created the Commonwealth of England and Scotland, which ended with the Stuart Restoration.
In August 1503, James IV of Scotland married Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, and the spirit of the new age was celebrated by the poet William Dunbar in The Thrissil and the Rois. The marriage was the outcome of the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, concluded the previous year, which, in theory, ended centuries of war and border raids between the two states. The marriage brought Scotland's Stuarts into England's Tudor line of succession, though no Scottish prince was likely to inherit the English throne. Nonetheless, many on the English side were concerned by the dynastic implications of matrimony, including some Privy Councillors. To allay these fears, Henry VII is reputed to have (correctly) predicted that an Anglo-Scottish union would be ruled from London, not Edinburgh, saying:
our realme wald receive na damage thair thorow, for in that caise Ingland wald not accress unto Scotland, bot Scotland wald acress unto Ingland, as to the most noble heid of the hole yle...evin as quhan Normandy came in the power of Inglis men our forbearis.
The peace did not last in "perpetuity"; it was disturbed in 1513 when Henry VIII of England, who had succeeded his father four years before, declared war on France in the War of the League of Cambrai. In response France invoked the terms of the Auld Alliance, her ancient bond with Scotland. James duly invaded Northern England leading to the Battle of Flodden, which England won decisively. James died at Flodden and the loss of a large proportion of the nobility led to a political crisis in Scotland.
In the decades that followed, England repeatedly invaded Scotland, including burning its capital. By the middle of Henry's reign, the problems of the royal succession, which seemed so unimportant in 1503, acquired ever larger dimensions, when the question of Tudor fertility or the lack thereof entered directly into the political arena. Margaret's line was excluded from the English succession though during the reign of Elizabeth I, concerns were once again raised. In the last decade of her reign it was clear to all that James VI of Scotland, great-grandson of James IV and Margaret, was the only generally acceptable heir.
From 1601, in the last years of Elizabeth I's life, certain English politicians, notably her chief minister, Sir Robert Cecil, maintained a secret correspondence with James to prepare in advance for a smooth succession. Cecil advised James not to press the matter of the succession upon the queen but simply to treat her with kindness and respect. The approach proved effective: "I trust that you will not doubt", Elizabeth wrote to James, "but that your last letters are so acceptably taken as my thanks cannot be lacking for the same, but yield them you in grateful sort". In March 1603, with the queen clearly dying, Cecil sent James a draft proclamation of his accession to the English throne. Strategic fortresses were put on alert, with London placed under guard. English agents including Thomas Chaloner were advising James in Edinburgh on forms of government. Elizabeth died in the early hours of 24 March. Within eight hours, James was proclaimed king in London, with the news received without protest or disturbance.
On 5 April 1603, James left Edinburgh for London and promised to return every three years, which he failed to keep by returning only once, in 1617. He progressed slowly from town to town to arrive in the capital after Elizabeth's funeral. Local lords received James with lavish hospitality along the route, and James's new subjects flocked to see him and were relieved above all that the succession had triggered neither unrest nor invasion. As James entered London, he was mobbed. The crowds of people, one observer reported, were so great that "they covered the beauty of the fields; and so greedy were they to behold the King that they injured and hurt one another". In June, James gave Tobias Matthew, Bishop of Durham, orders to travel north from London to meet Anne of Denmark, who was bringing Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth to Windsor Castle.