James VI and I

James Charles Stuart became King of Scotland in 1567 as an infant, raised Protestant despite his mother Mary, Queen of Scots, being Catholic. Four regents ruled during his minority until he took control in 1583. He married Anne of Denmark in 1589; three of their children survived to adulthood. In 1603, he succeeded his childless cousin Elizabeth I and began a 22-year reign over Scotland, England, and Ireland - the Jacobean era - though the kingdoms remained separate states with their own parliaments. He pushed for political union but managed it only in personal title, styling himself King of Great Britain and returning to Scotland just once. His Scottish reign lasted 57 years, the longest in its history. In England he faced the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 and bitter clashes with Parliament. A prolific writer, he authored Daemonologie, The True Law of Free Monarchies, and Basilikon Doron, and sponsored the Bible translation that bears his name. He died in 1625 and was succeeded by his second son, Charles I.