As you may already know, King James VI and I were both kings of Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland. Your opinion on this matter might be impressive, but King James had to endure many hardships to rule these three great and powerful kingdoms. One of the many difficulties that King James had to endure was the fact that he was the only son of Mary, Queen. of Scotland, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Mary's rule over Scotland was unstable because she and her husband were Roman Catholics and therefore encountered rebellion from Protestant nobles. During Mary and Darnley's marriage, Darnley secretly worked with the rebels and planned to kill his wife a few months before James was born. James was born on June 19, 1566 at Edinburgh Castle. Since he was Queen Mary's only son, he became the heir to the Scottish throne. His godfathers were Charles IX of France and Queen Elizabeth I of England. Her father Darnley was murdered on February 10, 1567. Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her and after this she never saw her son, James, again. Since James' mother was imprisoned and his father was murdered, Queen Elizabeth I adopted him. Scotland had become unstable because no one ruled while King James was in Britain. Some Protestants did not want James to be their king, so they lured him to RuthvenCastle and imprisoned him. After his release in June 1583, he was determined to control his kingdom and rise to power. During his stay in Scotland, he established an effective royal government and brought peace between the royal officials and the lords. He was assisted by John Maitland of Thirlestane, who led the government until 1592. He was not favored by a few...... middle of paper ...... a body of mediocre writings but which earned him a special distinction. place alongside English kings since the time of Alfred. His entire writings were "The True Law of Free Monarchies" and "Basilikon Doron" and in both he showed his opinion on the rights of kings. He loved his wife, Anne, and wrote to her beautifully. In total, they had nine children together, but only three of them survived to adulthood. He spoke Greek, Latin, French, English, Italian, Spanish and Scottish fluently. William Shakespeare was one of James' subjects. If James had not encouraged his subjects to learn and study art and literature, William Shakespeare may not have been known for what he is known for today. He formed the foundation that is now known as the British Empire by uniting the warring tribes of Scotland and then joining the Scottish and English crown in 1603.