James I: Monarchial Representation and English Identity
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 3-10-2020 James I: Monarchial Representation and English Identity Elizabeth Maria Taylor Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the European History Commons Recommended Citation Taylor, Elizabeth Maria, "James I: Monarchial Representation and English Identity" (2020). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 5197. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/5197 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. JAMES I: MONARCHIAL REPRESENTATION AND ENGLISH IDENTITY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of History by Elizabeth Maria Taylor B.A., Auburn University, 2012 M.A., University of Alabama, 2015 May 2020 For my family. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank those who have been involved in this process, I am forever grateful for the support I have received from family and friends. I would like to thank my parents, Frances and Robert Taylor, for teaching me to continuously and relentlessly strive to complete my goals, and to never give up on my aspirations of obtaining a doctorate. Thank you to my siblings Linda, Will, and Cat, who never doubted in my ability to finish my degree, and have been immensely vocal in their support. Thank you to my cousin Jason for constantly pushing me to work as hard as possible, and overcome whatever obstacles arose. Thank you to my partner Cody Bueche, whose assistance during the last year of this project has been invaluable, as he has consistently pushed me to maintain focus on my project and never let me give up. I consider myself immensely lucky to be surrounded by a group of people who support my ambition and goals. I would like to thank those I worked with during my time at LSU, as they have provided invaluable guidance and advice during my time in the department. I would particularly like to thank Erin Halloran and Jessica Payne, as they have been with me throughout this academic journey as my fellow British historians in the department. I would like to thank Cecilia Szmutko for her support this past decade and her continued interest in my work. I would like to thank Amanda Sparacio and Mike DeMark, as they were there alongside me at the beginning of this journey when we were all attending Auburn University. I would like to thank Edrea Mendoza, Jeff O’Brien and Elizabeth Allen for providing me support and friendship throughout this process. Thank you to the Center for Academic Success for providing me consistent funding throughout my time at LSU, giving me the necessary financial backing to complete my degree. iii To all the SI Leaders, Tutors, and graduate assistants, you made the task of working full time and completing my dissertation an enjoyable one, and I am grateful to have worked alongside all of you. I would like to thank my professors at Louisiana State University, especially my advisor Dr. Victor Stater, who has shown immense patience in assisting me in this project and showing a genuine interest in the work that I am doing. I would like to thank the History department at Louisiana State University for providing me the necessary funds to participate in conferences. I would like to particularly thank Dr. Daniel Riches, my advisor at the University of Alabama who taught me what it meant to be a historian, and encouraged me to push myself beyond what I thought I was capable of. His support during my time at the University of Alabama and afterwards is difficult to exaggerate, and I am grateful to be his student. Finally, I would like to thank all of those who have stood beside me throughout this journey, for without the consistent support I have received this project would have never been completed. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi Introduction. James I, Providence and the Culmination of English Identity .................................. 1 Chapter 1. Embodying England: Accession, Union and the Fight for the Throne ....................... 30 Chapter 2. Providence and the Gunpowder Plot ........................................................................... 74 Chapter 3. Constantine, Solomon and Protestant Consciousness ............................................... 112 Chapter 4. Rex Pacificus and the Establishment of Power ......................................................... 149 Chapter 5. Prince Henry, The Thirty Years War, and International Protestantism .................... 180 Conclusion. Remembering James and the Echoes of English Identity ....................................... 219 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 229 Vita .............................................................................................................................................. 243 v Abstract This work unpacks James’s representational performance and the issues he faced in assimilating himself into English identity during him time on the English throne. He implemented tropes he previously utilized in Scotland, presenting himself as Solomon, David, Constantine, a philosopher-king, and Rex Pacificus. James relied upon print for his public representation, he was an avid writer and seems to have thought of himself as something of a theologian, for he frequently commented upon religious doctrine and paid acute attention to sermons. This dissertation explores his entrance to England, the union debates, the Gunpowder Plot and its remembrance, James’s religious representation, his struggles with Parliament over prerogative, the Thirty Years War, and the representation of his first-born son, Henry Frederick. This project addresses a gap in historiography, as James’s reign often falls into the shadow of the English Civil War, and his reign is frequently depicted as failing to live up to the standard that Elizabeth left behind, as in her death remembrance of her was mythologized. There has been little done which addresses James’s struggle to make himself more English and his representational performance in the manner which is done so here. The contours of Englishness explored in this work are patriotism, providence, and identity. This work argues the English Reformations and proceeding years heavily influenced English conceptions of who they were as a country and popular consciousness as it expressed itself through a variety of print mediums, plays, songs, essays, and other forms of cultural expressions. In addressing these issues, we gain a further sense of how the English conceptualized of themselves, and what they wished to see from their king. This work addresses how successful James was at making himself English, and the tactics he deployed in his quest to do so. vi Introduction. James I, Providence and the Culmination of English Identity It was March 24th, 1603, Queen Elizabeth was pronounced dead, and with her the Tudor dynasty came to an end. The new king of England was her cousin, the thirty-seven-year-old highly experienced ruler James VI of Scotland, now James I of England. While James was never officially declared her heir, it was assumed he would succeed her, given he was in secret communication with her nobles for years prior to her passing, and was her legitimate male heir. As James made his way down to England from Scotland the atmosphere was one of excitement, as the last years of Elizabeth’s reign were troubled given her lack of a natural born heir and refusal to name her successor. The advent of the Jacobean monarchy represents a hinge moment in early modern Britain, as it saw the dying of one dynasty, the beginning of another and attempts to unify Scotland and England into one. The transition was a peaceful one, which is nothing short of noteworthy given the trepidations surrounding the accession of a new monarch by the populace and nobles, particularly one who did not hail from England. James’s ability to maintain control of both England and Scotland, and to pass the crown easily to his son Charles upon his death is exceptional. The real battle for James was not taking the English throne but rather finding a representational strategy that honored the legacy of Elizabeth, but also asserted his undoubted right to rule. Histories of James’s reign have at times fallen under the shadow of Elizabeth’s rule, or his time as the English king is remembered as part of the ‘high road to Civil War’.1 Recent 1 Two of the strongest proponents of the idea of a ‘golden age’ as assisted by the ‘cult of Elizabeth’ are Frances Yates and her student Roy Strong. The idea of a ‘high road to civil war’ is argued by Whig historians, but revisionist historians have largely rejected this interpretation. Whig historians would include Lawrence Stone, The Causes of the English Revolution, 1529-1642 (1972) who argued that the Civil War dated