The Stuarts

The Stuarts were the first kings of the United Kingdom.

James I 1603 – 1625

When James became King of England, he was already a king - King James VI of Scotland. He was the first monarch to rule both countries and the first to call himself 'King of Great Britain'. However it was not until 1707 that an act of Parliament formally brought the two countries together. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. He had been King of Scotland for twenty-nine years when he acceded to the English throne. James married Anne of Denmark.

In 1605 the Gunpowder Plot was hatched: Guy Fawkes and his friends, Catholics, tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, but were captured before they could do so. James authorised the translation of the King James Bible. He also had Sir Walter Raleigh executed.

Charles I 1625 – 1649

Second son of James I.

He was not brought up to be king, but his elder brother, Henry, died of Typhoid at the age of 18. Married Henrietta Maria of France. Fought against the Parliament leading to civil war.

Was executed as a result on 30 January 1649.

The English Civil War (1642 - 51)

The war began in 1642 when, after seeing his rights as king slashed by Parliament, Charles miscalculated by swarming into the Palace of Westminster with several hundred soldiers to arrest five Members of Parliament and a peer he accused of treason. They all escaped, but London was scandalized and the king was forced to flee the city.

The war between the Roundheads (supporters of parliament) and the Cavaliers (supporters of the King) began.

The Civil War led to the trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son Charles II, and the replacement of the English monarchy with first the Commonwealth of England (1649–1653) and then with a Protectorate (1653–1659), under the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector.