James I

4 Pages 1100 Words

James I of England

James I was an extraordinary man. He was king of Scotland as early as thirteen months of age. He did an excellent job in controlling Scotland and being king. James changed his name from James VI of Scotland, to James I of England when he took over England in 1603 after Queen Elizabeth died at the age of 36. He arrived in England to discover that England was split between two religions: Puritans and Catholics. James I believed in divine right, so he didn’t want any help from Parliament, he also wanted to make his own rules. James I helped his people achieve felicity. However, towards the end of his reign he began to get into financial problems, because he was left with debt from the previous queen, and he had to pay the many people he hired. Thus, according to the Leviathan, James I of England held up his part of the convent, and did an excellent job doing it.

According to the Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes says that the sovereign should make the laws. In King James case, he did make up his own laws to protect his people. Parliament had a problem with this because they wanted to be included in the process of making the laws. James said, “The King, he is the maker of them (laws) and ye are the advisers, councilors and confirmers of them.” King James wanted things to go the way he wanted it to go. People say that he “lectured and preached to his parliaments as if they were an assembly of obstreperous schoolboys, and he dismissed the art of parliamentary politics as beneath his dignity.” Even before his foot touched English soil he let people know that he was to be respected and his laws were to be followed, “On the way (from Scotland) he ordered a thief to be hanged without trial.” Another example of James saying if you break the laws you will be punished, was when the Catholic members of Parliament tried to kill him, he found out caught them and killed them. James I of England also believed in d...