Did James I’s Personality Create the Problems He Had With Parliament?

During the reign of James I, there were a number of issues that caused tensions with Parliament. Whilst some of these issues could be seen as unavoidable, others were undoubtedly the result of James I’s personality and characteristics.


James had already been King of Scotland for some time when he came to the English Throne in 1603. Compared to Scotland, England was a wealthy country, although not as wealthy as James liked to think. He would often give away money he did not have or buy things he could not afford. This financial extravagance did not sit well with Parliament, who were not fond of taxation. Whilst it could be argued that the country would have struggled financially even without James’s extravagance, it provided MPs something to blame, and undoubtedly caused friction at court for James. In this environment, it is impossible to deny that James’s personality bought such troubles on himself.


One issue that was completely out of the control of James was his nationality. The fact that the King of England was not in fact English caused a great deal of tension in Parliament. The two countries were old enemies, and James was unfamiliar with many of the English customs. He would often appoint Scots to positions of political power in England, of whom the English were very suspicious. His desire to merge England and Scotland into Great Britain was overshadowed by bigotry and prejudice at court. The issue of his nationality had nothing to do with James’s personality, and the tensions it caused in Parliament were undoubtedly the fault of the commons.


Another area where James frequently disagreed with Parliament was the subject of religion. James was committed to Protestantism, which sat well with the Commons, but Puritans would frequently push him to change policies and canons. At the beginning of his reign, James held a conference with a number of church officials, and though a few compromises were made with the Puritans, the church that Elizabeth had established was largely maintained in an unchanged state, excluding a few other small changes. I believe that whatever James did with the church, there would undoubtedly have been tensions. Everyone had a different view on religion at the time, and all thought that the opinions of all others were wrong. Once again, the problems were not caused by James’s personality.


In conclusion, I believe that whilst James may have been responsible for some of the issues he experienced whilst on the English throne, for the most part they were the result of the Members of Parliament. It was their prejudice and bigotry against the Scottish that caused a number of the problems James experienced, and the religious beliefs of some that were responsible for tensions surrounding the Church. Whilst it must be admitted that James’s personality and characteristics did not help his cause, ultimately the responsibility lies with the MPs.