HOUSE OF STUART LINE OF MONARCHS

Information from "Windows Into Our Past A Genealogy of the Cowne, Gough & Associated Families, Volume 2", compiled by Judy Parsons Smith © 1998.

The following Stuart Monarchs are covered in the following section:

James I
Charles I


HOUSE OF STUART


James I, King of Britain  
1603-1625
aka James VI King of Scotland
1566-1625

James I, King of England

D3a)  James I, King of England , son of Mary, Queen of Scots & Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , b. 19 Jun 1566, Edinburgh Castle, Scotland; d. 27 Mar 1625, Theobalds Park, Hertfordshire, Herts, England of a stroke; bur. Westminster Abbey, London, England; m. 23 Nov 1589[i], Oslo, Norway to Anne of Denmark Oldenburg.

He took  the throne of Scotland in 1567, when his mother was deposed. He assumed the throne as a child and his power was completely in control of the Scottish barons. Scotland being ruled by a regent until 1574, when he took the throne in his own right. His education was mainly from books and little from practical experience.  This led him to be called “the wisest fool in Cristendom”.

In 1582, at the age of 16, he was taken prisoner and held in the interest of the Protestant Party.  While in captivity, he wept bitterly and was answered by Sir Thomas Lyon , “Better that bairns [babies] should greet [grieve] than bearded men!”  This turned out to be completely opposite of what James did when he grew up.  He drew tears from the bearded men.

He did for Scotland what the Tudors had done in England .  He broke the feudal power of the Scottish barons and established a strong royal government.  He also broke the power of the church which had been in the hands of the Presbyterians (as powerful a the church of Rome) and forced them to obey him.  He developed Scottish industries and enforced peace among the barons.

James was profoundly affected by his years as a boy in Scottish court. Murder and intrigue had plagued the Scottish throne throughout the reigns of his mother and grandfather ( James V ), and had no less bearing during James 's rule. His father had been butchered mere months after James ' birth by his enemies of Mary ; Mary , because of her indiscretions and Catholic faith, was forced to abdicate the throne. James developed a reserved, guarded manner due to his childhood. He was thrilled to take the English crown and leave the strictures and poverty of the Scottish court.

He was named successor to the English throne by his cousin, Elizabeth I.  In 1603, he succeeded Elizabeth to the throne of England .  James I was crowned King of England on 25 Jul 1603, Westminster Abbey, London , England .   He himself was an unpopular king.  His whole reign was a series of contradictory and untimely acts.  He was a writer of some ability, though his works aroused the amusement of his subjects.  His works were:

Daemonology - a denouncement of witches who were hunted and burned during his reign.
Counterblaste to Tobacco
- stormed against the new habit of smoking.
He also wrote on the divine right of kings - which declared that royal rulers were responsible only to God for their actions.

James dislike of the Puritans, resulted in the first wave of English immigrants to North America . The one work that meet with the full approval of his Protestant subject was his literary commission for the new translation of the Bible, in 1611, to be known as the “King James Version”.  Here in the Commonwealth of Virginia , James I, was immortalized in the naming of Jamestown in his honor.

His personality also caused problems with the Britain ’s: he was witty and well-read, fiercely believed in the divine right of kingship and his own importance, but found great difficulty in gaining acceptance from an English society that found his rough-hewn manners and natural paranoia quite unbecoming. James saw little use for Parliament, and his extravagant spending habits and nonchalant ignoring of the nobility's grievances kept king and Parliament constantly at odds. He came to the thrown at the zenith of monarchical power, but never truly grasped the depth and scope of that power.

James was not wholly unsuccessful as king, but his Scottish background failed to translate well into a changing English society.

King James I & Anne (of Denmark ) Stuart had nine (9) children:

I.         Henry Frederick Stuart , Prince of Wales, b. 19 Feb 1594.  Henrico County , Virginia was named such in his honor.
II.      
child Stuart , b. Jul 1595
III.      Elizabeth “The Winter Queen” Stuart, Queen of Bohemia , b. 19 Aug 1596; m. Frederick V of Bohemia (a German prince & Protestant elector of the Palatinate )
IV.    
Margaret Stuart , b. 24 Dec 1598
V.     
Charles Stuart , Charles I, King of Britain , b. 19 Nov 1600; d. 1649.
VI.    
Robert Bruce Stuart , Duke of Kintyre, b. 18 Jan 1602
VII.  
son Stuart, b. May 1603
VIII.  
Mary Stuart , b. 8 Apr 1605
IX.    
Sophia Stuart , b. 22 Jun 1606

Elizabeth “The Winter Queen” Stuart , Queen of Bohemia

III.  Elizabeth “The Winter Queen” Stuart , Queen of Bohemia, daughter of King James I & Anne (of Denmark) Stuart , b. 19 Aug 1596, Dunfermline Palace, Fife, Scotland; d. 13 Feb 1662, Leicester House, London, England; bur. Westminster Abbey, London, England; m. 14 Feb 1613, Chapel Royal, Whitehall Palace, London to Frederick V Wittelsbach of Palatinate, King of Bohemia, son of Frederick IV Palatinate , Elector of the Palatinate & Louise Juliane (de Nassau) Wittelsbach, b. 26 Aug 1596; d. 29 Nov 1632.

Frederic V Wittelsback was the Duke of Bavaria, Elector of thePalatinate 1610-1623.  He became King of Bohemia in 1619 (King of Bohemia 1619-1620).  Elizabeth Stuart was made Queen of Bohemia on 7 Nov 1619.  She was crowned at Prague Cathedral, Bohemia.

King Frederick V & Elizabeth (Stuart) Wittelsbach had thirteen (13) children:

1.       Frederick Henry Wittelsbach , Count Palatine of Rhine, b. 1 Jan 1614
2.      
Charles I Wittelsbach ,  Elector Palatine, b. 12 Dec 1617
3.      
Elizabeth Wittelsbach of Hervoren, Abbess of Hervorden, b. 26 Dec 1618
4.      
Rupert Wittelsbach of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, b. 17 Dec 1619
5.      
Maurice Wittelsbach , Ccommander of Royalist Army, b. 17 Dec 1620
6.      
Louise Hollandine Wittelsbach , Abbess of maubisson, b. 18 Apr 1622
7.      
Louis Wittelsbach , b. 1623
8.      
Edward Wittelsbach of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, b. 1624
9.      
Henrietta Maria Wittelsbach , b. 7 Jul 1626
10.  
John Philip Frederick Wittelsbach , b. 1627
11.  
Charlotte Wittelsbach, b. 19 Dec 1628
12.  
Sophia Dorothea Wittelsbach of Zelle, b. 13 Oct 1630; m. Ernest Augustus (a German prince).
13.  
Gustavus Adolfus Wittelsbach , b. 1632

Charles I

Charles I, King of England

V.  Charles I, King of England, son of James I, King of Britain & Anne (of Denmark Oldenburg) Stuart, b. 19 Nov 1600, Dunfermline Palace, Fife, Scotland; d. 30 Jan 1639, Westminster Abbey, London, England, beheaded, by order of a court of his own people; bur. St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, England; m. 13 Jun 1625[ii], St. Augustine’s Church, Canterbury, England to Henrietta Maria of France de Bourbon .

To some Charles is viewed as a tyrant while by others a martyr.  He was a shortsighted and self-centered man, yet a patriot and in some aspects an able man.  What he truly lacked was the ability to understand the public mind.  Had he been able to he would have as easily guided Parliament as Elizabeth had done, and the public would have followed him loyally.  Charles resented the squires and lawyers who talked of their rights and refused to supply the king with money.

Charles I was crowned King of Britain on 2 Feb 1626.  When Charles came to the throne the monarchy was near bankruptcy.  The road blocks to every thing that the new king wanted to do were stopped by lack of money.  The Commons would not vote him any new funds until he agreed to their demands for power.  Charles would not hear of this.  He dismissed Parliament and proceed to collect “illegal” taxes, fines and such.

He engaged in war with Spain and France.  His treatment of the Catholics was not unfriendly in his country, but the war was not popular.  He believed that God had made him a King, so he did not need to consult his subjects.  He managed to rule without a Parliament until 1640, and tried to force his Scottish subjects to accept English Church services.  When this led to a war, he could not afford, he promised to share some of his power with Parliament.  People no longer trusted him and England slid into Civil War.

Charles I, ruled 1625-1649.  Charles holds the distinction of being the only English King to be publicly executed.

Charles I & Henrietta Maria (of France) Stuart had nine (9) children:

A.      Charles James Stuart , Duke of Cornwall, b. 13 May 1629
B.     
Charles Stuart , Charles II King of Britain, b. 29 May 1630
C.     
Mary Henrietta Stuart , Princess Royal, b. 4 Nov 1631
D.     
James Stuart , James II King of Britain, b. 14 Oct 1633
E.     
Elizabeth Stuart , b. 29 Dec 1635
F.      
Anne Stuart , b. 17 Mar 1637
G.     
Catherine Stuart , b. 29 Jun 1639
H.     
Henry Stuart of Gloucester, Duke of Gloucester, b. 8 Jul 1640
I.        
Henrietta Anne Stuart , b. 16 Jun 1644

Sophia Dorothea of Zelle

12.  Sophia Dorothea of Zelle , daughter of King Frederick V & Elizabeth (Stuart) Wittelsbach, b. 13 Oct 1630, Wassenaer Court, The Hague, Holand; d. 8 Jun 1714, Schloss Herrenhausen, Hanover; bur. Chapel of Schloss Herrenhausen, Hanover; m. 30 Sept 1658, Castle Chapel, Heidelberg, Germany to Ernest Augustus , Duke of Brunswick-Lunen.

Ernest & Sophia Dorothea (of Zelle) Augustus had nine (9) children:

a)      George Louis Hanover , George I, King  of Britain, b. 28 may 1660.  For Further Information See House of Hanover.
b)     
Frederick Augustus Hanover , Imperial General, b. 3 Oct 1661
c)      
twin, b. Feb 1664
d)     
twin, b. Feb 1664
e)     
Maximilian William Hanover , Field Marshall in Imperial Army, b. 23 Dec 1666
f)       
Sophia Charlotte Hanover , b. 20 Oct 1668
g)     
Charles Philip Hanover , Colonel in Imperial Army, b. 13 Oct 1669
h)     
Christian Hanover , b. 19 Sept 1671
i)       
Ernest Augustus  Hanover , Duke of York  & Albany, b. 7 Sept 1674