The Black Acts were the acts of the Scottish parliaments of the Jameses I to V, of Queen Mary, and of James VI; so called from their being printed in black-letter. Research Black Acts
In Scotch history, Covenant was the name given to a bond or oath drawn up by the Scottish reformers, and signed in 1557, and to the similar document or Confession of Faith drawn up in 1581, in which all the errors of Popery were explicitly abjured. The latter was subscribed by James VI and his council, and all his subjects were required to attach their subscription to it. It was again subscribed in 1590 and 1596. The subscription was renewed in 1638, and the subscribers engaged by oath to maintain religion in the same state as it was in 1580, and to reject all innovations introduced since that time. The Solemn League and Covenant was a solemn contract entered into between the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and commissioners from the English parliament in 1643, having for its object a uniformity of doctrine, worship, and discipline throughout Scotland, England, and Ireland, according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed churches. In 1662 it was abjured by act of parliament, both in England and Scotland. Research Covenant
Glasgow University is a Scottish university that was founded by a bull of Pope Nicholas V, 1450-51, which conferred not only the power of creating masters and doctors, but privileges and immunities identical with those of the University of Bologna. In 1577 James VI prescribed rules for the government of the University, giving it a new charter. It was reconstituted by the Scottish Universities Acts of 1858 and 1889, and its constitution became similar to that of the other Scottish universities. The old University Buildings and ground were sold to the Glasgow Union Railway Company in 1864 for 100,000 pounds. Research Glasgow University
The Gowrie Conspiracy was one of the strangest episodes in Scottish history. It took place in August, 1600. King James VI. while hunting in Falkland Park, Fifeshire, was asked by Alexander Ruthven (brother of the Earl of Gowrie) to accompany him to Gowrie House, near Perth, on the pretext that they had caught a Jesuit with an urn of foreign golden pieces hid under his cloak. On arriving at Gowrie House an attempt was made on the life or liberty of the king, but an alarm being raised, both the Ruthvens were slain, and James VI escaped, though not without difficulty as the Gowries were very popular among the inhabitants of Perth. Research Gowrie Conspiracy
The Sadler Papers are a collection of dispatches written by Sir Ralph Sadler, and sent from Scotland where he was working as a diplomat. The dispatches were edited by Sir Walter Scott in 1809, and provide a useful source of contemporary information on Scottish affairs during the reign of Queen Mary and the early years of the reign of James VI. Research Sadler Papers
Charles I was King of England from 1625 to 1649. He was born in 1600 at Dunfermline and died in 1649. He was the third son of James VI and Anne of Denmark. He married Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV of France, and in 1625 succeeded to the throne, receiving the kingdom embroiled in a Spanish war. The first parliament which he summoned, being more disposed to state grievances than grant supplies, was dissolved. Next year, 1626, a new parliament was summoned; but the House proved no more tractable than before, and was soon dissolved.
Charles I was a shy, aloof man who lacked the qualities necessary to make him a successful ruler. Parliament refused to grant him taxes for his wars against France and Spain and he raised money by other means such as forced loans. His third Parliament criticised his management of the wars and condemned his illegal taxation, whereupon he dissolved Parliament and for the next eleven years governed without it. In 1640 Charles was forced to call Parliament to pay for his war against the Scots on whom he was trying to impose an Anglican prayer book. Parliament overturned many of Charles's policies but had no wish to overthrow the King. However, Charles's attempt to arrest five leading members of the House of Commons, and a Roman Catholic rebellion in Ireland helped to push the King and Parliament apart and in 1642 civil war broke out.
By 1647 the King's army had been defeated. Attempts were made to reach a settlement but after Charles's escape and a renewal of the war, the leaders of the Parliamentary army determined that the King should be put on trial. In January 1649 he was tried for waging war on his people, condemned to death and executed at Whitehall in London. Research Charles I
David I was King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The son of Malcolm Canmore he was born about 1080 and died in 1153. He succeeded his brother Alexander I in 1124. He was the first to introduce feudal institutions and ideas into his native land. He twice invaded England to support his niece Matilda against Stephen, her rival claimant for the English crown, during one of his incursions being defeated at the Battle of the Standard in 1138. After David I's death he was succeeded by his grandson Malcolm. He acquired a considerable reputation for sanctity. While yet Prince of Cumbria he had begun the re-establishment or restoration of the Glasgow bishopric, and after he became king founded the bishoprics of Aberdeen, Ross, Caithness, Brechin, and Dunblane. Among the religious houses for regulars which date from his reign are Holyrood, Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso, Dryburgh, Newbattle, etc. His services to the church procured for him the popular title of saint, but the endowments so taxed the royal domains and possessions that James VI bitterly characterized him as 'ane sair sanct for the crown.' Research David I
Elizabeth I was queen of England from 1558 to 1603. She was born in 1533 at Greenwich and died in 1603. Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Almost immediately after her birth, Elizabeth was declared heiress to the crown. After her mother had been beheaded in 1536, both Elizabeth and her sister Mary were declared bastards, and she was finally placed after Prince Edward and the Lady Mary in the order of succession.
On the accession of Edward VIElizabeth was committed to the care of the queen-dowager Catherine; and after the death of Catherine and beheadal of her consort Thomas Seymour she was closely watched at Hatfield,where she received a classical education under William Grindal and Roger Ascliam. At the death of Edward VIElizabeth vigorously supported the title of Mary against the pretensions of Lady Jane Grey, but continued throughout the whole reign an object of suspicion and surveillance. In self-defence she made every demonstration of zealous adherence to the Roman Catholic faith, but her inclinations were well known. On the 17th of November, 1558, Mary's reign came to a close, and Elizabeth was immediately recognized queen by parliament.
The accuracy of Elizabeth's judgment showed itself in her choice of advisers, Parker, a moderate divine (Archbishop of Canterbury 1559), aiding her in ecclesiastical policy; while William Cecil, LordBurleigh, assisted her in foreign affairs. The first great object of her reign was the settlement of religion, to effect which a parliament was called on the 25th of January, and dissolved on the 8th of May, its object having been accomplished - the return of England to Protestantism, the royal supremacy asserted, and the revised prayer-book enforced by the Act of Uniformity. Freed from the tyranny of Mary's reign the Puritans began to claim predominance for their own dogmas, while the supporters of the Established Church were unwilling to grant them even liberty of worship. The Puritans, therefore, like the Catholics, were made irreconcilable enemies of the existing order, and increasingly stringent measures were adopted agsinst them. But the struggle against the Catholics was the most severe, chiefly because they were supported by foreign powers; so that while their religion was wholly prohibited, even exile was forbidden them, in order to prevent their intrigues abroad. Many Catholics, particularly priests, suffered death during this reign; but simple nonconformity, from whatever cause, was pursued with the severest penalties, and many more clergymen were driven out of the church by differences about the position of altars, the wearing of caps, and such like matters, than were forced to resign by the change from Rome to Reformation.
Elizabeth's first parliament approached her on a subject which, next to religion, was the chief trouble of her reign, the succession to the crown. They requested her to marry, but she declared her intention to live and die a virgin; and she consistently declined in the course of her life such suitors as the Duc d'Alencon, Prince Erik of Sweden, the Archduke Charles of Austria, and Philip of Spain. While, however, she felt that she could best maintain her power by remaining unmarried, she knew how to temporize with suitors for political ends, and showed the greatest jealousy of all pretenders to the English succession.
With the unfortunate Mary, queen of Scots, were connected many of the political events of Elizabeth's reign. On her accession the country was at war with France. Peace was easily concluded in 1559; but the assumption by Francis and Mary of the royal arms and titles of England led to an immediate interference on the part of Elizabeth in the affairs of Scotland. She entered into a league with the Lords of the Congregation, or leaders of the Reformed party; and throughout her reign this party was frequently serviceable in furthering her policy. She also gave early support to the Huguenot party in France, and to the Protestants in the Netherlands, so that throughout Europe she was looked on as the head of the Protestant party. This policy roused the inplacable resentment of Philip, who strove in turn to excite the Catholics against her both in her own dominions and in Scotland.
Mary, Queen of Scots, threatened by rebellion in Scotland, fled to England only to be mprisoned by Elizabeth I in 1567 and this led to a series of conspiracies, beginning with that under the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, and ending with the plot of Babington, which finally determined Elizabeth to make away with her captive. The execution of Queen Mary in 1587, though it has stained her name to posterity, tended to confirm her power among her contemporaries and led to outright war with Spain. In 1588 Philip of Spain's invasion fleet, the ' Armada', was defeated. There were two further Armadas in the 1590s, and an Irish revolt in 1595, assisted by Spain, which was eventually put down in 1601. The financial strains caused by the war against Spain (made worse by poor harvests) meant that Elizabeth did not try to put the Crown on a permanently solvent basis. In addition to sharp debates over revenue-raising measures such as monopolies, Parliament continued its pressure on the Queen to deal with the question of the succession.
During her reign the splendour of her government at home and abroad was sustained by such men as Burleigh, Bacon, Walsingham, and Throgmorton; but she had personal favourites of less merit who were often more brilliantly rewarded. Chief of these were Dudley, whom she created Earl of Leicester, and whom she was disposed to marry, and Essex, whose violent passions brought about his ruin. He was beheaded in 1601, but Elizabeth never forgave herself his death. Her own health soon after gave way and she died on the 24th of March, 1603, naming James VI of Scotland as her successor.
To Queen Elizabeth I may be traced the origins of the English colonisation of North America .In 1578 she granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert letters patent to conquer and possess any heathen lands not already in the hands of Christians. Humphrey Gilbert's expedition failed, but in 1584 Elizabeth granted a similar charter to Walter Raleigh. In 1585, with the Queen's assistance, Walter Raleigh sent seven vessels and 100 colonists to settle in Virginia, which had been taken in the Queen's name under the charter of 1584 and named by Elizabeth. In 1603 Gosnold named one of the Elizabeth Islands for her. Research Elizabeth I
Elizabeth Stuart was Queen of Bohemia. She was born in 1596 at Falkland Palace, Fifeshire and died in 1662. She was the daughter of James I of England (James VI of Scotland). Her marriage with the PalatineFrederick was celebrated at Whitehall in 1613. Her husband, then at the head of the Protestant interest in Germany, accepted in 1619 the crown of Bohemia offered to him by the revolted Protestants of that country; but after his defeat by the imperialists at the battle of Prague in 1620 he and his wife were obliged to flee, first to Breslau and Berlin, and then to the Hague. She returned to England at the Restoration with her nephew Charles II, and died at Leicester House, London, on the 13th of February 1662. Elizabeth had thirteen children, of whom Charles Louis, the eldest surviving, was reinstated in the palatinate by the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. By her daughters, ElizabethCharlotte and Sophia, she was the ancestress of Louis Philippe and of George I, and her sons, Rupert and Maurice, became famous Cavalier leaders. Research Elizabeth Stuart
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Abbreviations
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