Pax Britannica

The apple does not fall far from the tree, as Charles follows in his father's footsteps and tries to win his wife through a brave and romantic adventure! With his partner in crime, George Villiers, he will travel, uninvited, to the Spanish court at Madrid and woo his beloved Infanta through this selfless act. It doesn't go well. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Pauline Croft, King James Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As war engulfes Europe, James is stuck between a rock and a hard place: his son-in-law is now wearing a stolen crown, and he still wants a marriage with its owners. He's also in crippling debt, and the only way forward is to call another parliament. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Pauline Croft, King James - The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography -David Smith, The Stuart Parliaments, 1603-1689 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happened in James' first Kingdom while he was down south living it up in London? Rebellious lords were brought to heel and the Kirk was forcibly brought closer to the Church of England. We also hear about the first, failed, beginnings of Nova Scotia, and the much more successful colony of St Kitts, while the burgeoning war in Europe becomes a family affair for James. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Pauline Croft, King James - The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - Jane H. Ohlmeyer, ''Civilizinge of those Rude Partes': Colonization within Britain and Ireland, 1580s-1640s', in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What was the religious background to James' English reign? Was everyone on board with the established church? Of course not! We look at those who were content with the Church of England, those who wished for a return to Roman Catholicism, and those who believed the Church needed further reform. Outside of this debate were the Pilgrims, who thought the whole project was beyond repair, and were determined to make their own, perfect, society. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Milton, A. (2015). ‘Arminians, Laudians, Anglicans, and Revisionists’, Huntington Library Quarterly - Prior, C. W. A. (2005). Defining the Jacobean Church: The Politics of Religious Controversy, 1603–1625 - Questier, M. C. (1997). ‘Loyalty, Religion and State Power in Early Modern England: English Romanism and the Jacobean Oath of Allegiance’, The Hist

A delve into the careers of two of the king's fond advisers/possible lovers: the Earl of Somerset, Robert Carr/Kerr, and the Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers. One rose to a great height, acquired riches and power, and came crashing down to earth like Icarus. The other would climb higher, attain more influence and wealth, and survive his king. These two men became manifestations, and major causes, of the Stuart Court's growing unpopularity. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Listen to The Siécle: http://thesiecle.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Pauline Croft, King James - The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography For a full bibliography, see the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we catch up with events across the Atlantic; the colonies of Virginia, Bermuda, and Newfoundland, and how they are faring. We also look at the ridiculously successful first decades of the East India Company, and get a glimpse of the fantastical levels of wealth that were on offer for investors in its voyages. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Philip Lawson, The East India Company : A History, 1993 - Munis Faruqui,The Princes of the Mughal Empire, 1504-1719, 2012 - K. N. Chaudhuri, English East India Company: The Study of an Early Joint-stock Company 1600-1640, 1865 - Zahedeh, N. (2001). ‘Overseas Expansion and Trade in the Seventeenth Century’. Canny N. & Louis R. (eds) Origins of Empire : British Overseas Enterprise to the Close of the Seventeenth Century. -Stern, P. J. (2011). The Company-State: Corpor

The death of the Prince of Wales Henry Frederick, the Prince that was Promised, almost derailed James' international diplomacy. Both the English and Irish Parliaments were summoned, with similar results. The King's attempt to renegotiate the trade relationship with the Dutch backfires horrendously. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Pauline Croft, King James - Alison Plowden, The Stuart Princesses A full bibliography can be found on the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Was James VI and I truly the witch-hunting, demon-studying zealot that he has traditionally been seen as? Today we take a look at the court of King James, and hear about the trials that dotted his early reign. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Holmes, R., Witchcraft in British History (1974) - MacFarlane, A., Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England (London, 1970) - Levack, B., 'State-Building and Witch Hunting', in Darren Oldridge (ed.), The Witchcraft Reader (London, 2002) - Poole, R., (ed.), The Lancashire Witches: Histories and Stories (2002) A full bibliography is on the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We say goodbye to the Earl of Salisbury, chief minister of King James in England. He had failed to bring parliament and king together, but he was indispensible to the government. International alliances are found with the Palatinate, as war brews on the continent, and the Great Equaliser comes for the Crown Prince. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Pauline Croft, King James - Eric Lindquist, 'The Last Years of the First Earl of Salisbury, 1610-1612’ - Alison Plowden, The Stuart Princesses - The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography For a full bibliography, see the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The king's debts are skyrocketing, and the Earl of Salisbury has a solution: the Great Contract. With concessions from King James, and generosity from the Commons, England's ancient financial system can be reformed, the budget balanced, and unpopular traditions removed. Perhaps Salisbury will succeed in getting "honey from gall" after all... Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Pauline Croft, King James - David Smith, The Stuart Parliaments, 1603-1689 - The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography For a full bibliography, see the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James' Privy Council, in contrast to the Bedchamber, was made up of Elizabethan-era lords, but three men in particular dominated government and parliament. Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, and Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton. They didn't all like each other, but they worked together to try and steer the king and control parliament. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Pauline Croft, King James - The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography For a full bibliography, see the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special episode BT Newberg and I talk about the highs and lows of making a history podcast. What made us want to start a podcast? Why did we pick the subjects we did? What are the best and worst things about it? Peak behind the curtain! Go check out Dead Ideas: https://deadideas.net/ Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the personal politics of early modern England, the personalities and desires of the powerful were the stuff of policy. In this episode we examine the actions of: Queen Anne, the closet-Catholic; Prince Henry Frederick, the dashing future king of three realms; Elizabeth, the gracious future Queen of Bohemia; and Charles, the bookish, slightly sickly, future Archbishop of Canterbury. That is, unless Fate intervened... Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Pauline Croft, King James - The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography For a full bibliography, see the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Both before and after the Flight of the Earls territory in north Ireland was forfeited to the Crown and purchased by investors. Even while the burgeoning colony of Virginia was facing its earliest challenges, it was in Ulster that most government attention was focused. Money, men, and materials flooded the province, determined to make this latest plantation effort a success. The experiences of English, Scots, Welsh and Irish would form the basis of the next two centuries of British colonial expansion. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Kennedy, L. and Ollerenshaw, P. (2012).Ulster Since 1600. Oxford - Jane H. Ohlmeyer, ''Civilizinge of those Rude Partes': Colonization within Britain and Ireland, 1580s-1640s', in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire - David Edwards, 'Political Change an

Compared to the kingdoms of Iberia, England was fairly late to the colonisation game. This episode covers the costly failures of Elizabeth's reign, and the successful, but still costly, attempts which James oversaw. Enormous death tolls from disease, starvation, and violence were not enough to prevent the foundations of British North America. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Benjamin, T. (2009). The Atlantic World: Europeans, Africans, Indians and Their Shared History, 1400-1900. Cambridge - Nicholas Canny, 'The Origins of Empire: An Introduction', in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire - John C. Appleby, 'War, Politics, and Colonization, 1558-1625', in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire For a full bibliography, see the website. Learn more abou

A closer look at how James attempts to unite his kingdoms into one body, and the difficulty he faced. In Ireland, the English yoke tightens around both the Gaelic and Anglo-Irish in the wake of the Nine Year's War. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Smith, David L., The Stuart parliaments, 1603-1689. (1999) - David Edwards, 'Political Change and Social Transformation, 1603–1641', in The Cambridge History of Ireland: 1550–1730  For a full bibliography, see the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite the cheering crowds and warm welcome James received from his new subjects, all was not well in his new kingdom. As James would find out, England was not so different to Scotland. A number of plots against the king's life, spurred by fears or hopes for religious toleration, were hatched in the early years of James' reign. Some planned to be relatively bloodless, just another way to attract the king's ear. Others were much more... explosive in their intentions. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Nicholls, M. (1995). ‘Treason’s Reward: The Punishment of Conspirators in the Bye Plot of 1603’ For a full bibliography, see the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the death of Elizabeth, the King of Scots travels south to take up his new kingdoms of England and Ireland. James faces an uphill challenge; his rulership style is vastly different to Elizabeth's, and he inherits a number of serious problems. Adding to this is James' insistence on political union between his two larger kingdoms; he wants to become King of a single Great Britain. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Jane H. Ohlmeyer, ''Civilizinge of those Rude Partes': Colonization within Britain and Ireland, 1580s-1640s', in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Julian Goodare, The Government of Scotland 1560-1625  For a full bibliography, see the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sir John Elliott, Regius Professor Emeritus of Modern History at Oxford University, speaks with me in Edinburgh about composite monarchies and personal unions, the similarities between Scotland and Catalonia, the challenges that James will face as he travels south to take up his new crown, and how his and his son’s actions will echo throughout the century and beyond. The recommended books, available from all good retailers, are: - Scots and Catalans: Union and Disunion (2018) - Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830 (2006) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James VI was crowned king at one year old, and his early life was spent as the puppet of a succession of regencies. When he finally asserted his independence, he faced down a series of rebellions and strengthened his royal authority through fire and sword. His relationship with Elizabeth of England was complicated and often violent, and his vassals were insubordinate and churlish. Yet he would emerge at the dawn of the 17th century the ruler of the entirety of the British Isles. Check out the podcast website: https://www.paxbritannica.info Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodBritannica/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BritannicaPax In this episode I made particular use of the following publications: - Jane H. Ohlmeyer, ''Civilizinge of those Rude Partes': Colonization within Britain and Ireland, 1580s-1640s', in The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume I: The Origins of Empire - Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI and I - Julian Goodare, The Government of Scotland 1560-1625  For a full bi