Portrait of James VI wearing the Order of the Garter

Portrait of King James VI, wearing the Order of St George
Scottish School, oval.

James VI (1566-1625) the son of Henry, Lord Darnley and Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned King of Scots at Stirling on his mother's forced abdication in 1567 and committed to the care of the Earl and Countess of Mar.
On Elizabeth's death in 1603 the succession to the English throne passed to the Stewart line which traced its ancestry to Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII and wife of James IV. So the crowns of Scotland and England were united.

Though James' reign was marked by religious problems, corruption at Court, conflict with the lawyers (mainly Chief Justice Coke) over the supremacy of law or crown and collisions with the Commons, his own spirit was one of reconciliation and moderation.