| Jacobean era | |||
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| 1603–1625 | |||
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 King James I byMijtens (1621) | |||
| Monarch | James VI and I | ||
| English history | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheJacobean era was the period in English andScottish history that coincides with the reign ofJames VI of Scotland who also inherited the crown of England in 1603 as James I.[1] The Jacobean era succeeds theElizabethan era and is followed by theCaroline era. The term "Jacobean" is often used for the distinctive styles ofJacobean architecture, visual arts, decorative arts, andliterature which characterized that period.
The word "Jacobean" is derived fromNeo-LatinJacobaeus fromJacobus, theEcclesiastical Latin form of the English nameJames.[2][3]
The practical if not formalunification of England and Scotland under one ruler was an important shift of order for both nations, and would shape their existence to the present day. Another development of crucial significance was the foundation of the first British colonies on the North American continent;Jamestown, Virginia in 1607,Newfoundland in 1610, andPlymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620, which laid the foundation for future British settlement and the eventual formation of both Canada and the United States of America. In 1609 theParliament of Scotland began thePlantation of Ulster.
A notable event of James' reign occurred on 5 November 1605. On that date, a group of English Catholics (includingGuy Fawkes) attempted to assassinate the King and destroy Parliament in thePalace of Westminster. The initial plan consisted of hiding barrels of gunpowder under the parliament building and blowing it up while in session,[4] however, theGunpowder Plot was exposed and prevented, and the convicted plotters werehanged, drawn, and quartered.
Historians have long debated the curious characteristics of the king's ruling style. Croft says:
Political events and developments of the Jacobean era cannot be understood separately from the economic and financial situation. James was deeply in debt in Scotland,[6] and after 1603 he inherited an English debt of £350,000 from Elizabeth. By 1608 the English debt had risen to £1,400,000 and was increasing by £140,000 annually. Through a crash program of selling off royaldemesnes, Lord TreasurerRobert Cecil reduced the debt to £300,000 and the annual deficit to £46,000 by 1610—but could not follow the same method of relief much farther, especially in light of King James' large spending habits.[7] The result was a series of tense and often failed negotiations with Parliament for financial supports, a situation that deteriorated over the reigns of James and his son and heirCharles I until the crisis of theEnglish Civil War.[8]
The Jacobean era ended with a severe economic depression in 1620–1626, complicated by a serious outbreak ofbubonic plague in London in 1625.
King James I was sincerely devoted to peace, not just for his three kingdoms but for Europe as a whole. He called himself "Rex Pacificus" ("King of Peace").[9] Europe was deeply polarized, and on the verge of the massiveThirty Years' War (1618–1648), with the smaller established Protestant states facing the aggression of the larger Catholic empires. In 1604, James madepeace with Catholic Spain, and made it his policy to marry his daughter to the Spanish prince. The marriage of James' daughter PrincessElizabeth toFrederick V, Elector Palatine atWhitehall 14 February 1613 was more than the social event of the era; the couple's union had important political and military implications. Across Europe, the German princes were banding together in the Union of German Protestant Princes, headquartered in Heidelberg, the capital of the Palatine. King James calculated that his daughter's marriage would give him diplomatic leverage among the Protestants.[10] He thus would have a foot in both camps and be able to broker peaceful settlements. In his naïveté, he did not realize that both sides were playing him as a tool for their own goal of achieving destruction of the other side. The Catholics in Spain, as well as the EmperorFerdinand II, the Vienna-based leader of the Habsburgs who controlled the Holy Roman Empire, were both heavily influenced by the Catholic Counter-Reformation. They had the goal of expelling Protestantism from their domains.
Lord Buckingham, who wielded increasing influence at court, wanted analliance with Spain. Buckingham took Charles with him to Spain to woo the princess, theInfanta Maria Anna. However, Spain's terms were that James must drop Britain's anti-Catholic intolerance. Buckingham and Charles were humiliated. Buckingham subsequently became the leader of the widespread British demand for a war against Spain. Meanwhile, the Protestant princes looked to Britain, since it was the strongest of all the Protestant countries, to give military support for their cause. His son-in-law and daughter became king and queen of Bohemia, which outraged Vienna. The Thirty Years' War began as the Habsburg Emperor ousted the new king and queen of Bohemia and massacred their followers. Catholic Bavaria then invaded the Palatine, and James's son-in-law begged for James's military intervention. James finally realized his policies had backfired and refused these pleas. He successfully kept Britain out of the Europe-wide war that proved so devastating for three decades. James's backup plan was to marry his son Charles to a French Catholic princess, who would bring a handsome dowry. Parliament and the British people were strongly opposed to any Catholic marriage, were demanding immediate war with Spain, and strongly favored with the Protestant cause in Europe. James had alienated both elite and popular opinion in Britain, and Parliament was cutting its financing. Historians credit James for pulling back from a major war at the last minute, and keeping Britain in peace.[11][12]
Frederick and Elizabeth's election as King and Queen ofBohemia in 1619, and the conflict that resulted, marked the beginning of the disastrousThirty Years' War. King James' determination to avoid involvement in the continental conflict, even during the "war fever" of 1623, appears in retrospect as one of the most significant, and most positive, aspects of his reign.[13]
In literature, some ofShakespeare's most prominent plays, includingKing Lear (1605),Macbeth (1606), andThe Tempest (1610), were written during the reign of James I. Patronage came not just from James, but from James' wifeAnne of Denmark. Also during this period were powerful works byJohn Webster,Thomas Middleton,John Ford andBen Jonson. Ben Jonson also contributed to some of the era's best poetry, together with theCavalier poets andJohn Donne. Inprose, the most representative works are found in those ofFrancis Bacon and theKing James Bible.
In 1617George Chapman completed his monumental translation ofHomer'sIliad andOdyssey into English verse, which were the first ever complete translations of either poem, both central to theWestern Canon, into the English language. The wildly popular tale of the Trojan War had until then been available to readers of English only in medieval epic retellings such asCaxton'sRecuyell of the Historyes of Troye.
Jonson was also an important innovator in the specialised literary subgenre of themasque, which went through an intense development in the Jacobean era. His name is linked with that ofInigo Jones as co-developers of the literary and visual/technical aspects of this hybrid art. (ForJonson's masques, see:The Masque of Blackness,The Masque of Queens, etc.) The high costs of these spectacles, however, positioned the Stuarts far from the relative frugality of Elizabeth's reign, and alienated the middle classes and thePuritans with a prospect of waste and self-indulgent excess.
Francis Bacon had a strong influence in the evolution of modern science, which was entering a key phase in this era, as the work ofJohannes Kepler in Germany andGalileo Galilei in Italy brought theCopernican revolution to a new level of development. Bacon laid a foundation, and was a powerful and persuasive advocate for modern objective inquiry, predicated uponempiricism as a lens to study the natural world. This school of thought was in stark contrast to the dominating scientific philosophy of the time:Medievalscholastic authoritarianism. On practical rather than general levels, much work was being done in the areas of navigation, cartography, and surveying—John Widdowes'A Description of the World (1621) being one significant volume in this area—as well as in continuingWilliam Gilbert's work on magnetism from the previous reign. Scholarship and the sciences, or "natural philosophy", had important royal patrons in this era—not so much in the King but in his son,Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and even his wife,Anne of Denmark.
The fine arts were dominated by foreign talent in the Jacobean era, as was true of the Tudor and Stuart periods in general.Paul van Somer andDaniel Mytens were the most prominent portrait painters during the reign of James, asAnthony van Dyck would be under the coming reign of his son. Yet the slow development of a native school of painting, which had made progress in the previous reign, continued under James, producing figures likeRobert Peake the Elder (died 1619),William Larkin (fl. 1609–19), andSir Nathaniel Bacon (1585–1627). Some would also claim, as part of this trend, Cornelius Johnson, orCornelis Janssens van Ceulen (1593–1661), born and trained in London and active through the first two Stuart reigns.[14]
The decorative arts – furniture, for example – became increasingly rich in color, detail, and design. Materials from other parts of the world, like mother-of-pearl, were now available by worldwide trade and were used as decoration.[15] Even familiar materials, such as wood and silver, were worked more deeply in intricate and intenselythree-dimensional designs.[15] The goldsmithGeorge Heriot madejewellery for Anne of Denmark.[16]
Architecture in the Jacobean era was a continuation of the Elizabethan style with increasing emphasis on classical elements like columns and obelisks. Architectural detail and decorativestrapwork patterns derived from continental engravings, especially the prints ofHans Vredeman de Vries, were employed on buildings and furniture. European influences include France, Flanders, and Italy.[17]Inigo Jones may be the most famous English architect of this period, with lasting contributions to classical public building style; his works include theBanqueting House in thePalace of Whitehall and the portico ofOld St Paul's Cathedral (destroyed in theGreat Fire of London). Significant Jacobean buildings includeHatfield House,Bolsover Castle,Aston Hall, andCharlton House. Many churches contain fine monuments in Jacobean style, with characteristic motifs including strapwork, and polychromy. The mason and sculptorNicholas Stone produced many effigies for tombs as well as architectural stonework.
In the domain of customs, manners, and everyday life, the Jacobean era saw a distinctly religious tone.[18] Virginia tobacco became popular. James I published hisA Counterblaste to Tobacco in 1604, but the book had no discernible effect; by 1612, London had 7,000 tobacconists and smoking houses. TheVirginia colony survived because the English acquired the nicotine habit.[19]
