From Settlement to Superpower

In this lecture, we discuss James's political alliance with the Kirk, spearheaded by his indefatigable Chancellor, John Maitland. This period (1587-1594) was marked first by the rivalry between Maitland and the Earl of Huntly, and later on between the King and the Earl of Bothwell. This latter conflict, however, severely weakened James's relationship with the Kirk, and following Maitland's death in the end of 1594, it was clear that the political alliance had one foot in the grave as well...

Now that James had escaped the Ruthven Raiders, the Episcopal/Catholic faction seemed to be back in control, under the Earl of Arran's leadership. But England had other ideas, and before long, Arran had been sacrificed to placate Scotland's powerful southern neighbor. Scotland now moved closer to England, and indeed, Elizabeth was soon to remove the only obstacle in the way of James being "sole king".

We're back! From Settlement to Superpower will be restarting shortly, alongside historycourses.com, a new project which will combine detailed historical narratives with animated visuals. Go check it out, and we'll be back soon with our regular podcasting schedule.

Throughout King James VI of Scotland's turbulent childhood, he was buffeted by the waves of violent power politics and court intrigue. He was repeatedly captured, released, befriended, and betrayed by unscrupulous nobles, even as the Presbyterian Kirk under Andrew Melvill was pressing for greater and greater Kirk independence. Finally, after the Ruthven Raid of 1582-3, the young King James had enough, and he finally declared an end to his eventful minority.

In this, the final of our introductory episodes, we talk about the two primary organs of the English government in 1600: The Crown, via the Privy Council, and Parliament. These constitutional arrangements and the disputes which they engendered are going to take center stage in our discussions of Stuart Britain.

In this episode, we examine the state of religion in Britain at the turn of the Seventeenth Century. We look at the Church of England and its dissenters, both Catholic and Puritan, before turning our attention northwards to discuss the early years of the Presbyterian Scottish Kirk.

In this episode, the second of our introductory episodes, we move from the relatively quiet and peaceful Kingdom of England to the tumultuous borderlands, the Scottish Highlands, and Ireland. Lots of clans, feuds, and raids in this episode.

In this, the first of our contextual episodes on Stuart Britain, we discuss the basic economic and social geography of the Kingdom of England (which of course includes both England and Wales). We discuss the function market towns and cities played in holding England's villages together into a cohesive whole, and we take a quick region by region tour of the Kingdom to get a general sense of Stuart England.

It's a girl!!!

In this brief episode, I lay out out the basic scheme of what next chapter is going to include: King James I's reign, The Virginia Company (up until its dissolution), and the Jamestown Settlement. At the very end, we will conduct a survey of the Northeast Woodland Indians. Enjoy!

In this episode, we wrap up Elizabeth's reign and cover the final seven years, from 1596 through 1603. We discuss the rivalry between Essex and Cecil, Essex's coup, and Elizabeth's famous "Golden Speech" to the Parliament of 1601. We bid a final farewell to Queen Elizabeth, whose reign was so instrumental in leading the English to America.