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King James I and the Divine Right of Kings

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King James I and the Divine Right of Kings

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A political doctrine defending monarchial absolutism

Kings derived power and authority from God

Belief that God had chosen him to rule and that it was his Divine Right to rule over England

James I and the Protestant majority saw the plot as a treasonous attack against God’s chosen king and a sin against divine order

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Plotting assassination: the Gunpowder Plot

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Plotting assassination: the Gunpowder Plot

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In 1605, a year before the play was written

A plot by Catholics to assassinate the new king

Intention: blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament (5 November 1605), kill the king and government, and replace him with a Catholic monarch (James’s daughter Elizabeth)

Message: that God's law (Catholicism) should rule over the land, not Protestant tyranny that oppressed them

James I survived this plot and his attitude towards Catholics became harsher

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Originally the King James IV of Scotland

Came into power of England as well when Queen Elizabeth died without a heir

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Introduction of the concept of usurpation

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Introduction of the concept of usurpation

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Believed that James I was usurping the throne

Saw him as an imposter

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King James was a Protestant whose mother Queen Mary of Scots has been a devout Catholic

Catholics expected him to be tolerant of their religious beliefs

Instead, James I continued and reinforced anti-Catholic laws: Catholics couldn’t legally practice their faith, hold government jobs, or even attend Mass

Many faced fines, imprisonment, or worse

Very unpopular with the Catholics

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Complex and ultimately tragic relationship

They never saw each other again after James was a year old since Mary was forced to abdicate the throne for James

James's relationship with his mother was further complicated by Mary's attempts to regain her Scottish throne, which would have threatened his own kingship over Scotland

Mary was beheaded in 1587 while James was 21

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Gunpowder plot

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Gunpowder plot

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Scottish context of Macbeth to match James I's background

The "righteous" character in Macbeth, Banquo, is said to one day have sons that will inherit the throne

One is said to carry a double sceptre (which meant rule over two countries), hinting at James I as a descendant of a righteous man who was rightfully king

Macbeth as a defense of James I's right to rule, cautioning those with intent to kill him for ambition (with implication that they will face a fate similar to Macbeth)

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The plotters thought they were defending divine authority by trying to replace a Protestant king with a Catholic monarch

To them, the true “Divine Right” belonged to a ruler who followed the “true faith” (Catholicism) and not a Protestant king who persecuted Catholics

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Why King James I Was Obsessed With Burning Witches

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(First section of the video is relevant)

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Macbeth Contextual Analysis - Shakespeare lesson

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References to James I and the Gunpowder plot in Macbeth

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References to James I and the Gunpowder plot in Macbeth

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It's commonly held that Shakespeare wrote his plays for the monarchs of England. There are many stories, mostly apocryphal, that connect this play to that monarch; for example, one popular story says that Queen Elizabeth, upon learning that John Falstaff dies in Henry V, demanded that Shakespeare write a new play for Falstaff, one in which he falls in love- resulting in The Merry Wives of Windsor (whether or not this is a true story, it's definitely entertaining). But there's one play that was clearly written with a monarch in mind. Shakespeare's Macbeth was pretty obviously a nod (and not a subtle one) to King James I.

There are a lot of reasons to say this. For one thing, the play is entirely set in Scotland, based on Scottish history and legend, and populated with Scotsmen. James I of England was actually from Scotland as well; he ruled over both England and his own home country, where he was called James VI. Though there are other Scottish characters in Shakespearean plays, there are none with so many as in Macbeth.

Then there's all the supernatural elements. James I was an avid scholar of all things strange, weird, and superstitious. In 1597, the king published a book called Daemonologie; it was a study of witchcraft, necromancy, demons, werewolves, vampires, and all sorts of other spooky things. In fact, much of the witchcraft in Macbeth was actually taken directly from Daemonologie, probably as a form of flattery to the king himself. It goes further than that, though. Witchcraft seems to have been a real obsession of James, as he was heavily involved in a series of witch trials in 1590. Supposedly, a coven of witches were trying to personally attack him, which was high treason, so James had them tracked down, forced them to confess to witchcraft, tortured them, and had them burned at the stake. So it's no wonder that the witches in Macbeth are so demented and evil! Shakespeare wanted to make it clear that he was on the king's side in the whole witch debacle.

King James was widely considered paranoid (can you tell from the witch thing?). Throughout his whole reign, he was terrified that he would be assassinated. He was very harsh with treasonous criminals and he constantly seemed to fear usurpation. And to be fair, he had some real reasons to be afraid of all of that. When Queen Elizabeth I died, she left no children behind, which meant England fell into a crisis. The English throne only came to James because he was technically the closest relative. Even so, Elizabeth never formally acknowledged him as her heir, so he never felt fully secure on the throne. Not only that, but Elizabeth had executed his mother years before, so he had more reason to fear the English. In 1605, James uncovered an assassination attempt against him: the Gunpowder Plot. The plan was for a group of dissatisfied Jesuits to blow up the House of Lords when James was there. After discovering the plot, James arrested and executed the conspirators. The whole incident only served to feed the fire of his paranoia.

Because of the Gunpowder Plot, most scholars today date Macbeth to 1606, just after the plot. There seem to be a few references to it in the play: for instance, the porter at Macbeth's castle, in a little joke to himself, says "Knock, knock! Who's there, in th' other devil's name? Faith, here's an equivocator, that could swear in both the scales against either scale, who committed treason enough for God's sake yet could not equivocate to heaven. O, come in, equivocator" (2.3.7-12). Equivocation, which is both lying and telling the truth at the same time, was used as a defense by one of the conspirators at the Gunpowder Plot trial, so Shakespeare could easily be alluding to that in order to get further into the king's good graces (Globe Research Team, "The Gunpowder Plot and Shakespeare's Macbeth," Shakespeare's Globe Blog, November 5, 2014).

Besides that, Macbeth is full of other references to James' fears. King Duncan, a beloved, good king, is assassinated by one of his noblemen- something that seems to have been a great fear for James. Not only that, but the nobleman was consorting with witches and demons- another fear. So Shakespeare punishes Macbeth for his treason and evil behavior in the play; Macbeth himself becomes increasingly paranoid, he gets haunted by the ghosts of those he's wronged, and he ends up beheaded and hated by all of Scotland. Shakespeare wanted Macbeth to get his just desserts so that James would be appeased.

Scottish history and legend contain a real life King Duncan, who was really murdered by Macbeth (the real Macbeth apparently was a decent king- that wouldn't have really worked for Shakespeare's play though). Banquo, too, was apparently a real figure. King James claimed descendance through him, so in Macbeth, when the Weird Sisters tell Banquo that "thou shalt get [beget] kings, though thou be none," Shakespeare was really trying to help legitimize James's place on the Scottish throne- he was saying that Banquo's descendants deserve to be king, therefore James has a rightful claim to the throne.

Even though Macbeth was written for King James I, it's really for all of us. The themes of triumph over evil, of greed and ambition, and of tyranny are all very important- they were relevant in Shakespeare's day, and they're relevant now. The reasons it was written aren't nearly as important as the words themselves. So don't miss your chance to see Macbeth this summer at the Festival. It's bound to be an amazing experience.

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King James I and Macbeth | Utah Shakespeare Festival

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It's commonly held that Shakespeare wrote his plays for the monarchs of England. There are many stories, mostly apocryphal, that connect this play to that monarch; for example, one popular story says that Queen Elizabeth, upon learning that John Falstaff dies in Henry V, demanded that Shakespeare write a new play for Falstaff, one in which he falls in love- resulting in The Merry Wives of Windsor (whether or not this is a true story, it's definitely entertaining).

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book written by the King about the trials

shared the King's beliefs in witchcraft

provided justification for witch hunts and trials

played a role in spreading fear of witchcraft

was a first step towards legitimising the trials and executions of accused witches.

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King James’ was personally afraid of witchcraft

his belief in its power led to a significant increase in witch hunts during his reign

Both in Scotland and later in England, his influence encouraged courts and religious leaders to pursue and prosecute suspected witches more aggressively

In Scotland especially, the period under his rule saw some of the most intense waves of witch hunting

Driven by King James' pro witch-hunt stance

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began in 1590 and were among the first major witchcraft prosecutions in Scotland

The accused were said to have plotted to kill King James by raising storms to sink his ship as he returned from Denmark with his new wife

King James personally took an interest in the trials, attended interrogations, and even believed that the witches had targeted him specifically

These experiences solidified his belief in a conspiracy of witches working against him

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King James officially adopted Shakespeare’s company not long after assuming the English throne. —> the Lord Chamberlain’s Men became known as the King’s Men.

Therefore, Shakespeare’s plays often had much flattery for the king.

Shakespeare largely referenced King James’ demonology when creating the witches in Macbeth

the play is set in Scotland which draws to King James’ roots

the play emphasis the Divine Right of Kings and also acts as a warning to those who go against the King