James I

James I has traditionally been portrayed as a foolish and unpleasant man. However the last two decades have seen a rehabilitation of James I by historians who have begun to appreciate that in some areas in particular foreign policy and religion he pursued sensible policies and achieved a considerable degree of success. Christopher Durston deals with the personality and political ability of the monarch the court finance parliament foreign policy and religion including his record in Scotland and the legacies of Elizabeth I. The arguments of the revisionist historians concerning James's relations with his parliaments are examined in detail as well as the recent `postrevisionist' backlash.