james i had been king of scotland for 36 years when he became king of england. Although he was king of both countries, james's attempt to create a full governmental union proved premature

james himself was fairly tolerant in terms of religious faith, but the gunpowder plot (an attempt by guy fawkes and other roman catholic conspirators to blow up the houses of parliament) in 1605 resulted in the reimposition of strict penalties on roman catholics.

As an arts patron, james employed the architect inigo jones to build the present banqueting house in whitehall, and drama in particular flourished at his court.

Although he believed that kings took their authority from god, james accepted that his actions were subject to the law. Unable, like many of his predecessors, to put royal finances on a sound footing, james was often in dispute with his parliaments.

A proposed 'great contract' (1610), under which parliament would provide a regular income to the crown to meet government costs and maintain the navy and army, in exchange for modifying the monarch's fundraising, came to nothing. The addled parliament of 1614 lasted eight weeks.

The outbreak of the thirty years war 1618-48 in europe spread, and financial pressures forced james in 1621 to summon parliament, but when the house of commons tried to debate wider aspects of foreign policy and asserted their right to discuss any subject, james dissolved it.

A further parliament, summoned in 1624, failed to resolve foreign policy questions. On james's death in 1625, the kingdom was on the edge of war with spain

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charles i was born in fife on 19 november 1600, the second son of james vi of scotland (from 1603 also james i of england) and anne of denmark.

He succeeded, as the second stuart king of england, in 1625.

Controversy and disputes dogged charles throughout his reign. They eventually led to civil wars, first with the scots from 1637 and later in england (1642-46 and 1648)

charles had high concept of royal authority, believing in the divine right of kings. He was a good linguist and a sensitive man of refined tastes.

Charles was also deeply religious. He favoured the high anglican form of worship,

charles found himself ever more in disagreement on religious and financial matters with many leading citizens. Having broken an engagement to the spanish infanta, he had married a roman catholic, henrietta maria of france, and this only made matters worse.

Tensions between the king and parliament centred around finances, made worse by the costs of war abroad, and by religious suspicions at home.

In the first four years of his rule, charles was faced with the alternative of either obtaining parliamentary funding and having his policies questioned by argumentative parliaments who linked the issue of supply to remedying their grievances, or conducting a war without subsidies from parliament.

Charles dismissed his fourth parliament in march 1629 and decided to make do without either its advice or the taxes which it alone could grant legally.

Although opponents later called this period 'the eleven years' tyranny', charles's decision to rule without parliament was technically within the king's royal prerogative, and the absence of a parliament was less of a grievance to many people than the efforts to raise revenue by non-parliamentary means.

For much of the 1630s, the king gained most of the income he needed from such measures as impositions, exploitation of forest laws, forced loans, wardship and, above all, ship money (extended in 1635 from ports to the whole country). These measures made him very unpopular, alienating many who were the natural supporters of the crown.

In may 1646, charles placed himself in the hands of the scottish army (who handed him to the english parliament after nine months in return for arrears of payment - the scots had failed to win charles's support for establishing presbyterianism in england)

on 20 january, charles was charged with high treason 'against the realm of england'. Charles refused to plead, saying that he did not recognise the legality of the high court (it had been established by a commons purged of dissent, and without the house of lords - nor had the commons ever acted as a judicature).

The king was sentenced to death on 27 january. Three days later, charles was beheaded on a scaffold outside the banqueting house in whitehall, london.