James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, the first of the English Tudor kings. Elizabeth had Mary executed during her reign because Mary was a threat to Elizabeth's throne, but in the end, as James became king due to Elizabeth having no direct heirs, it was the Scottish line that won through. James was the first of the Stuarts. James reigned in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1603 until his death in 1625.

The time of Elizabeth had been part of Tudor times, but is also known as the Elizabethan era. The time of James is called Jacobean era, and it is well known for the building and furniture styles that occurred in this time.

When James became king of England, he moved to the largest of his kingdoms, which was England, only occasionally visiting Scotland. He called himself "King of Great Britain and Ireland".

Many important things happened in his reign. The early attempt to assassinate him took place in 1605, an event associated with Roman Catholics, and Guy Fawkes, and known as the Gunpowder Plot.

James was responsible for making the Bible more easily readable by the whole population, by having the Bible translated from Latin to English. This became known as the King James Bible.

He was responsible for encouraging the colonisation of North America, and although Virginia had begun to be colonised in Elizabeth's time, most of the other colonies were founded in the time of James. He also began to encourage Protestants to settle in Northern Ireland, a process known as the Plantation of Ulster.