Elizabeth I of England of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir, however despite numerous courtships she never did. She was eventually succeeded by her first cousin twice removed, James VI of Scotland. She had earlier been responsible for the imprisonment and execution of James's mother, Mary, Queen of Scots. In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was ""video et taceo"" ("I see but say nothing"). In
Descendants of James VI and I daughter, Sophia of Hanover, became the nearest Protestant relative to the English, Scottish and Irish crowns (later British crown). Under the English Act of Settlement, the succession was settled on Sophia and her issue, so her son George Ludwig ascended the throne as George I. Charles I, the second son of James VI and I was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. The monarchy was then abolished and a republic called the Commonwealth of England, also referred to as the Cromwellian Interregnum, was declared. Charles's son, Charles II, became king after