James VI and I James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, King of England
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