John Milton
Scheme of Study Context It was named by the king of James I (in Latin, "Jacobus"), 1603-25, which followed that of Queen Elizabeth. There are many striking differences between Age of Elizabeth and Jacobean age. In the first place, the nation unity, of which devotion to Elizabeth was the symbol, was already impaired by the time of her death. Under her successor, the Scottish King, James I, party strife between the supporters of the Throne and those who maintained the rights of the people through Parliament, between those who held to the authority of the established church and its bishops and those who demanded a more democratic form of church government or even entire freedom of the individual in matters of conscience, increased. The contradictions between the feudal nobility and the bourgeoisie reached their climax. As the role of the absolute monarchy was no longer progressive and hindered the further development of capitalism, the bourgeoisie, which had once supported the king, turned against absolute monarchy. All through the reign of James I, the Commons quarreled with the king for controlling trade and raising taxes without the consent of Parliament. The struggle between the 2 sides continued during the reign of Charles I, who took his father’s place on the throne in 1625.