THE WISEST FOOL: THE LAVISH LIFE OF JAMES VI AND I Steven Veerapen (Birlinn, 2023) 456pp, hardback, RRP £25.00
The King James’ Bible, produced in 1611 on the orders of King James VI (of Scotland) and 1 (of the rest of the United Kingdom), has an almost divine status as a translation, particularly in part of the USA. But who was the man who commissioned it, and does he deserve the sometimes saintly reputation given to him?
This latest biography of him is a rich and rewarding read (though not quite the ‘page-turner’ that Philippa Gregory promises on the front cover). King or not, James had a difficult emotional life, and the book is unsparing in recounting it: his father was murdered when he was only a few months old and, not long after, he saw his mother for the last time, before she was imprisoned for twenty years in England, on the orders of Elizabeth 1. All of his difficult and lonely childhood is here, his struggles to assert himself as a monarch, his careful juggling of power and his careless relationships, particularly with men. Having managed the warring nobles in Scotland, he thought ruling England would be much easier: here, the author says, he misunderstood his role. He did, however, manage to die peacefully in his bed – unlike most of his predecessors, and his own son.
