Anglo-Scottish succession tracts during the late Elizabethan period, 1595-1603

Abstract

This study seeks to examine the way in which contemporaries of James VI defended his right to the English throne in succession literature, during the ‘last decade’ of Elizabeth I’s reign. Five succession tracts written or published in Scotland in the 1590’s that discuss the right of James VI to the crown of England will be examined. Each has direct ties to James either through their authorship, publishing or production. It will be argued that there exists a body of Anglo-Scottish succession literature, and that there is a common thread of ideas throughout the tracts considered. It will be suggested that this literature was designed to promote and defend James’ right to the English throne, and that he had influence over the content of all of the tracts. It is a content-based study rather than a materialist history of the book style work, which draws its methodology from literary analysis and the history of political thought. It contains a full discussion of the ‘succession debate’ in its widest sense, engaging with the debates on the nature of monarchy, the relationship between the law and monarchy and the role of Parliament.