Jacobean Age

James VI of Scotland, son of Henry Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots, succeeded Elizabeth I after her death in 1603 and became James I of England and the first king of the countries of the British Isles.

Within his realm the major and most influential artistic form was drama, such as works of John Webster and the late plays of Shakespeare, e.g. Othello or The Tempest. Metaphysical poetry, characterized by the combination of unlike ideas to create new representations of experience, as well as a heavy use of wit and subtle arguments, was also a feature of the Jacobean Age, e.g. John Donne, Andrew Marvell and George Herbert.

He achieved the publication of an English translation of the Bible made in 1611, called the Authorized Version or King James Bible.

With the permanent settlement Jamestown in Virginia (1607), England began its expansion and colonization of America also referred to as The New World, thereby further spreading the English language.

Some of the major Jacobean scientific achievements were e.g. the foundation for electricity by William Gilbert, William Harvey’s treatise on the blood circulation and Francis Beacon which paved the way for the exact experimental science of the new age.

James I	John Smith's Map of Virginia (1612)
Source of the picture: wikipedia.org	Source of the picture: wikipedia.org