Images Dated 18th January 2006

James I, King of England and Scotland, 1860. Artist: WJ Edwards

James I, King of England and Scotland, 1860. James (1566-1625) became King of Scotland in 1567 and England in 1601. The son of Mary Queen of Scots, James VI of Scotland became the first of the Stuart monarchs on the English throne when Elizabeth I died in 1601. A Protestant, his policies towards Catholics led to the Gunpowder Plot, and his belief in the absolute power of the monarchy led to increasing friction with Parliament, which would culminate in civil war in the reign of his son and successor, Charles I. Culture, particularly literature, flourished during James reign, with the work of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Francis Bacon particularly notable, as well as the production of the King James Bible

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King Edward II, 1860

King Edward II, 1860. Edward II (1284-1327) succeeded his father, Edward I, in 1307. His reign was characterised by friction with the barons, who in 1311 drew up a document called the Ordinances, which imposed restricitions on the king's finances and power of appointments, as well as leading to the execution of Edward's unpopular favourite, Piers Gaveston. Edward's defeat by Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn (1314) led to his authority being still further emasculated, but in 1322 Edward freed himself from the control of the barons when he defeated and executed Thomas of Lancaster, and revoked the Ordinances. In 1326, Edward's queen, Isabella of France, assisted Roger de Mortimer, a baron exiled in France who was also her lover, in planning an invasion. Deserted by his followers, Edward fled and was captured attempting to escape by sea. He was imprisoned, forced to renounce his crown, and murdered, at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire

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Otto von Bismarck, German statesman, 19th century. Artist: W Holl

Otto von Bismarck, German statesman, 19th century. Otto Edward Leopold, Count von Bismarck (1815-1898) was Chancellor of Prussia and architect of modern Germany. His ambition was to unify the various independent German states into a single nation under Prussian leadership. The catalyst to bringing this about was the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, when the other German states fought alongside the Prussians. France was defeated, and in 1871, the German Empire was established, with Bismarck as Chancellor

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