This book analyzes the consequences of the accession of James I in 1603 for English and British history, politics, literature and culture. Questioning the extent to which 1603 marked a radical break with the past, the book explores the Scottish, Welsh, and wider European and colonial contexts, to this crucial date in history.

Contributions from range of international scholars from Holland, Britain, Canada, USA

Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors Introduction; G.Burgess , R.Wymer & J.Lawrence 1603: The End of National Sovereignty in England; C.Russell 'Representing the Awefull Authoritie of Soueraigne Maiestie': Monarchs and Mayors in Anthony Munday's The Triumphes of Reunited Britannia ; T.Hill The Jacobean Union Controversy and King Lear ; P.Schwyzer 'Radical Britain: David Hume of Godscroft and the Challenge to the Jacobean British Vision; A.Williamson The Happier Marriage Partner: The Impact of the Union of the Crowns on Scotland; J.Wormald London or the World? The Paradox of Culture in (Post)-Jacobean Scotland; R.Lyall 'Twice Done and then Done Double': Catholic Recusancy and the Duplicitous Hostess in Shakespeare's Macbeth ; M.Baynham The Romans in Britain, 1603-14; J.Kerrigan Rex Pacificus , Robert Cecil, and the 1604 Peace with Spain; P.Croft 1603 and the Discourse of Favouritism; C.Perry The Essex Myth in Jacobean England; M.King The Ancient Constitution and the Expanding Empire: Sir Edward Coke's British Jurisprudence; D.Hulsebosch Index