The Union of the Crowns (March 1603) was the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the thrones of England and Ireland, and the consequential unification of Scotland with both realms under a single monarch. The Union of Crowns followed the death of James' unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I of England—the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
The Union was a personal or dynastic union, with the Crown of Scotland remaining both distinct and separate—despite James's best efforts to create a new "imperial" throne of "Great Britain". However, England and Scotland would only continue to be sovereign states, sharing a monarch, until the Acts of Union in 1707 during the reign of the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne.
Read more about Union Of The Crowns: Early Unification, Accession of James VI, Opposition To The Union, National Animosity, Citizens and Subjects, Symbols of The Union, British, Success of The Union
Famous quotes containing the words union of, union and/or crowns:
“Thus piteously Love closed what he begat:
The union of this ever-diverse pair!
These two were rapid falcons in a snare,
Condemned to do the flitting of the bat.”
—George Meredith (1828–1909)
“We must choose. Be a child of the past with all its crudities and imperfections, its failures and defeats, or a child of the future, the future of symmetry and ultimate success.”
—Frances E. Willard 1839–1898, U.S. president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union 1879-1891, author, activist. The Woman’s Magazine, pp. 137-40 (January 1887)
“‘Tis the old secret of the gods that they come in low disguises. ‘Tis the vulgar great who come dizened with gold and jewels. Real kings hide away their crowns in their wardrobes, and affect a plain and poor exterior.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)