Perse teacher pens in-depth biography of James VI & I
Perse history teacher Alex Courtney has had his in-depth biography of King James VI of Scotland (James I of England and Ireland) released by a major publisher.
Published by Routledge, the Perse Assistant Head’s book James VI, Britannic Prince provides an analytical narrative of James’ life leading up to his accession as King of England and Ireland in 1603.
Having been first approached to write the biography in 2017, Dr Courtney was thrilled to see his work come to fruition, as well as the response he has had from fellow historians.
He said: “It really is surreal to see it published. It feels like an out-of-body experience seeing your name on the front cover. I’ve just been very fortunate in how things have worked out.
“This the first book-length and research-led biographical study of James’ life and kingship up to 1603 in several decades.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised that other historians understand what I’ve tried to do differently with this book and I’m glad that, so far, it’s been well received by people whose expertise I hugely respect.”
Dr Courtney explained that his fascination with James VI & I began with an undergraduate dissertation on the monarch’s love of hunting and its political ramifications while reading history at Cambridge’s Selwyn College. He then continued to work on James and the court politics of his reign at master’s and doctoral levels.
“What I continue to love about studying James is that that there’s still more to know. There are many things in the book I haven’t addressed fully and I know there are possibilities for other interpretations than my own, and that has become a major driver of my interest in the period.
“James was crowned King of Scotland aged just 13 months, so he had one of the longest reigns of any monarch in European history.
“In that period, what you see worked out and lived through are really the repercussions of the Reformation in Britain and Europe. That means very complex divisions in religious terms, in society, in culture and in political behaviours. It’s a period of political assassinations and attempted assassinations, and in which the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland eventually come to be ruled by one king, but also remain in many ways distinct from each other.
“Such complexity is fascinating in itself, but also means you can usually see some parallels, or detect some echoes, in the Jacobean past of things that matter in our contested present. In recent years we have seen the potential ‘liveness’ of issues from James’ reign in debates over the future of the union between England and Scotland, or in issues concerning national identity, or in so-called ‘culture wars’.”
Dr Courtney undertook painstaking research in archives across the country to piece together his interpretation of James VI’s life in Scotland.
However, he said: “The thing that makes such research possible, apart from the generosity of people and institutions, is that an increasing amount of manuscript material is being digitised and can be accessed from home.
“It’s now normal for most collections to allow you to photograph things yourself whereas 20 years ago when I was doing the beginnings of research, you had to be in the place and physically writing transcriptions in pencil, which was an extraordinarily laborious task. Materials in European and American collections are also much more accessible than previously.”
In the latter stages of writing the biography, Dr Courtney was invited to help edit transcriptions of a series of letters written in code by James’s mother Mary, Queen of Scots, discovered and deciphered by cryptanalysts George Lasry, Norbert Biermann and Satoshi Tomokiyo.
“The key thing about that material is that it dates from 1578 to 1584, which are particularly interesting years in James’ life, when he emerges as an adolescent and an active political figure. There’s a lot of political and diplomatic turbulence associated with those changes – and they produce a scenario that Mary, Queen of Scots sees as her opportunity to ‘get out of jail’, as it were.
“I do make some use of a selection of these letters in the biography, but I am far from exhausting their potential. I’m conscious I’ve had uniquely privileged early access to that material and that there is much more that can and should be done with George, Norbert and Satoshi’s important discoveries.”
Dr Courtney is now working on a second volume covering James VI & I’s life after acceding to the throne of England and Ireland.
He said: “There is always more research to be done. There are parts of the next volume that I’ve already written and parts I could write now. However, 2025 is the 400th anniversary of James’s death, so we are now entering a period when there is a flowering of publications and new research on him. That’s hugely exciting.
“Rather than launch straight ahead, I want to consider such new and different perspectives on his life first. I’m really looking forward to finding out more.”
James VI, Britannic Prince is available now from Routledge. Click here to order a copy.
Listen to Dr Courtney talk more about his work on the Willy Willy Harry Stee podcast, hosted by Charlie Higson, here.