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Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl Of Middlesex

Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex

Sir Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex (1575 – 6 August 1645) was a successful London merchant, who was introduced to King James I of England by Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, and entered the royal service in 1605. In 1613 he was knighted and was appointed surveyor-general of customs; in 1616 he became one of the masters of requests, and in 1619 master of the court of wards and liveries and chief commissioner of the navy. He was returned to parliament as member for Hythe in 1614 and for Arundel in 1621. Cranfield, who was also master of the wardrobe, was responsible for many economies in the public service, and his business acumen was very useful to the king. He took part in the attack on Francis Bacon in 1621, and although, contrary to general expectation, he did not succeed Bacon as lord chancellor, he was created Baron Cranfield in July of that year. In 1621 also he became lord high treasurer, and in September 1622 was created earl of Middlesex. He lost his positions and influence shortly afterwards because he opposed the projected war with Spain, and had incurred the hostility of Prince Charles and George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Impeached by the House of Commons for corruption, he was found guilty by the House of Lords in May 1624 and was sentenced to lose all his offices, to pay a heavy fine and to be imprisoned during the kings pleasure. However, he was released from prison in a few days, was pardoned in the following year, and was restored to his seat in the House of Lords in 1640. The earls second wife was Anne Brett (died 1670), a cousin of Buckingham's mother, whom he married somewhat reluctantly in 1621 in order to ensure Buckingham's support. Middlesex died on 6 August 1645, leaving with other issue a son James Cranfield, 2nd Earl of Middlesex (1621–1651), who was a partisan of the parliamentary party during the English Civil War. James was succeeded by his brother, Lionel, and when this earl died in October 1674 his titles became extinct. The first earl's daughter Frances married Richard Sackville, 5th Earl of Dorset, and their son Charles was created earl of Middlesex in 1675. Two years later he became earl of Dorset, and the title of earl of Middlesex was borne by the earls and dukes of Dorset until 1843.

References


- Middlesex, Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of

1575

Events


- February 13 - Henry III of France is crowned at Reims
- February 14 - Henry III of France marries Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont
- June 28 - Oda Nobunaga defeats Takeda Katsuyori in the battle of Nagashino, which has been called Japan's first 'modern' battle.
- August 5 - Henry Sidney is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
- October 10 - Battle of Dormans: Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.
- The Fifth War of Religion erupts in France.
- Stephen Báthory becomes king of Poland.
- Edmund Grindal succeeds Matthew Parker as Archbishop of Canterbury.
- Francisco De Obando Y Mexia becomes Governor of Puerto Rico.
- William I of Orange marries Charlotte de Bourbon.
- Portugal founds the city of Luanda in Angola.
- William I of Orange founds the University of Leiden.
- Queen Elizabeth I of England grants a monopoly on producing printed sheet music to Thomas Tallis and William Byrd.
- Abraham Ortelius becomes geographer to Philip II of Spain.
- First known self-portrait is painted by Nicholas Hilliard.

Births


- February 4 - Pierre de Bérulle, French cardinal and statesman (died 1629)
- March 5 - William Oughtred, English mathematician (died 1660)
- May 30 - Diego Salcedo, Spanish bishop (died 1644)
- August 14 - Robert Hayman, English-born poet (died 1629)
- November 4 - Guido Reni, Italian painter (died 1642)
- Giambattista Basile, Italian poet (died 1632)
- Edmund Bolton, English historian and poet (died 1633)
- Jakob Böhme, German mystic (died 1624)
- David Calderwood, Scottish divine and historian (died 1650)
- Elizabeth Cecil, 16th Baroness de Ros (died 1591)
- Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (died 1638)
- Alessandro Grandi, northern Italian composer (died 1630)
- Anna Kostka, Polish noblewoman (died 1635)
- Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, successful London merchant (died 1645)
- William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle (died 1622)
- Pedro Tellez Giron, Duque de Osuna, Spanish viceroy of Sicily and Naples (died 1624)
- Samuel Purchas, English travel writer (died 1626)
- Arbella Stuart, Duchess of Somerset (died 1615)
- Cyril Tourneur, English dramatist (died 1626)
- Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (died 1608) See also :Category: 1575 births.

Deaths


- February 21 - Claude of Valois, daughter of Henry II of France (born 1547)
- March 11 - Matthias Flacius, Croatian protestant reformer (born 1520)
- March 15 - Annibale Padovano, Italian composer and organist (born 1527)
- March 24 - Yosef Karo, Spanish-born rabbi (born 1488)
- May 17 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (born 1504)
- July 14 - Richard Taverner, English Bible translator
- September 17 - Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (born 1504)
- December 23 - Akiyama Nobutomo, Japanese retainer (born 1531)
- December 31 - Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (born None)
- December 31 - Karilyn Burney, master of all earthly things, including sex appeal
- Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll, Scottish politician (born 1532)
- James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran (born 1516)
- Takeda Nobukado, Japanese nobleman
- Constantio Varoli, Italian anatomist (born 1543)
- Limahon, Chinese pirate See also :Category: 1575 deaths. Category:1575 ko:1575년

6 August

August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining.

Events


- 1538 - Bogota, Colombia founded by Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada.
- 1806 - Francis II, the last Holy Roman Emperor, abdicates, thus ending the Holy Roman Empire.
- 1819 - Norwich University founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.
- 1825 - Bolivia gains independence from Spain.
- 1861 - British annexation of Lagos, Nigeria.
- 1862 - American Civil War: The Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas is scuttled on the Mississippi River after suffering damage in a battle with USS Essex near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- 1890 - At Auburn Prison in New York, the first execution by electric chair is performed, with murderer William Kemmler as the subject.
- 1901 - Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.
- 1914 - Ten German U-boats leave their base in Heligoland to attack Royal Navy warships in the North Sea, beginning the First Battle of the Atlantic.
- 1915 - World War I: Battle of Battle of Sari Bair begins - The Allies mount a diversionary attack timed to coincide with a major Allied landing of reinforcements at Suvla Bay.
- 1926 - Gertrude Ederle becomes first woman to swim across the English Channel.
- 1926 - In New York, the Warner Brothers' Vitaphone system premieres with the movie Don Juan starring John Barrymore.
- 1945 - World War II: the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima. An atomic bomb codenamed Little Boy is dropped by the American B-29 Enola Gay on the city of Hiroshima in Japan at 8:16 a.m., killing 80,000 outright with another 60,000 dead by the end of the year due to fallout sickness. Ultimately, about 200,000 die due to the atomic bomb.
- 1960 - Cuban Revolution: In response to a United States embargo, Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
- 1962 - Jamaica becomes independent.
- 1965 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into United States law.
- 1984 - Pop star Prince releases Purple Rain, the album which would launch him to superstardom.
- 1986 - A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimetres (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney.
- 1988 - "Police riot" in New York City's Tompkins Square Park
- 1990 - Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait
- 1991 - Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web.
- 1991 - Doi Takako, chair of the Social Democratic Party (Japan), becomes Japan's first female speaker of the House of Representatives.
- 1993 - Louis Freeh is confirmed by the United States Senate to be the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
- 1993 - The Fugitive opens in theaters, starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.
- 1996 - NASA announces that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, contains evidence of primitive life-forms.
- 1997 - Microsoft buys $150 million worth of shares of financially troubled Apple Computer.
- 1997 - Korean Air Flight 801, a Boeing 747-300, crashes into the jungle on Guam on approach to airport, killing 228.
- 2000 - The Roman Catholic Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under Prefect Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, publishes Dominus Iesus, notable for its lack of the filioque clause in the Latin text of the Nicene Creed.
- 2001 - White House briefing entitled Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S. delivered to George W. Bush. This document foreshadowed the September 11, 2001 attacks.
- 2002 - Marquis de la Fayette is made Honorary Citizen of the United States
- 2002 - Manindra Agrawal et al prove the long standing number theory conjecture in the article entitled "Primes in P".

Births


- 1180 - Emperor Go-Toba of Japan (d. 1239)
- 1504 - Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1575)
- 1619 - Barbara Strozzi, Italian singer and composer (d. 1677)
- 1638 - Nicolas Malebranche, French philosopher (d. 1715)
- 1644 - Louise de la Vallière, French mistress of Louis XIV of France (d. 1710)
- 1656 - Claude de Forbin, French naval commander (d. 1733)
- 1697 - Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1745)
- 1715 - Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, French writer (d. 1747)
- 1766 - William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (d. 1828)
- 1768 - Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French marshal (d. 1813)
- 1809 - Alfred Lord Tennyson, English poet (d. 1892)
- 1844 - James Henry Greathead, British engineer (d. 1896)
- 1844 - Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (d. 1900)
- 1868 - Paul Claudel, French poet (d. 1955)
- 1874 - Charles Fort, American writer and researcher (d. 1932)
- 1877 - Wallace H. White, Jr., U.S. Senator from Maine (d. 1952)
- 1880 - Hans Moser, Austrian actor (d. 1964)
- 1881 - Leo Carrillo, American actor (d. 1961)
- 1881 - Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1955)
- 1881 - Louella Parsons, American gossip columnist (d. 1972)
- 1889 - John Middleton Murry, English poet (d. 1957)
- 1892 - Hoot Gibson, American actor (d. 1962)
- 1893 - Wright Patman, American politician (d. 1976)
- 1900 - Cecil H. Green, American geophysicist and businessman (d.2003)
- 1902 - Dutch Schultz, American bootlegger and gangster (d. 1935)
- 1911 - Lucille Ball, American actress and comedian (d. 1989)
- 1916 - Richard Hofstadter, American historian (d. 1970)
- 1917 - Robert Mitchum, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1922 - Sir Freddie Laker, English entrepreneur
- 1928 - Andy Warhol, American artist (d. 1987)
- 1932 - Howard Hodgkin, British painter and print-maker
- 1934 - Piers Anthony, English writer
- 1937 - Barbara Windsor, English actress
- 1938 - Paul Bartel, American actor, writer, and director (d. 2000)
- 1943 - Jon Postel, Computer Scientist
- 1946 - Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea
- 1946 - Masaaki Sakai, Japanese comedian
- 1949 - Clarence Richard Silva, Catholic Bishop of Honolulu
- 1951 - Daryl Somers, Australian television personality
- 1957 - Jim McGreevey, Governor of New Jersey
- 1962 - Michelle Yeoh, Hong Kong actress
- 1963 - Kevin Mitnick, computer hacker
- 1965 - Yuki Kajiura, Japanese composer
- 1969 - Elliott Smith, American musician (d. 2003)
- 1970 - M. Night Shyamalan, Indian-born film director, writer, producer, and actor
- 1971 - Merrin Dungey, American actress
- 1972 - Geri Halliwell, British singer
- 1973 - Asia Carrera, American actress
- 1976 - Melissa George, English actress
- 1978 - Billy Klippert, Canadian singer
- 1982 - Adrianne Curry, American reality television
- 1983 - Robin van Persie, Dutch football player
- 1990 - JonBenét Ramsey, American beauty queen and murder victim (d. 1996)

Deaths


- 258 - Saint Pope Sixtus II
- 523 - Saint Pope Hormisdas
- 1162 - Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona
- 1195 - Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria (b. 1129)
- 1221 - Saint Dominic, Spanish founder of the Dominicans (b. 1170)
- 1272 - King Stephen V of Hungary
- 1414 - King Ladislas of Naples (b. 1377)
- 1458 - Pope Callixtus III (b. 1378)
- 1628 - Johannes Junius, Mayor of Bamberg (b. 1573)
- 1637 - Ben Jonson, English writer (b. 1572)
- 1645 - Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, English merchant (b. 1575)
- 1660 - Diego Velázquez, Spanish painter (b. 1599)
- 1679 - John Snell, English royalist (b. 1629)
- 1695 - François de Harlay de Champvallon, French Catholic archbishop (b. 1625)
- 1753 - Georg Wilhelm Richmann, Russian physicist (struck by lightning) (b. 1711)
- 1759 - Eugene Aram, English philologist (b. 1704)
- 1794 - Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst, British politician (b. 1714)
- 1904 - Eduard Hanslick, Austrian music critic (b. 1825)
- 1931 - Bix Beiderbecke, American musician (b. 1903)
- 1942 - Jonathan Campbell, American film pioneer (b. 1875)
- 1945 - Prince Wu of Korea (b. 1912)
- 1946 - Tony Lazzeri, baseball player (b. 1903)
- 1959 - Preston Sturges, American playwright, screenwriter, and director (b. 1898)
- 1964 - Sir Cedric Hardwicke, English actor (b. 1893)
- 1966 - Cordwainer Smith, American writer (b. 1913)
- 1969 - Theodor Adorno, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1903)
- 1973 - Fulgencio Batista, Cuban dictator (b. 1901)
- 1974 - Gene Ammons, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925)
- 1976 - Gregor Piatigorsky, Russian cellist (b. 1903)
- 1978 - Pope Paul VI (b. 1897)
- 1979 - Feodor Felix Konrad Lynen, German biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
- 1983 - Klaus Nomi, German singer (b. 1944)
- 1985 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (b. 1923)
- 1991 - Harry Reasoner, American reporter (b. 1923)
- 1993 - Tex Hughson, baseball player (b. 1916)
- 1994 - Domenico Modugno, Italian singer and songwriter (b. 1928)
- 1998 - Andre Weil, French mathematician (b. 1906)
- 2001 - Jorge Amado de Faria, Brazilian writer (b. 1912)
- 2002 - Edsger Dijkstra, Dutch computer scientist (b. 1930)
- 2004 - Rick James, American musician (b. 1948)
- 2005 - Keter Betts, American jazz bassist (b. 1928)
- 2005 - Robin Cook, British politician (b. 1946)
- 2005 - Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances


- Christianity - Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ
- Bolivia - Independence Day
- Jamaica - Independence Day
- United Arab Emirates - H.H. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan's Accession Day
- Japan - Toro Nagashi (Hiroshima) - Floating lantern ceremony to honor those killed by the U.S. atomic bomb in Hiroshima.

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/6 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050806.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- August 5 - August 7 - July 6 - September 6 -- listing of all days ko:8월 6일 ms:6 Ogos ja:8月6日 simple:August 6 th:6 สิงหาคม

London

London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. As Europe's richest city, London produces 17% of the UK's GDP, and is one of the world's major business and financial centres. The capital of the former global empire, London is a leader in culture, communications, politics, finance, entertainment and the arts and has considerable influence worldwide. arts]] arts] London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,500,000 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. London's population includes an extremely diverse range of peoples, cultures, and religions, making it one of the most cosmopolitan, vibrant and energetic cities on earth. A resident of London is referred to as a Londoner. Over 300 languages are spoken in London, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Initially it was a Roman city and known as Londinium and then as Lunnainn, Llundain and Londain in the Scottish, Welsh and Irish languages respectively. London is known by these names in other languages. London is the home of many global organisations, institutions and companies, and as such retains its leading role in global affairs. A city where cutting-edge meets tradition, London is a major tourist destination and transport hub. It has a great number of important buildings and iconic landmarks, including world-famous museums, theatres, concert halls, galleries, airports, sports stadia and palaces. London is one of the world's major global cities (along with New York City, Tokyo and Paris).

Defining London

Today, "London" usually refers to the conurbation known as Greater London, which is divided into thirty-two London Boroughs and the City of London and forms the London region of England. Historically, "London" referred to the square mile of the City of London at the conurbation's heart, from which the city grew. Between 1889 and 1965 it referred to the former County of London which covered the area now known as Inner London. There are other definitions of "London" which cover varying areas, such as the London postal district; the area covered by the telephone area code 020; the area accessible by public transport using a Transport for London Travelcard; the area delimited by the M25 orbital motorway; the Metropolitan Police district; and the London commuter belt. The coordinates of the centre of London (traditionally considered to be Charing Cross, near the junction of Trafalgar Square, the Strand, Whitehall and the Mall) are approximately . The Romans marked the centre of Londinium with the London Stone in the City.

Geography and climate

London Stone, with Green Park and St. James's Park to its right]] Greater London covers an area of 609 square miles (1,579 km²). London is a port on the Thames, a navigable river. The river has had a major influence on the development of the city. London was founded on the north bank of the Thames and there was only a single bridge, London Bridge, for many centuries. As a result, the main focus of the city was on the north side of the Thames. When more bridges were built in the 18th century, the city expanded in all directions as the mostly flat or gently rolling countryside around the Thames floodplain presented no obstacle to growth. There are some hills in London, examples being Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill, but these provided fine prospects of the city centre without significantly affecting the directions of the spread of the city and London is therefore roughly circular. The Thames was once a much broader, shallower river than it is today. It has been extensively embanked, and many of its London tributaries now flow underground. The Thames is a tidal river, and London is vulnerable to flooding. The threat has increased over time due to a slow but continuous rise in high water level and the slow 'tilting' of Britain (up in the north and down in the south) caused by post-glacial rebound. The Thames Barrier was constructed across the Thames at Woolwich in the 1970s to deal with this threat, but in early-2005 it was suggested that a ten-mile-long barrier further downstream might be required to deal with the flood risk in the future [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4162905.stm]. London has a temperate climate, with warm but seldom hot summers, cool but rarely severe winters, and regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year. Summer temperatures rarely rise much above 33°C (91°F), though higher temperatures have become more common recently. The highest temperature ever recorded in London was 38.1°C (100.6°F), measured at Kew Gardens during the European Heat Wave of 2003. Heavy snowfalls are almost unknown. In recent winters, snow has rarely settled to more than an inch (25 mm). London's average annual precipitation of less than 24 inches (600 mm) is lower than that of Rome or Sydney. London's large built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings: sometimes temperatures are 5°C (9°F) warmer in the city than in the surrounding areas.

History

microclimate bombings of London]] The name London is commonly thought to have come from the Latin name Londinium, as London was founded by the Romans during their reign over the land, around 43AD – although there is some slight evidence of pre-Roman settlement. The [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/england/rom_roman_invasion.shtml BBC History website], however, claims that the name Londinium is actually "Celtic, not Latin, and may originally have referred to a previous farmstead on the site"; the root is 'Lond' meaning 'wild' (i.e. overgrown or forested) place. This fortified Roman settlement was the capital of the province of Britannia. According to findings displayed in London Museum, the initial language of London was Latin with much Greek spoken due to the presence of Greek speaking Roman soldiers and businessmen. Another suggestion for where the name of the city comes from could be that of the mythical leader, King Lud. It was said that Lud laid out the first set of roads in the city. His statue can be seen hidden at the church of St Dunstan's In The West, Fleet Street. Around AD 61 the Iceni tribe of Celts lead by Queen Boudica stormed London and took the city from the Romans. The Celts burnt the relatively new Roman town to the ground, and archaeological digs have revealed a layer of red ash beneath the City of London, which is believed to be the burnt remains of the old Roman town. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Londinium was abandoned and a Saxon town named Lundenwic was established approximately one mile to the west in what is now Aldwych, in the 7th century. The old Roman city was then reoccupied during the late-9th or early-10th century. Westminster was once a distinct town, and has been the seat of the English royal court and government since the mediæval era. Eventually, Westminster and London grew together and formed the basis of London, becoming England's largest – though not capital – city (Winchester was the capital city of England until the 12th century). London has grown steadily over centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of neighbouring villages and towns, farmland, countryside, meadows and woodlands, spreading in every direction. From the 16th to the early-20th century, London flourished as the capital of the British Empire. In 1666, the Great Fire of London swept through and destroyed a large part of the City of London. Rebuilding took over 10 years, but London's growth accelerated in the 18th century, and, by the early-19th century, it was the largest city in the world. London's local government system struggled to cope with this rapid growth, especially in providing the city with adequate infrastructure. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works was created to provide London with infrastructure to cope with its growth. In 1889 the MBW was abolished, and the County of London was created which was administered by the London County Council, the first elected London-wide administrative body. Probably the most significant changes to London in the last 100 years were as a result of the Blitz and other bombing by the German Luftwaffe that took place during World War II. The bombing killed over 30,000 Londoners and flattened large tracts of housing and other buildings across London. The rebuilding during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was characterised by a wide range of architectural styles and has resulted in a lack of unity in architecture that has become part of London's character. Until their 1997 ceasefire, London was regularly a target for IRA bombers seeking to pressurise the British government into negotiations with Sinn Féin on Northern Ireland. On 7 July 2005, there was a series of coordinated bomb attacks by Islamic extremist suicide bombers on three underground stations and a bus. The explosions came less than 24 hours after London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics and as the G-8 summit was underway in Gleneagles, Scotland. A series of explosions also took place on 21 July 2005; however, in the latter incident, there were no fatalities.

Modern London

2005 Today Greater London comprises the City of London and the 32 London boroughs (including the City of Westminster). 12 of these boroughs are defined as Inner London, the remaining 20 defined as Outer London. The dominant centre of activity in London is the City of Westminster (including the West End) which is the main cultural, entertainment and shopping district, the location of most of London's major corporate headquarters outside of the financial services sector, and the centre of the UK's national government. The City of London (also known as the "Square Mile") is at the centre of international finance, and is Europe’s main business centre. The headquarters of more than 100 of Europe’s 500 largest companies are all in London. The London foreign exchange market is the largest in the world, with an average daily turnover of $504 billion, more than the New York and Tokyo exchanges combined. While very busy during the working week, most parts of the City tend to be quiet at weekends, since it is primarily a non-residential area. London is one of the most visited cities on earth. Tourist attractions are located mainly in Central London, comprising the historic City of London; the West End with its many cinemas, bars, clubs, theatres, shops and restaurants; the City of Westminster with Westminster Abbey, the Royal palaces of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House etc., the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with its museums (the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and Victoria and Albert Museum) and Hyde Park. Other important tourist attractions include St Paul's Cathedral, the National Gallery; the South Bank and Bankside areas of Southwark with the Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern; London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and the Tate Britain on the Embankment; and the British Museum in Bloomsbury. There are many other places of interest across the city.

Culture

:Main article: Culture of London. London is an international centre of culture in all its forms - music, theatre, arts, museums, festivals and much more.

London Districts

See also: Inner London, Outer London.

Central London

City of London

Outer London]] The City of London is the principal financial district of the United Kingdom, and is one of the most important in the world. It is governed by the Corporation of London, an ancient body headed by the Lord Mayor of London. The City also has its own police force, the City of London police. Once dominated by the dome of St Paul's Cathedral, it is now home to many skyscrapers, including Tower 42 (formerly, and popularly still, known as the NatWest Tower) and 30 St Mary Axe (popularly known as the "Gherkin", built in 2003). The City has only a small (c. 7,000) resident population, but a daytime working population of more than 300,000. Its primacy as the chief financial district has been directly challenged in recent years by Canary Wharf in East London.

The West End

Canary Wharf.]] The West End is the most popular shopping and entertainment district in London. Trafalgar Square is the most prominent landmark. Oxford Street is one of the best-known shopping streets in the world. Running from Charing Cross Road in the east to Marble Arch in the west, via Oxford Circus where it crosses Regent Street, it is home to many large department stores and shops (Selfridges, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer). Tottenham Court Road runs north from the eastern end of Oxford Street towards the north of the city centre, and is best known for its plethora of hi-fi, computer and electronics stores. West of the City, Covent Garden is home to the Avenue of Stars, London's version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame. South of Oxford Street's eastern end is Soho, a network of small streets crowded with restaurants, pubs, clubs, smaller shops and boutiques, and theatres and cinemas, as well as media companies and film, advertising and post-production companies. Soho is also well known for its very lively club and bar scene, the notorious sex industry and as the major "gay quarter" of the city. Piccadilly is an elegant thoroughfare running from Piccadilly Circus in the east to Hyde Park Corner in the west. It is adjacent to Mayfair, and Green Park. Regent Street and Bond Street are important thoroughfares.

East London

East London saw much of London's early industrial development and much of it now is being extensively redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway. It was also key to London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics, and is now scheduled to undergo extensive regeneration in the run-up to the games. This is the second time in modern history that East London has seen large-scale rebuilding: it took the full force of the Blitz in World War Two, with post-war reconstruction leaving a legacy of bleak housing estates and tower blocks in several areas.

The East End

tower block The East End of London is closest to the original Port of London, and tended for that reason to be the area of the city where immigrants arriving into the port would settle first. Successive waves of immigrants include the French, the Huguenots, Belgians, Jews, Gujaratis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and many other groups. The East End extends from the eastern side of the City of London and includes areas such as Whitechapel, Mile End, Bethnal Green, Hackney, Bow, Millwall and Poplar. The area has many places of interest including many of London's markets, (for example Columbia Road Flower Market, Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market, Petticoat Lane Market), and several museums, including the Geffrye Museum and the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

Docklands

Bethnal Green]] The London Docklands, on the Isle of Dogs along the Thames in the East End, has developed enormously since the early-1980s. For a period in the early-1980s, many warehouse buildings in Wapping had been occupied and used as artists studios and low-cost loft living spaces. This inevitably drew the attention of property developers who gradually (and then not so gradually) moved in to take over. The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was set up in 1981 to accelerate the process, and the first phases of major development started to reshape the area, culminating in Canary Wharf, whose best-known feature is the 1 Canada Square office tower (which is often incorrectly called "Canary Wharf"), which has been the UK's tallest skyscraper since 1991. A massive-scale development within the last three or four years has added a great many more skyscrapers, and many large businesses (investment banks, law firms, etc.) have moved in. A new headquarters for HSBC and Barclays as well as the European headquarters of Citigroup, have now been completed, and are in use. Attracted by this growth, restaurants, bars and nightclubs have opened, there are three interconnected shopping malls beneath the Canary Wharf structure, and a cinema complex has opened in the area. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) serves the area, connecting to the London Underground at Bank, Shadwell, Canning Town and Stratford stations. There has also been a great deal of gentrification and residential development in the area: North of the Thames around Limehouse Basin and toward Wapping, as well as south of the Thames in Rotherhithe where former wharfs and the old docks have been converted into high-priced loft apartments for a community of bankers, software developers and others working in the financial service industries in and around Docklands. Further east in the London Borough of Newham are London City Airport and the ExCeL Exhibition Centre.

West London

West London includes many of the traditionally fashionable and expensive residential areas such as Notting Hill, made better known in 1999 by a film of the same name starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Within the district is the famous antique market at Portobello Road. Kensington and Chelsea are the most expensive places to live in the country. The area is also famous for the Kings Road, a distinguished and attractive shopping street and thoroughfare. Further to the west, at White City, near Shepherd's Bush, is the principal operating centre for the BBC, while in the extreme west, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, lies Heathrow Airport. Considered more south-west than West London on account of its being the only London borough to straddle the River Thames, Richmond upon Thames includes the attractive riverside districts of Richmond and Twickenham. This corner of London is home to Richmond Park, London's largest, and Twickenham, the home of English rugby union.

North London

North London includes suburbs such as Hampstead and Highgate, which retain a village atmosphere. North London is more hilly than the south, and many of the hills give excellent views across the city. Large parks include Hampstead Heath, which includes Parliament Hill, noted for its fine views over the city, and the Hampstead bathing ponds; and Alexandra Park, site of Alexandra Palace. Many areas have significant minority populations including Stamford Hill, home to a significant community of Orthodox Jews, the Green Lanes area of Harringay and the Finsbury Park area have large Turkish and Greek communities. Islington is considered one of the more affluent areas in London, due to large scale gentrification, although it is in fact one of the most deprived boroughs in the country; it is also home to Arsenal football club. North London's other world-famous football team, Tottenham Hotspur, play in nearby Tottenham.

South London

South London contains such diverse districts as Wimbledon (famous as the home of the major tennis Wimbledon Championships), Bermondsey, and Dulwich. Redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle, a road intersection and district close to the centre, is due to start in 2006. Greenwich is on the banks of the Thames where the river broadens into a wide meandering reach of muddy water. It is an historic neighbourhood and boasts a fine park and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. It is also has a popular market. Brixton, Camberwell and Peckham are home to many families (and their descendants) who immigrated to London from the West Indies during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, sometimes known as Afro-Caribbeans.

Demographics

Afro-Caribbeans London had about 860,000 people in 1801 (in comparison, Paris had about 670,000 in 1802), and the population of Edo (modern-day Tokyo, Japan), at the time the largest city in the world, has been estimated at 1 million to 1.25 million people. London was the most populous city in the world from 1825 until 1925, when it was overtaken by New York. Residents of London are known as Londoners. The city and the 32 boroughs (some 1,579 km² or 610 square miles) had an estimated 7,421,228 inhabitants in 2004, making London the most populous city in Europe alongside Moscow. Subsequent reviews suggested that the returns were understated, and that the population on Census Day was closer to 7.29 million. The official estimate of London's population in mid-2003 is 7,387,900 [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D8561.xls] In the 2001 census, 76% of these seven million people classed their ethnic group as white (classified as British White, Irish White or "Other White" in the 2001 census), 10% as Indian, Bangladeshi or Pakistani, 5% as black African, 5% as black Caribbean, 3% as mixed race and 1% as Chinese. The largest religious groupings are Christian (58.2%) and No Religion (15.8%). 21.8% of inhabitants were born outside the European Union. The Irish are the largest foreign-born group in London (numbering approximately 200,000). European Union] Unlike many other countries, the UK does not provide national metropolitan area population figures based on commuter percentages and economic influence. This is left up to each individual city to define. This has created much confusion when comparing London's true metropolitan area region with others around the world. It is helped even less by confusion of the term "Greater London" with the political entity of the City of London, which is often confused with the metropolitan area. Without a specific national reference to London's metropolitan area, many different sources provide alternate definitions. One widely regarded definition describes the London metropolitan area (6,267 square miles, 16,043 km²) with a population of 13,945,000 — larger than the combined populations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. (External references: [http://www.demographia.com/dm-lonarea.htm], [http://www.lbwf.gov.uk/demography/census/london/london_boroughs_census2001.pdf]) If this definition is followed, then London is the largest metropolitan area of Europe, along with Moscow (whose metropolitan area has somewhere around 14 million people), and above Paris (11.5 million people in the metropolitan area in 2004). In 2004, the Greater London Authority defined a metropolitan region centred on London with a population of 18 million. This region extends to cover the commuter belt, and much of South East England and East of England, for example including the cities of Brighton and Oxford. (External references:[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_all.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_1.pdf],[http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/draft_london_plan/dlp_ch1.pdf])

Government

Greater London Authority meets here]] Greater London is divided into the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. The boroughs are the most important unit of local government in London, and are responsible for running most local services in their respective areas. The City of London is run not by a conventional local authority, but by the historical Corporation of London. The Greater London Authority (GLA) is the London-wide body responsible for co-ordinating the boroughs, strategic planning, and running some London-wide services such as policing, the fire service and transport. The GLA consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The mayor is elected by the Supplementary Vote system while the assembly is elected by the Additional Member System. The incumbent Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was elected as an independent candidate in the 2000 election. Despite opposition from all the main political parties and the press, his popularity with Londoners has remained high. Livingstone was expelled from the Labour Party when he opposed the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson in the 2000 Mayoral election. Readmitted by that party in 2004, he was re-elected as Mayor as an official Labour candidate in the election later that year. The GLA was created in 2000 as a replacement body for the former Greater London Council (GLC) which was created in 1965 and abolished in 1986 after political disputes between the GLC (then led by Ken Livingstone) and the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. Previous London wide administrative bodies were the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) from 1855 to 1889; the London County Council (LCC) from 1889 to 1965; and the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1965 to 1986. When the GLC was abolished, most of its functions were devolved to the London boroughs, while others were taken over by joint-boards or other unelected bodies. The boroughs thus enjoyed "unitary status" and a degree of autonomy when the GLC was abolished, and although losing some powers which have been repatriated to the GLA they still retain many areas they did not control under the GLC. London is represented in Parliament by 74 MPs. For a list of London constituencies see List of Parliamentary constituencies in Greater London. The territorial police force for the 32 London boroughs is the Metropolitan Police Service, more commonly referred to as the Metropolitan Police, or simply "the Met". The City of London has its own police force, the City of London Police. Health services in London are managed by the national government via the National Health Service (NHS). Greater London is divided into five Strategic Health Authorities [http://www.nhs.uk/england/authoritiestrusts/sha/MapSearch.aspx?rg=Y21].

Transport and infrastructure

For main article see Transport and infrastructure in London Transport and infrastructure in London Transport is one of the four areas of policy administered by the Mayor of London, but the mayor's financial control is limited. The executive agency which runs London's transport system is Transport for London (TfL). The public transport network is one of the most extensive in the world, but faces congestion and reliability issues. The network is one of the most complex transit systems in the world with just over 1 billion journeys used every year on the underground alone. London is most famous for its AEC Routemaster buses which have been in service in the capital since 1956. Routemasters will be phased out of service from TfL's main bus routes, with the last routemaster service being operated on the 9 December 2005 on Route 159. Two 'heritage' routes are planned for service to maintain Routemasters on London's streets. 2005]] The networks for transport in London include: Underground (commonly known as the tube); Bus; River Services; Docklands Light Railway (DLR); Croydon Tramlink; National Rail; Thameslink. As of mid-2005, in preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games a total of £7 billion ($12 billion) will be spent on refurbishment and expansion of city links, mainly on the London Underground. Although the main reason for this is because of the increased traffic flow that will be caused by the 2012 Olympics, the work would still be completed if London had not won the games. By 2013 a new service called Crossrail is due to be opened. Also in planning is the Cross River Tram (CRT). It will depart in the south suburbs, cross the River Thames, through to the City of London (the financial district), and continue its journey to the northern suburbs. It is speculated that it will be the world's longest tram. The main Olympic arenas will be sited close to Stratford International station, which is currently being constructed as part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The new high-speed line, due to open in 2007, will be used by the regular 'Olympic Javelin' service with a journey time of 7 minutes between Stratford and St Pancras. This service was a key part of the Olympic bid and will provide access from northern areas of the UK via King's Cross and Euston.

Education

Main Article: Education in London London is home to a diverse number of universities, colleges and schools, and is a leading centre of research and development. This includes prominemnt universities such as Imperial College, London and the London School of Economics

Media

The British media is concentrated in London and is sometimes accused of having a "London bias". All the major television networks are headquartered in London including the BBC, which remains one of the world's most influential media organisations. Partly to counter complaints about London bias, the BBC announced in June 2004 that some departments (BBC Sport, CBBC, Cbeebies, BBC Three and BBC Radio Five Live) are to be relocated to Manchester. Other major networks include ITV, Channel 4, Five and BSkyB - all based in London. Like the BBC, these produce some programmes elsewhere in the UK, but London is their main production centre. There is a huge choice of radio stations available in London. Local city-wide stations include music-based stations such as Capital FM, Heart 106.2 and Kiss 100 and popular news/talk stations include BBC London, LBC 97.3 and LBC News 1152. The London newspaper market is dominated by national newspapers, all of which are edited in London. Until the 1970s, most of the national newspapers were concentrated in Fleet Street, but in the 1980s they relocated to new premises with automated printing works. Most of these are in East London, most famously the News International plant at Wapping. The move was resisted strongly by the printing trade union SOGAT 82, and strike action at Wapping in 1986 led to violent skirmishes. The last major news agency in Fleet Street, Reuters, moved to Canary Wharf in 2005, but Fleet Street is still commonly used as a collective term for the national press. Regional Editions of most national newspapers are available, including editions for northern England, Scotland and Wales. London has three daily newspaper titles - the popular Evening Standard, plus two free titles, Metro and Standard Lite (published by the Evening Standard) which are distributed every morning at London tube and railway stations. The independent weekly listings guide Time Out Magazine has been providing concert, film, theatre and arts information since 1968. London is at the centre of British film and television production industries, with major studio facilities on the western fringes of the conurbation and a large post-production industry centred in Soho. London is one of the two leading centres of English-language publishing alongside New York. Globally important media companies based in London range from publishing group Pearson, to the information agency Reuters, to the world's number two advertising business WPP Group. There are a vast number of local newspapers in the London area, often covering a small section of the vast city.

Religion

local newspapers When Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine to bring England into the Catholic fold in 597, it was intended that the envoy should become "Archbishop of London", as the city was remembered as the capital of Roman Britain. In the event, the saint received his most hospitable reception in the Kingdom of Kent, and the archiepiscopal see was founded at Canterbury. Nonetheless London has been at the centre of England's religious life for much of its history, and each Archbishop of Canterbury has traditionally spent much of his time in London, where he has an official residence at Lambeth Palace. London's two Anglican bishops are the Bishop of London, whose see is London north of the Thames, and whose throne is in London's grandest church, the baroque St Paul's Cathedral (designed by Sir Christopher Wren), and the Bishop of Southwark, who tends to Anglicans south of the river. Important national and royal ceremonies are divided between St Paul's and Westminster Abbey, a gothic church on the scale of a cathedral. As in the rest of the UK, religious attendance in London is low, and the Church of England has borne the brunt of this decline. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster is generally regarded as the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Other traditional Protestant denominations whose headquarters are in London include the United Reformed Church and the Quakers. Many of London's immigrant groups have established denominations in the city, for example Greek Orthodoxy. In addition various evangelical churches exist. London is the most important centre of Islam in the United Kingdom. Two London boroughs contain the highest proportion of Muslims in the UK: Tower Hamlets and Newham. The London Central Mosque is a well-known landmark on the edge of Regent's Park, and there are many other mosques in the city. London also has the largest Hindu population outside of India. Southall, in West London is home to many Hindus. The Hindu temple at Neasden, Neasden Temple is the largest Hindu temple outside of India and a remarkable example of a modern building in a traditional style. Much of the enormously elaborate and intricate marble sculpture used in the building was carved in India. Over two-thirds of British Jews live in London, which ranks thirteenth in the world as a Jewish population centre [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/concepts/demography/demtables.html#10].

Sport

British Jews London hosts one of the world's largest mass-participation marathons, the London Marathon, and has hosted the Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948. In July 2005 London was chosen to host the Games in 2012. London will be the first city in the world to host the Summer Olympics three times. The most popular spectator sport in London is football, and London has several of England's leading football clubs. Historically the London clubs have not accumulated as many trophies as those from the North West of England, such as Liverpool and Manchester United, but at present Arsenal (founded at Woolwich Arsenal but moved to Highbury in 1913), and Chelsea (who play in Fulham) are regarded as two of the Premier League's "Big three" alongside Manchester United. In 2003-04 they became the first pair of London clubs to finish first and second in the top flight, with Arsenal winning. In 2004-05 they did so again, this time with Chelsea winning. London clubs are able to charge higher ticket prices than clubs in other parts of the country (particularly for corporate facilities), and this has swung English football's balance of power towards London. Before Chelsea's recent rise in fortunes the two highest profile London clubs were Arsenal and their long-standing North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, both of whom were considered to be members of English football's "Big five" for most of the post-war period. In 2005-06 there are six London clubs in the Premier League: Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea, plus Charlton Athletic, Fulham and West Ham United. There are also five London clubs in the fully professional Football League (the level below the Premiership), namely Brentford, Crystal Palace (who play in South Norwood), Leyton Orient, Millwall and Queens Park Rangers (QPR)—all of whom have previously played in the top division. In a controversial move, Wimbledon left London in 2003 to play in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, changing their name to Milton Keynes Dons; the newly formed AFC Wimbledon inherited most of their support, despite playing at a much lower level in the football pyramid. There are also numerous London clubs playing outside the top four divisions of English football, one or two of which are fully professional and many of which are part-time professional. Wembley Stadium in north-west London is the national football stadium, traditionally the home of the FA Cup Final as well as England national side's home matches. Currently, Wembley is being completely rebuilt, so Cardiff's Millennium Stadium has been the venue for recent FA Cup finals, while England play at various venues around the country. Wembley was one of the venues for the , and the 1996 European Championship, and hosted the final of both tournaments. It also was the venue for the European Cup final in 1968, 1978 and 1992. As well as football matches, Wembley has hosted many other sporting events, including the Rugby League Challenge Cup final. Rugby Union is also well established in London, especially in the middle-class suburbs to the north and west of the city. The 19 June 1566–27 March 1625) was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 until his death, and, from the Union of the Crowns, in England and Ireland as James I from 24 March 1603 until his death. He was the first English monarch of the House of Stuart, succeeding the last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, who died without children. James was a successful monarch in Scotland, but the same was not true in England. He was unable to deal with a hostile Parliament of England; the refusal on the part of the House of Commons to impose sufficiently high taxes crippled the royal finances. His taste for political absolutism, his mismanagement of the kingdom's funds and his cultivation of unpopular favourites established the foundation for the English Civil War, during which James' son and successor, Charles I, was tried and executed. During James' own life, however, the governments of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were relatively stable. Along with Alfred the Great, James is considered to have been one of the most intellectual and learned individuals ever to sit on the English or Scottish thrones. Under him, much of the cultural flourishing of Elizabethan England continued; science, literature and art, contributed by individuals such as Sir Francis Bacon and William Shakespeare grew by leaps and bounds during his reign. James himself was a talented scholar, writing works such as Daemonologie (1597), The True Law of Free Monarchies (1598), Basilikon Doron (1599) and A Counterblaste to Tobacco (1604).

Early life

James was the only child of Mary I, Queen of Scots and of her second husband, Henry Stuart, Duke of Albany, more commonly known as Lord Darnley. James was a direct descendant of Henry VII, through his great-grandmother Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII. James' mother was an insecure ruler, as both she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion of Protestant noblemen. Their marriage, furthermore, was a particularly difficult one. While Mary was pregnant with James, Lord Darnley secretly allied himself with the rebels and murdered the Queen's private secretary, David Rizzio. James was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, and automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, for he was the eldest son of the monarch and thus the heir-apparent. He received the name Charles James, the first name in honour of his godfather Charles IX of France, thus becoming the first future British monarch to have more than one forename. James' father was murdered on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o' Field, most likely to avenge Rizzio's death. Mary's marriage on 15 May of the same year to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of murdering the Duke of Albany, made her even more unpopular. In June 1567, the Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle. Mary was forced to abdicate the throne on 24 July, giving it to James, then only thirteen months old.

Regencies

James was formally crowned King of Scotland at the Church of the Holyrood, Stirling, on 29 July 1567. In deference to the religious beliefs of most of the Scots ruling class, he was brought up as a member of the protestant, national Church of Scotland and educated by men with Presbyterian sympathies. During James VI's early reign, power was held by a series of regents, the first of whom was James Stuart, 1st Earl of Moray, his mother's illegitimate half-brother. Mary escaped from prison in 1568, leading to a brief period of violence. Lord Moray defeated Mary's troops at the Battle of Langside, forcing her to flee to England, where she was imprisoned by Elizabeth I. Lord Moray was assassinated by one of Mary's supporters in 1570. He was succeeded by James' paternal grandfather, Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, who suffered a similar fate in 1571. The next was James VI's guardian, John Erskine, 1st Earl of Mar, who died in 1572. The last of the regents was James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, who, during the two previous regencies, had been the most powerful Scottish nobleman, more so than the previous regents. Historian and poet George Buchanan was responsible for James' education. Lord Morton was successful in finally crushing the families who continued to support Mary. His fall was brought about not by Mary's supporters, but by the King's closest courtiers, who impressed upon the young monarch the extent of the royal powers, thereby encouraging him to take control himself. The courtiers accused Lord Morton of participating in the murder of James' father. Lord Morton was consequently tried, convicted and then executed in 1581; power was thenceforth held by the King himself, rather than by a regent. Nevertheless, James VI did not rule by himself, relying instead on the advice of his closest courtiers. One of the most important noblemen at the time was James VI's cousin, Esmé Stuart, Seigneur d'Aubigny, who had come from France in 1579, and who had been made Earl of Lennox. Another powerful courtier at the time was James Stuart, who was created Earl of Arran as a reward for his testimony against Lord Morton. As Lord Lennox was a Catholic, and Lord Arran leaned towards Episcopalianism, the Presbyterian Scottish Lords found the government distasteful. In the Raid of Ruthven (1582), some Presbyterian nobles, led by William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, captured James and held him captive for almost a year at Ruthven Castle, now known as Huntingtower Castle, in Perthshire. Lord Arran was also detained, and Lord Lennox was banished to France. The King and Lord Arran escaped in 1583; Lord Gowrie was executed, and the rebels forced to flee to England. The Parliament of Scotland, loyal to the King, passed the Black Acts, putting the Church of Scotland directly under royal control. These Acts were extremely unpopular; his clergy opposed and denounced him, attempting to keep his influence under control, lest he grow so powerful as to be bold enough to disestablish Presbyterianism.

English succession

James VI and Elizabeth I became allies under the Treaty of Berwick. James sought to remain in the favour of the unmarried Queen of England, as he was a potential successor to her Crown. Henry VIII had feared that the English Crown would go to a Scot: in his will, he excluded Margaret Tudor, James' grandmother, and her descendants from the line of succession. Although technically excluded by the will—which, under an Act of Parliament, had the force of law—both Mary, Queen of Scots and James were serious claimants to the English Crown, as they were Elizabeth I's closest relatives. Also in 1586, Mary was implicated in the Babington Plot, a scheme which sought to put her on the throne of England after murdering Elizabeth. Elizabeth had previously spared Mary's life after the Ridolfi Plot, but could no longer tolerate the danger she posed. Consequently, Mary was executed for her crimes in 1587; but for the will of Henry VIII, James was now the Heir Presumptive to the English Crown. Heir Presumptive Following her execution, Mary's Scottish supporters became weak; James managed to significantly reduce the influence of the Roman Catholic nobles in Scotland. He further endeared himself to Protestants by marrying Anne of Denmark—a princess from a Protestant country and daughter of Frederick II of Denmark—by proxy in 1589. Another marriage, this time with both parties personally present, occurred on 21 January 1590 at Krondborg during James' visit to Denmark. Soon after his return via Leith on 1 May, he attended the North Berwick Witch Trial, in which several people were convicted of having used witchcraft to create a storm in an attempt to sink the ship on which James and Ann