A Proclamation Declaring His Majesty's Pleasure Concerning the Dissolving of the

James VI and IProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.6

Word count: 18K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Proclamation Declaring His Maiesties Pleasure Concerning the Dissoluing of theAuthor: James I, King of England, 1566-1625,Language: English, Class: JN: Political science: Political inst. and pub. Admin.: Europe, Release Date: May 26, 2014

Editor's review

This is the text of an official proclamation by King James I of England concerning the dissolution of Parliament (or a related body), a primary source for the history of English political institutions and early modern constitutional history. Its value lies not in literary quality but in presenting the original wording of early seventeenth-century relations between Crown and Parliament, allowing researchers to observe the rhetoric, format, and legal vocabulary of royal decrees. It is brief, and the English uses early modern spelling, making it demanding to read, but for that very reason it preserves the texture of historical language. It is suitable as supplementary material for courses in English political history and legal history, or for self-learners interested in the Stuart dynasty to read alongside other sources. It is best understood within the context of the parliamentary conflicts of James I's reign rather than read in isolation. The electronic edition comes from a public-domain digitization project, making it easy to search and cite.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Undergraduate and graduate students studying early modern English political institutions
Readers interested in the Stuart dynasty and Crown-Parliament relations
Students of legal history who need to cite original decree texts
Self-learners familiar with early modern English who are willing to read primary sources closely

Not a good fit for

Beginner readers looking for general historical narratives or popular history stories
General readers unaccustomed to early modern English spelling and syntax
Readers seeking literary, highly readable leisure reading

Reading tips

First learn the basic background of James I and the parliamentary conflicts, then turn to the original text.
Read alongside a modern English translation or quotations in history books to reduce the language barrier.
Excerpt key legal and political terms and build your own glossary.
Place it side by side with parliamentary documents of the same period to compare the wording and positions of both sides.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Why is the English spelling in this proclamation so strange?

The text preserves the early modern English spelling conventions of the early seventeenth century, such as writing "Majesty" as "Maiestie" and "dissolving" as "dissoluing." This is the form of the original document, not a typesetting error; when reading, you can identify words by pronunciation and context, or use a modern edition for comparison.

Can I read this document without a background in English history?

You can read it, but your understanding will be limited. The proclamation concerns the institutional relationship between the Crown and Parliament; without a basic grasp of the political background of James I's reign, it is easy to see only the literal words and miss the historical meaning. It is advisable to read a general historical overview first, then return to the original text.

Is the source of this electronic edition reliable?

It comes from Project Gutenberg, a platform that digitizes public-domain texts, usually based on available early printed editions. As an electronic edition of a public-domain document, it can be used for general study and citation, but for formal academic citation it is still advisable to check authoritative editions or original holdings.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

James VI and I Author · Scottish · 1566–1625

James I (James VI and I, 1566–1625) was King of Scotland and England. Born in Edinburgh in 1566 and died in England in 1625, he acceded to the Scottish throne in 1567 and succeeded to the English throne in 1603. During his reign he authorized the 1611 English Bible translation, upheld the divine right of kings, and clashed repeatedly with Parliament. His writings address subjects such as tobacco, witchcraft, and political proclamations; representative works include A Counter-Blaste to Tobacco (1604), Daemonologie., and declarations concerning the dissolution of Parliament and proceedings of the late Assembly. Four of his works are held in the collection. Public information is limited, but his writing, centered on matters of rule and personal conviction, bears a distinct royal polemical character and offers reference value for understanding the political and religious ideas of the early Stuart era.