The "Basilikon Doron" of King James I Stuart in the Political Life of England (First Half of the Seventeenth Century)

This research aimed to determine political meaning of the treatise “Basilicon Doron, or His Majesty’s Instructions to His Son, Prince Henry” written by English king James I Stuart in the political life of England in the first half of 17th c. This general question subsumed several related questions, namely: to investigate the process of education of king James I Stuart during his reign in Scotland, to study the main historical sources which were used by James I Stuart in his treatise, to analyze the perceptions of the king on ‘ideal’ monarch and ‘ideal’ government, to compare his political views with the political concepts which existed in political philosophy prior to the reign of James I Stuart and to identify how these political ideas were adopted to the political theory of king James I performed in the treatise “Basilicon Doron”. During the study it was determined that the three editions (manuscript of 1598, 1599 and 1603) showed the transformation of the status of the treatise: from the gift to the son to the gift to the subjects and European monarchs. The political theory of James I Stuart was based on his liberal education (his tutors were Scottish humanist George Buchanan and his assistant Peter Young). This explained the fact of numerous references to the works of ancient authors in the text of “Basilicon Doron” (namely, Cicero and Plato). Moreover, Bible was one of the main sources of James I Stuart allowing him to create a typology with scriptural kings David and Solomon. The perceptions of James I Stuart about the function of the monarch were also based on the adopted medieval concept of the two bodies of the king: political and physical. According to the king, he was a political “head” of the realm and obtained political “consciousness”. The following analysis also showed that king James I Stuart applied political theory of Jean Bodin on the divine right of the kings. Thus, the treatise “Basilicon Doron”, firstly, functioned as political testament of the king on the behavior of the true governor in the ideal government, and, secondly, legitimized the rights of the kings on the throne.