The Stuarts

Today's modern United Kingdom is often taken for granted. But there was nothing inevitable about its creation. This union was mainly down to the persistence of the Stuart dynasty of kings and queens. Historian Clare Jackson looks at King James VI and I's attempts to unite Scotland and England under the umbrella of his crown and persuade his subjects to feel more 'British'.

In the mid 1600s, King Charles I attempted to impose political and religious uniformity throughout his kingdoms. It was a disaster. Soon civil war raged throughout Britain, Charles was defeated and beheaded while his family fled into exile. The Stuart monarchy seemed doomed. Historian Dr Clare Jackson reveals how this unprecedented violence shaped the DNA of British political culture.

The final, dramatic period of the Stuart dynasty saw a family fatally divided by religion. In 1688, the catholic King James was deposed by the protestant William and Britain became a constitutional monarchy, Scotland lost its monarch while Ireland was reduced from a kingdom to a colony. As historian Clare Jackson reveals, resentments from this time continue to trouble Britain to the present day.