| Summary |
The purpose of this thesis is to show that the foreign policy decisions of King James I of England were influenced by four factors: James' concerns for the Protestant religion; the paucity of the Royal Treasury; the king's dynastic interests; and an inclination towards peace. By examining James' record from his arrival in England in 1603 until the defenestration of Prague, it will be possible to see that James a) tried to balance the four factors (often unsuccessfully), and b) that James was not going to support Frederick V of the Palatinate's bid for the Bohemian crown. While a stout Calvinist, and leader of the European Protestant movement, James was willing to forsake his son-in-law because he endangered the fragile peace between Protestants and Catholics in Germany. Even if James had wanted to aid Frederick, he did not have the ability to do so, since he had no standing army and was on the verge of bankruptcy, owing his creditors nearly £1,000,000. The only reason James even considered coming to Frederick's rescue was to protect the birthrights of his grandchildren and potential heirs. Yet balanced against that was James' conceit that he would be able to negotiate a solution to the dilemma that would guard the Palatinate from harm, while increasing his own prestige. Therefore James' actions in 1619-1620 were actually foreordained by the realities of James' personality and his economic situation by 1618. He would not and could not get involved in the start of the Thirty Years' War. |
