As the son of Mary Queen of Scots, born into her "bloody nest," James had the most precarious of childhoods. Even before his birth, his life was threatened: it was rumored that his father, Henry, had tried to make the pregnant Mary miscarry by forcing her to witness the assassination of her supposed lover, David Riccio. By the time James was one year old, Henry was murdered (possibly with his mother's aid), Mary was in exile in England, and James was King of Scotland. By the age of five, he had experienced three different regents as the ancient dynasties of Scotland battled for power and made him a virtual prisoner in Stirling Castle. In fact, James did not set foot outside Stirling until he was eleven, when he took control of the country. But even with royal power in his hands, he would never feel safe. For the rest of his life he was caught up in bitter struggles between the warring political and religious factions who sought to control him - mind and body.Nevertheless, he eventually became an accomplished political operator, carefully avoiding controversy, even when his mother was sent to the executioner by Elizabeth I. His cautious politics won him the English throne on Elizabeth's death in 1603. Under his rule, James established Protestantism as the official state religion and commissioned the King James version of the Bible, which remains a text of tremendous significance today. James also aggressively asserted the Divine Right of Kings, a policy that would later result in civil war during the reign of his son, Charles I. Read Less