Early 1621 As England faces war in Europe and an economic crisis at home, parliament meets for the first time in seven years. Francis Bacon advises James to build goodwill by allowing parliament to reform government before asking for money - a strategy that Bacon soon regrets.
1620 Just as England is about to be sucked into the war in Europe, a mysterious trade recession strikes the kingdom. The Privy Council scrambles to find a solution.
1619-1620 Pushed out of mainstream politics because of their anti-Spanish views, a group of hard-line Calvinists take to international commerce. Competition with Spain on the high seas and around the globe provides them with an outlet, and a place to organize and prepare for the day James finally sees Spain as the enemy.
1620 James scrambles to contain the Bohemian crisis despite the best efforts of his son-in-law Frederick. However, the Thirty Years' War becomes truly international with fighting in both Bohemia and western Germany.
1618-1619 A rebellion in Bohemia sends the Holy Roman Empire into religious and political turmoil. At the centre of events is James' son-in-law, Frederick V, elector of the Palatine.
1618-1619 With a religious and political civil war brewing in the Netherlands, James intervenes to broker a settlement.
1618-1619 Buckingham's reform team takes on their greatest challenge yet - cleaning up the navy. In doing so, Buckingham finds the identity that will define the rest of his career - Lord Admiral, the chief military office in the kingdom.
1618 Thomas Howard, the Earl of Suffolk, tries to beat Buckingham at his own game by placing a young, attractive man close to the King. Buckingham survives the attack and finally snuffs out the Howard faction. But anxieties about the nature of James' relationships with his favourites grow.
1607-1617 In the years since the Flight of the Earls, Ireland becomes a hot bed of corruption for court figures in England. This process only speeds up with the rise of George Villiers, Earl of Buckingham.
1603-1617 Despite his absence in England, James continues to pursue his project of reforming the Scottish Church. In the summer of 1617 he returns to his native land to oversee the return of bishops as important players in Scottish governance.
1617 George Villiers, now Earl of Buckingham, begins creating a political network. In exchange for royal offices, Buckingham demands marriage into the large Villiers family. However, his aggressive exploitation of both public service and the institution of marriage draws criticism.
1615-1616 23 year old George Villiers supplants the disgraced earl of Somerset as King James' favourite. However, the young man quickly proves to be far more ambitious than his backers imagined, and Villiers establishes a stranglehold on power that will last over a decade.
1615-1616 A murder scandal rocks James' inner circle, bringing down some of the most powerful people in the kingdom.
1615 In the wake of the failure of the Cockayne Project, James once again turns to his Privy Council for advice. The remedy for the kingdom's financial ills is clear - James must attack corruption and rebuild confidence in his government. To do so, the King turns to Lionel Cranfield, a merchant relentlessly devoted to efficiency.
1614-1615 After failing to secure money through parliament, James seeks to fill the state's treasury by reshaping the world of commerce. Unfortunately he finds the merchants of London just as helpful as the lawyers of parliament.
The Howard administration faces its first test - a hastily planned parliament with the goal of solving the Crown's financial woes.
1613 In need of cash, James and his new chief minister (the earl of Northampton) shop young Prince Charles around Europe. Likely princesses in Paris, Madrid, and Turin each come with the promise of significant a dowry, and political implications.
1613 The Howard faction strikes an alliance with Robert Carr, the Earl of Somerset (James' Scottish favourite). As a result, the Howard family returns to the dominant position in English politics they once held in the Tudor era.
1612 18 year old Prince Henry organizes an alliance between England and the Protestants of Germany through the marriage of his sister, Elizabeth, to Frederick V, Elector of the Palatine. As a result, England becomes involved in the convoluted politics of the Holy Roman Empire.
1611 From a cell in the Tower of London, Walter Raleigh organizes a voyage to discover El Dorado, the long lost city of gold in South America. Leading the expedition is Thomas Roe, a young man of the Virginia Company.
1611 After the failure of his Great Contract, new players emerge to challenge the Earl of Salisbury. The most threatening are the Scots who act as the King's bedchamber servants. Their control over physical access to James provides them with a very different kind of power.
Summer 1610 After several years of peace, Europe suddenly becomes a more dangerous place. Meanwhile at home, Henry the Prince of Wales comes of age, promising a more active English foreign policy in the future.
1610 James recalls parliament for one last attempt to resolve the kingdom's financial problems. The Earl of Salisbury proposes a "Great Contract" - the King will give up his revenue raising perks in exchange for an annual tax.
Two poles begin to emerge in James' "big tent" Church. First, the hard-line Calvinists (or Puritans) we encountered at the Hampton Court Conference, seeking to purify the Church of Catholic ritual. And a second group, determined to maintain the ceremonies of the Church.
Two Irish lords flee the British Isles, leaving the Crown in possession of their extensive lands.
The state struggles to suppress a rising of the rural poor in the Midlands.
In the wake of the prerogative debates of parliament, two lawyers (Edward Coke and Francis Bacon) offer competing visions of English law and society.
Parliament re-convenes to discuss the kingdom's finances. The Earl of Salisbury suggests a tempting bargain.
A group of English Catholics attempt to murder the political leadership of England and restore Catholicism to the kingdom.
The Trinity of Knaves secure peace with Spain.
