A multidisciplinary conference at the University of Reading
Wednesday 9-Friday 11 July 2003

The one-year-old James Stuart was crowned king of Scotland in 1567, following the abdication of his mother Mary, queen dowager of France as well as queen of Scotland. France’s oldest ally drew closer to England, and James’s dominant ambition of succeeding to the English throne was finally fulfilled in 1603. When he became king of England, however, it had been only five years since the England of Elizabeth and the France of Henry IV had been joined in an unprecedented common struggle against Spain. The royal families of France and Britain were to be linked by Prince Charles’s marriage to Henrietta Maria in 1625. The many interesting aspects of the history of James’s reign include the continuing links between Scotland and France both before and after 1603; French cultural and political influence in Britain; French attitudes to the personal union of the British crowns; relations between co-religionists, Protestant or Catholic, in the three kingdoms; and French reactions to the death of Mary Stuart, and British reactions - including those of James himself - to the assassinations of two French kings.

Proposals in French will be very welcome, though participants who propose to address the conference in French should provide a fairly full abstract (c. 45 lines) for translation by conference organisers if they do not themselves provide a translation.

Reading is close to Heathrow (45 mins. by direct bus link), and not far by car from Dover, Newhaven or Portsmouth. Fast trains from London are 25-35 mins. Our University is set in a large and attractive park in Reading’s eastern suburbs. Accommodation on campus will be available for conference participants. Please send proposals or enquiries to: