When Elizabeth died in 1603, James I, son of Mary o Scotland, became the first Stuart king of England. He was learned and he wrote treatises in English and in Latin. He based his power on the “divine right” so he thought he was the representative of God on the earth. He ruled with a council formed by few people and summoned Parliament only to asked money. But parliament always refused to levy new taxes, so the king got the money in other ways. His court was characterized by corruption.