The Queen is Dead, Long Live the King

In the early hours of the 24th of March, 1603, a woman struggled to attend to business in the final hours of her life. For days beforehand, she had paced her rooms, stood in silence, or knelt on lavish, plush pillows; she refused to retire to bed because she believed that if she did she would die. As it turned out, she was correct.

Aged 69, wearing thick layers of lead make-up, toothless, almost hairless, frail and rendered mute by a rash of abscesses that had swollen her throat almost to the point of closing, Elizabeth I of England would have known better than anyone that she was about to die... and she may have been the one of the only people who understood, without the benefit of hindsight, the huge changes that were approaching. A clever and fierce woman, the Virgin Queen had gripped her corner of the tiny island tight for forty-five years (a fantastically long reign in the grand scheme of pre-modern monarchy).

Her motto? Semper eadem - Always the Same.

For many of her courtiers, Elizabeth I had been a permanent, unfailing fixture throughout the course of their lives. As the old guard on her privy council dropped off and her health declined, the English Royal Court entered a state of waiting that was compounded by her steadfast refusal to name a successor.

On her deathbed, out of time, she finally drew back the curtain on the future. The story goes that the Queen was so frail and sick she could no verbally name who would succeed her, instead raising her hands to her head to indicate a crown when the name was spoken.

James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots.

Changed in an Instant

It would be impossible to fully and properly quantify all of the changes, permanent and fleeting, that occurred when Elizabeth I of England passed and I suppose it all depends on what view you take.

Looking dispassionately at the overall picture with a historians eye, it could be tempting to say that the changes of real importance happened immediately. When the Queen died, the present and future of Scotland, England, and in many ways that of the colonised but still resistant territory in Ireland, shifted as subtly but surely as the wind. James VI became James VI and I in that moment (though he was notified two days later and did not arrive in London until May), and so in that moment both Scotland and England lost their independent sovereignty. The Union of the Crowns changed the political and social landscape of the British isles without waiting for its people to catch up.

Previously allies, enemies, and discordant neighbours at various points, often plagues by raids and violence along their shared border, England and Scotland would inevitably started to bleed into one another and while distinct cultural, linguistic, and social differences remain today, there is no denying that that once hard border was rendered (and remains) simply a line on the map.

The ripples spread, of course; England's often fractious relationship with France had to come to terms with the lingering traces of the Auld Alliance. After all, James' mother spent many years in France, spoke French, and passed down claims to land and titles in France (which James' seemed to consider indisputable, despite objections from certain sectors of the French nobility).

Always bound to each other in a multitude of ways, the noble classes of Europe had new considerations to make when it came to diplomacy. All these changes, rippling out from the silence where a heartbeat stopped, but the Early Modern world was not made up of nobility (no matter what period dramas might have you believe). The vast majority of people were not noble and the changes that they saw, beyond the name and face of the monarch, were not instantaneous.

The Times They are A Changing

For the average person in Scotland and England in 1603 very little would have changed immediately; the arrival of James VI and I in London would mark the beginning of a slow process and the first people to notice the difference would have been the servants. The change of pace that would have inevitably come with serving an energetic, healthy man in his late thirties after serving an older woman in poor health would have been dramatic, especially for those who had only ever served Elizabeth I.

The sudden need for fabrics, linens, and other celebratory staples would have marked a change of pace in the areas surrounding the palace, and those who had found themselves confined or otherwise placed under watch in the final weeks of the Queens life would have felt a loosening of the proverbial noose.

But these were fleeting changes.

In the years to come the lives of people across what is now the mainland UK, the surrounding islands, and what are now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland would begin to change. History is vast and complex, but I would personally bet that of the common people, few would have felt these changes more than those who lived in the border regions. Even in times of relative peace when relations between the countries were civil (if frosty), the border regions were more likely to experience spates of violence. A series of minor noblemen and fortifications had been in effect for hundreds of years to maintain order, of course, but when there was no threat of war they largely had to deal with border reivers. Often they were themselves reivers.

In the not too distant future the changes that began with Elizabeth I's death would lead to the union of the Scottish and English parliaments and the trickle down effect of this change would lead to new laws and approaches to dealing with reivers. Likewise as James VI and I tightened his grip on control and the law became more involved in the lives of day to day people slightly older cultural aspects like blood feuds would begin to fade, first being side-lined as a form of social regulation and justice before they became a part of the past.

The spread of English as an international language in Europe began before 1603, but once James VI and I took the throne in England it's safe to say the Anglicization of Scotland sped up. Gaidhlig, still widely spoken in the highlands and islands would be edged out at an increasingly quick pace. The highland lairds would find themselves in the firing line, and while there was no immediate threat of civil war the topic of religion would come around again. While some English citizens may have chafed at the idea of being under the eye of a Scots king, who was often fickle and mercurial, many Scots would feel forgotten; James would not return to his homeland until 1617... and this would be the only time he did so.

The Edge of Causation

The problem with the history of any country, any society, is that if you pull back far enough you can see the big moments lined up like dominoes. So there is no standalone moment that truly changes everything from this birds eye view; "there is nothing new under the sun" and all that jazz. But when you remember that history is, at its heart, made up of the lives of individuals it's easier to differentiate between the little changes that had a knock-on effect and the truly huge events.

As one of the few female monarchs in European to rule alone, to rule over a prolonged period, and to do so with no intention of marrying or having children Elizabeth I stands out. For many of her subjects she was present at every stage of their lives; she was an indelible part of their world. When she died their individual realities changed forever, but so too did the reality of their country and that of their neighbouring country. England and Scotland were no longer separate when she died; before anyone knew it, their neighbours became their countrymen and like it or not they would remain tied together.

The countless small changes that sprouted from this one moment like weeds spread their roots and their shoots far. I have no idea where to draw the line; where would you?