Monarchy, with David Starkey, Series 2: War of the Roses to Cromwell (2005)

The Stuart Succession (3/3)

4. The Stuart Succession: In a stunning piece of argument, David Starkey charts the transition of the monarchy from Tudor glory to abject Stuart weakness and Civil War. With the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the English royalty was at its zenith. Scotland and England became united under the Stuart King James I (VI of Scotland), but his son Charles I within a generation would throw the country into civil war. James Stuart's reign, during which be brought England and Scotland under a single monarch, is examined.

Dr David Starkey presents the second part of his complete history of the British monarchy, which he portrays as a crucial and sometimes violent dialogue between the people and the monarch, through which the very nature of our society was forged.