RELIGION
practicaly the first issue james faced was the problem cause by each kingdom favouring a different form of religion. Most Scots were Calvinists, most English favoured a more moderate form of Protestantism and most Irish remained stoutly Catholic. Yet each kingdom also contained strong religious minorities.In England, the chief such group were the Catholics, who initially believed that James would prove less severe to them than Elizabeth had been.When these expectations were disappointed, Catholic conspirators hatched a plot to blow both the new king and his parliament .
The discovery of the Gunpowder Plot served as a warning to James, if any were needed, of the very grave dangers religious divisions could pose, both to his own person and to the stability of his triple crown this was especialy magnified because of james' fear of assasination.
Religion and the war with spain
In foreign policy, James inherited a war as well as the crown - Never having been at war with Spain, he devoted his efforts to bringing the long Anglo–Spanish War to an end, and in August 1604, thanks to skilled diplomacy on the part of Robert Cecil and Henry Howard, now Earl of Northampton, a peace treaty was signed between the two countries, which James celebrated by hosting a great banquet. Freedom of worship for Catholics in England continued, however, to be a major objective of Spanish policy, causing constant dilemmas for James, distrusted abroad for repression of Catholics while at home being encouraged by the Privy Council to show even less tolerance towards them.
Economy
when james l became king if England he presumed the country had a great deal of wealth and didnt know of the problems facing the country finacialy infact there were reports of famin in the north west of the country and acounts of starvation .To raise money James sold government offices and positions. This had been a common practice in bygone monarchies – but James took it to an extreme in his search for money. By selling office titles, he did not consider the ability and worth of the man who bought the office – merely his income and ability to pay. Therefore, in the eyes of men who had received an office in reward for their work for their country, James was seriously devaluing their work and achievement. This was to cause resentment – but it also brought into government men with money but possibly not the ability to fulfil to the full the work that the purchased office required.
