The religious violence of the Protestant Reformation and legacy of political strife between Queen Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots loomed over the reign of King James I. Both issues influenced him to keep a firm hold on the political, but fear the supernatural. The only son of Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, James was born in 1566 during an ongoing conflict between Scotland and England. When he was one year old, he ascended the Scottish throne as King James VI - after his mother abdicated her position - and was crowned King James I of England after the passing of his cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, in 1603.