Basilikon Doron means royal gift. King James VI of Scotland, later King James I of England, allegedly wrote the ‘Basilikon Doron’ in 1599. It was a private and confidential letter to his eldest son, Henry Frederick Stuart, born 1594. After Henry’s death in 1612, James gave it to his second son, Charles, born 1600, later King Charles I.

The Basilikon Doron repeats the argument for the divine right of kings, as set out in ‘The True Law of Free Monarchies’, which was written by James. However it proceeds to warn against Papists. It says to omit the Apocrypha from the Bible. It derides Puritans.

The Basilikon Doron may well be a forgery. It was published after the execution, or martyrdom, of King Charles I, son of King James. It is also possible that there was a real, probably handwritten, Basilikon Doron, but it was later amended and printed. It was claimed that Robert Waldegrave, who was bound to secrecy, printed it at the King’s behest. Richard Royston, and later William Dugard, printed further copies after the execution.

The Basilikon Doron criticises both Papists and Puritans. This is in keeping with the King’s philosophy of following a ‘middle path’. This is reflected in the preface to the 1611 KJAV Bible. Yet, the King’s purpose was to reconcile, what he saw as, the extremes to the centre; to the Anglican Church, rather than repel them. The anti-Catholic words would be expected after the Gunpowder Plot, but not before. They seem at odds with his efforts to marry his sons to the Catholic Infanta of Spain and later to the Catholic Princess Henrietta Maria of France, whom Charles did marry in 1625.

The rejection of the Apocrypha seems strange, since King James was later to finance six scholars to spend three years translating the Apocrypha for the 1611 King James Authorised Version of the Bible. The preface to the 1611 KJAV says that the Apocrypha is scripture. It says that the Apostles used the translation of the seventy and commended it to the Church. When King Charles was awaiting execution, he was asked to authorise changes to the KJAV , to drop ecclesiastical references such as ‘bishop’ and to drop the Apocrypha. There were other demands. He refused. He was martyred.

The Basilikon Doron went on sale 10 days after the execution. It was an effective piece of Royalist propaganda. It reflected a post-execution royalist attitude, than that which would have been held in 1599.

The Basilikon Doron may be a forgery. Who would have a confidential letter to his son, printed? Whether it is or not, it did play its part in influencing public opinion in favour of the monarchy. This led to the restoration in 1660. King Charles II, ‘the merry monarch’, grandson of King James I and son of the martyred King Charles I, ascended to the throne.

see also Eikon Basilike