Kerry Baker

Amazing to read a book written in 1615 and only recently (2010) completely translated into English. Interesting, because despite Corona Regia being an “…infamous libel written against His Majesty…” this book contains a number of truths, such as describing King James VI and I as self-aggrandising; King James notably likened his kingly status to a that of a god, at the very least chosen by God. Another truth is King James's attraction to young handsome men, promoting two (Esmé Stewart and George Villiers) to Duke. However, this book also contains blatant lies, with Gaspar Schoppe (prime contender as author because he not only had sufficient expertise in Latin to have written the sophisticated Corona Regia, but also has form in having previously written and published in a similar vein – this is despite Winfried Schleiner backing away from his prior identification of Schoppe as the real author of Corona Regia) stating that a child born to Mary Queen of Scots was swapped for James shortly after birth. Moreover, it is surprising that since Schoppe is keen to deprecate King James at every opportunity, including describing him vomiting from his horse, there does not seem to be mention of the famous story that King James would rather soil himself than dismount to defecate. True to form, however, Schoppe does include stories regarding King James's unusual gait and unsophisticated eating habits.