Major Events
- Mar 24 Scottish King James VI son of Mary Queen of Scots, becomes King James I of England in succession to Elizabeth I, thus joining the English and Scottish crowns
- Mar 24 Tokugawa Ieyasu is granted the title of shogun, officially establishing the Tokugawa Shogunate which would rule Japan until 1867
- Mar 30 Battle at Mellifont: English army under Lord Mountjoy beats Irish
- Apr 5 New English King James I (James VI of Scotland) departs Edinburgh for London
- Jun 19 Merga Bien arrested for witchcraft in Fulda, Germany, part of Fulda witch trials. She and about 250 people later burned at the stake.
- Jul 17 English explorer Walter Raleigh is arrested by forces of King James I of England
- Aug 22 1st stones laid in Zuiderkerk, Amsterdam
- Oct 20 Chinese uprising in the Philippines fails after 23,000 killed
- Nov 17 English explorer, writer and courtier Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason
- Dec 18 First fleet of the Dutch East India Company under Admiral Steven van der Haghen departs for the East-Indies
Roger Williams
Elizabeth IArticles About 1603
John Manningham Notes the Passing of Queen Elizabeth I
John Manningham was an English lawyer and diarist who wrote this especially moving entry on the passing of Queen Elizabeth I.March 24
Union of the Crowns
Royal badge of King James I & VI, a Tudor Rose joined to the Scottish Thistle, symbolizing the personal union of his realmMarch 24
William Shakespeare
James I and VI