James VI and I was a ruler.
James VI and I ( 19 June 1566 -- 27 March 1625 ) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death . The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states , with their own parliaments , judiciary , and laws , though both were ruled by James in personal union . In 1603 , he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland , Elizabeth I , who died without issue . He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years , a period known after him as the Jacobean era , until his death in 1625 at the age of 58 . In his reign , the Plantation of Ulster and British colonization of the Americas began .