James I (VI of Scotland)

He was born in Edinburgh Castle on 19 July 1566, the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband, Lord Darnley. His father was murdered a few months later. When he was less than a year old, he saw his mother for the last time before she left for England and never came back. Crowned "King James VI of Scotland" when he was 13 months old, he spent his childhood torn between the nobilities who wanted to use him on their way to power. James grew up and his ambitions were to follow "Virgin Queen" Elizabeth I on the English throne as well. After his mother was beheaded in 1587 (and there would be no more plots to help Mary in becoming Catholic Queen of England), Elizabeth and James agreed that he should follow her on the English throne. In March 1603, after he received reports that Elizabeth had died, he left Scotland (and returned just once, in 1617) to be crowned as "King James I of England" as well. His intentions were to unite his two Kingdoms completely, but the Scottish parliament and Church resisted, and so his plans failed. James died on 27 March 1625.

Here are his signatures as King of Scotland (left, 1590) and King of England and Scotland (right, 1605).