James IV

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: 1488-1513, King of Scots

Notes:

James IV (March 17, 1473 ? September 9, 1513) was King of Scots from 1488 to 1513.

The son of King James III and Margaret of Denmark, he was probably born in Stirling Castle. When his father was killed at the Battle of Sauchieburn on June 11, 1488 (or possibly assassinated a few hours later) the fifteen-year-old James took the throne and was crowned at Scone, Perthshire on June 24. The rebels who had gathered at Sauchieburn had done so with James supposedly as their figurehead. When James realised the indirect role which he had played in the death of his father, he decided to do penance for his sin. From that date on he wore a heavy iron chain cilice around his waist next to the skin each Lent as penance.

James IV quickly proved to be an effective ruler. He defeated another rebellion in 1489, took a direct interest in the administration of justice and finally brought the Lord of the Isles under control in 1493. James was well educated and it was claimed that he was fluent in Lowland Scots, English, Scottish Gaelic, Latin, French, German, Italian, Flemish, Spanish and Danish.

He was a true Renaissance prince with an interest in practical and scientific matters. James granted the Edinburgh College of Surgeons a royal charter in 1506, turned Edinburgh Castle into one of Britain's foremost gun foundries and welcomed the establishment of Scotland's first printing press in 1505.

James also loved ships and saw the importance in Scotland having a large navy. He acquired thirty-eight ships for the Royal Scottish Navy and founded two new dockyards. His finest creation was the carrack Michael. Launched in 1511 she weighed 1,000 tons, was 240 feet in length and was then the largest ship in Europe.

For a time he supported the pretender to the English throne Perkin Warbeck and carried out a brief invasion of England on his behalf. Despite this, James finally recognized that peace between Scotland and England was in the interest of both countries, and so agreed treaty of "perpetual peace" in 1502 and marrying Henry VII's daughter Margaret Tudor, on August 8, 1503, at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh. The couple's first three children all died in infancy. Their son James V survived, and he also had a posthumous son, Alexander, who died in infancy.

When war broke out between England and France as a result of the Italian Wars, James found himself in a difficult position as his obligations under the Auld Alliance with France conflicted with the treaty made with England in 1502. The new king of England, Henry VIII, attempted to invade France in 1513, and James reacted by declaring war on England. Hoping to take advantage of Henry's absence, he led an invading army southward, only to be killed, with many of his nobles and common soldiers, at the disastrous Battle of Flodden Field on September 9, ending Scotland's involvement in the War of the League of Cambrai. A body thought to be his was recovered from the battlefield and taken to London for burial. As he was excommunicated, the embalmed body lay unburied for many years in the monastery of Sheen in Surrey, and was lost after the Reformation. [1]

Rumors persisted that he had survived and had gone into exile, but there is no evidence to support them. James IV's ill-considered invasion of England and his subsequent death, ushered in a period of prolonged instability in Scotland.

James also had seven illegitimate children by four different mistresses. With Janet Kennedy he had James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (1501 creation) and two children who died in infancy. With Marion Boyd he had Alexander Stewart (Archbishop of St Andrews), and Catherine Stewart, who married James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Morton. With Margaret Drummond he had Margaret. With Isabel Buchan, daughter of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan, he had Lady Janet Stewart, who became the mistress of Henry II of France.

James IV is also significant in Scottish history as the last King of Scots who is known to have spoken Scottish Gaelic.

James married Margaret TUDOR on 08 Aug 1503. Margaret (daughter of Henry VII King Of ENGLAND and Elizabeth PLANTAGENET) was born on 28 Nov 1489; died on 18 Oct 1541. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married John GORDON in Nov 1512. John (son of Alexander GORDON and Janet STEWART) died on 5 Dec 1517. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Madeleine Princess Of FRANCE in 1537. Madeleine (daughter of Francis I Of FRANCE and Claude Princess Of FRANCE) was born on 10 Aug 1520; died on 02 Jul 1537. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Marie Of GUISE on 18 May 1538 in Notre-Dame de Paris. Marie (daughter of Claude Duke Of GUISE and Antoinette Of BOURBON) was born on 22 Nov 1515 in Bar-le-Duc, Lorraine; died on 11 Jun 1560 in Edinburgh Castle. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Titular Archbishop of Athens, the only Scottish prelate to join the Reformers
• Fact: 1553, Bishop of the Isles
• Fact: 1558, Bishop of Galloway

Family/Spouse: Barbara LOGIE. Barbara was born in of Ennis. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Mary I Of Scotland
• Fact: 09 Sep 1543, Crowned Queen of Scotland in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle

Notes:

Princess Mary Stuart was born at Linlithgow Palace, Linlithgow, West Lothian, on December 7 or December 8, 1542 to King James V of Scotland and his French wife, Mary of Guise. In Falkland Palace, Fife, her father heard of the birth and prophesied, "The devil go with it! It came with a lass, it will pass with a lass!" James truly believed that Mary's birth marked the end of the Stuarts' reign over Scotland. Instead, through Mary's son, it was the beginning of their reign over both the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England.

The six-day-old Mary became Queen of Scotland when her father died at the age of thirty, probably from cholera, although his contemporaries believed his death to have been caused by grief over the Scots' loss to the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran was the next in line for the throne after Mary; he acted as regent for Mary until 1554, when he was succeeded by the Queen's mother, who continued as regent until her death in 1560.

In July 1543, when Mary was six months old, the Treaties of Greenwich promised Mary to be married to Edward, son of King Henry VIII of England in 1552, and for their heirs to inherit the Kingdoms of Scotland and England. Mary's mother was strongly opposed to the proposition, and she hid with Mary two months later in Stirling Castle, where preparations were made for Mary's coronation.

When Mary was only nine months old she was crowned Queen of Scotland in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on September 9, 1543. Because the Queen was an infant and the ceremony unique, Mary's coronation was the talk of Europe. Mary was dressed in heavy regal robes in miniature. A crimson velvet mantle, with a train furred with ermine, was fastened around her tiny neck. A jeweled satin gown, with long hanging sleeves, enveloped the infant, who could sit up but not walk. She was carried by Lord Livingston in solemn procession to the Chapel Royal. Inside, Lord Livingston brought Mary forward to the altar, put her gently in the throne set up there, and stood by holding her to keep her from rolling off.

Quickly, Cardinal David Beaton put the Coronation Oath to her, which Lord Livingston answered for her. The Cardinal immediately unfastened Mary's heavy robes and began anointing her with the holy oil. When the chilly air struck her, she began to cry. The Earl of Lennox (whose son Henry, Lord Darnley, later became Mary's 2nd husband) brought forward the Sceptre and placed it in her baby hand. Then the Sword of State was presented by the Earl of Argyll, and the Cardinal performed the ceremony of girding the three-foot sword to the tiny body.

Then, the Earl of Arran carried the Crown. Holding it gently, Cardinal Beaton lowered it onto the child's head, where it rested on a circlet of velvet. The Cardinal steadied the crown and Lord Livingston held her body straight as the Earls of Lennox and Arran kissed her cheek in fealty, followed by the rest of the prelates and peers who knelt before her and, placing their hands on her crown, swore allegiance to her.

Mary married Francis II King Of FRANCE on 24 Apr 1558 in Notre-Dame de Paris. Francis (son of Henry II King Of FRANCE and Caterina DE'MEDICI) was born on 19 Jan 1544; died on 05 Dec 1560. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married Henry Stuart Lord DARNLEY on 29 Jul 1565 in Palace of Holyroodhouse. Henry died in Feb 1567. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married 4th Earl of Bothwell James HEPBURN on 15 May 1567 in Palace of Holyroodhouse. James died in 1578 in Imprisoned in Denmark. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Bishop-elect of Galloway
• Fact: 1604-19, Dean of Salisbury
• Fact 1: 16 Sep 1553, Legitimated by his cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots

Family/Spouse: Genevieve PETAU. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: 24 Mar 1603, Acceded
• Fact 1: 25 Jul 1603, Crowned at Westminster Abbey

Notes:

Name:
When James ascended the English throne in 1603, he had already been king of Scotland for 36 years. There, he had ruled by the Divine Right of Kings - whereby kings were appointed by God and so were not answerable to men. This style of government was unacceptable inEngland, so he ruled for long periods without Parliament. He thus squandered the legacy of strong government left to him by Elizabeth I.

The two principal favourites of James I were, in succession, Robert Ker and George Villiers. Ker, Earl of Somerset, was entrusted with the King's most intimate business. He angered the nation by encouraging the King to make an alliance with Spain, and by helping to raise dubious taxes. By 1616 the King had taken to Villiers, who became Earl of Buckingham.

The Gunpowder Plot was hatched by conspirators disgruntled with the King's failure to grant toleration of Catholics. they planned to blow up the House of Lords when the King came for the opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605. they dug a tunnel under the House of Lords and filled a cellar with barrels of gunpowder. However, he plot was foiled when one of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes, was discovered in the cellar with the gunpowder. the conspirators were arrested, tried, and executed.

Although well educated, James appeared foolish, and was known as the 'wisest fool in Christendom'.

James married Anne Of DENMARK on 23 Nov 1589. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]