#Regent Arran

[scotianostra]

On July 30th 1547 those responsible for the murder of Cardinal David Beaton surrendered St Andrews Castle to French forces.

The siege of St Andrews was one of the defining events in the early struggles to bring the reformation to Scotland.

It was in 1546 that the castle was under siege, after the dramatic murder of Cardinal James Beaton who had been stabbed then hung naked from the castle walls. He had made many enemies during the reformation, one of the most turbulent periods of Scotland’s past, and his execution of the prominent and charismatic Protestant preacher George Wishart, gave these men the perfect excuse to move against him. His murderers, a group of mainly Fife lairds, occupied the castle afterwards and were supported in their actions by the English.

Scotland’s Regent, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, ordered his troops to re-take the castle, capture the intruders and regain control of the wayward castle. The siege was to last more than a year, but in November 1546 the French ambassador reported that the besiegers were digging a mine beneath the castle walls in an attempt to undermine and collapse the huge fore tower. The defenders were simultaneously countermining in a desperate attempt to prevent this from ever occurring.

There were two unsuccessful attempts to intercept the mine, located in the rooms now found off the entrance to the castle. It was not easy to work out where the attackers were coming from when you just had the disorientating noise coming through solid rock. They were eventually abandoned and a third shaft was dug to the east of the fore tower.

The first tunnel was inaccurate, swinging too far to the east, and they had to divert the tunnel again to get back towards the mine. They broke through eventually, and were able to repel the besiegers. Afterwards, the mine and it’s countermine were filled in to prevent them ever being used again until they were discovered during building work in 1879. The entrance to the mine can be seen on the far side of the road beside the castle, covered by a manhole cover.

The mine itself is a spacious corridor where one can comfortably stand upright, and it is wide enough to enable pack animals to assist with the removal of the mined rock. It features carved steps, and it is quite easy to traverse. By contrast, the countermine is narrow, twisted and at times you almost must almost crawl to get through, showing the desperation of the defenders as they worked to head off the attack as soon as possible.

The siegers? Well remarkably their lives were spared, some were imprisoned in France while others, including Knox, were condemned to the galleys.

Pics are the castle ruins and the counter mine.

There's a much more in depth article on the siege here over two pages https://tudortimes.co.uk/military-warfare/siege-of-st-andrews

[anastasianikolaevnaromanova]

Whatever the opposition of the Scots lords to a female ruler, when Margaret’s son James V died in 1542, he left only a daughter, Mary, to succeed him. Although the regency had initially been in the hands of James Hamilton, earl of Arran, by April 1554 Marie of Guise had replaced him, her position as queen regent “ratified by the Estates of Scotland.” She served as regent until her death in 1560 and seems to have taken to heart the advice of her brother, the duke of Guise, to “deal in Scotland in a spirit of conciliation, introducing much gentleness and moderation into the administration of justice.” She attempted to steer a judicious middle course for herself, acting in Fraser’s words, “gently and slowly by the use of Parliament,” introducing more equitable administration of the law into a country “where administration was either non-existent or archaic in the extreme,” aiming for stability in economic matters, and proceeding with “balance and political acumen” in her dealings with the Scots lords, whom she judged to be “jealous and suspicious.” She knew the difficulty of her task: “whenever it is a question of meeting out justice or punishment,” she wrote, the lords “find these things insupportable, thinking always that one wants to give them new laws and change theirs, which in fact have much need of amendment.”

The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe by Sharon L. Jansen, 2002.

[thebritishmonarchycouk]

On This Day In History 8 December 1542 Mary, Queen of Scots was born ⬛ Mary was born on 8 December 1542 at Linlithgow, Scotland, to James V, King of Scots, & his French second wife, Mary of Guise. She was said to have been born prematurely & was the only legitimate child of James to survive him. ◼ She was the great-niece of King Henry VIII of England, as her paternal grandmother, Margaret Tudor, was Henry VIII’s sister. ◼ On 14 December, six days after her birth, she became Queen of Scots when her father died, perhaps from the effects of a nervous collapse following the Battle of Solway Moss, or from drinking contaminated water while on campaign. ◼ A popular legend, first recorded by John Knox, states that James, hearing on his deathbed that his wife had given birth to a daughter, ruefully exclaimed, “It cam wi’ a lass & it will gang wi’ a lass!” His House of Stewart had gained the throne of Scotland by the marriage of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce, to Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland. The crown had come to his family through a woman, & would be lost from his family through a woman. This legendary statement came true much later not through Mary, but through her descendant Queen Anne. ◼ Mary was baptised at the nearby Church of St Michael shortly after she was born. Rumours spread that she was weak & frail, but an English diplomat, Ralph Sadler, saw the infant at Linlithgow Palace in March 1543, unwrapped by her nurse, & wrote, “it is as goodly a child as I have seen of her age, & as like to live.” ◼ As Mary was an infant when she inherited the throne, Scotland was ruled by regents until she became an adult. From the outset, there were two claims to the Regency: one from Catholic Cardinal Beaton, & the other from the Protestant Earl of Arran, who was next in line to the throne. Beaton’s claim was based on a version of the late king’s will that his opponents dismissed as a forgery. Arran, with the support of his friends & relations, became the regent until 1554 when Mary’s mother managed to remove & succeed him. (at Linlithgow) https://www.instagram.com/p/B502NhxATKb/?igshid=fhp0iv255gye

[juliesjourney]

Castle of St. Andrew’s. St. Andrew’s, Scotland

I chose the Castle of St. Andrew’s because I wanted to research it and how it was connected to the reformation. The area was closed when we went so we could not do a tour of the ruins. I was ignorant of how it shaped the reformation since it is a ruin and at one point was a castle. I fell in love with St. Andrew’s while we were there and Scotland in general, so it peaked my interest when this one was on the list of places to choose from. In connection to the reformation St. Andrew’s became a place of religious persecution and controversy. After a murder the Scottish protestants took refuge in the castle and formed the first protestant congregation in Scotland in it. It was sacked and turned into a jail at one point where John Knox himself resided, and he spoke against what the castle was doing at the time. It was not just a jail but a tortuous place where people were burned and tried for their crimes against the church. Protestant nobles occupied the castle and it was under siege by Regent Arran. Two mines were dug because of this and the mines are still the castle's most notable features. I was surprised that the castle was a ruin. This was on account of my own ignorance because I did not know anything about it before going. I knew that it was a place for this project, so we went. I was expecting to see a complete castle, not one that had been destroyed. The destruction symbolizes the hard times the reformers had to carry out the reforms and the setbacks they faced. The reformation was not a one time thing and it was fixed; it was a slow process where many died fighting for what they believed in. It was beautiful even as a ruin.

[fuzzysparrow]

Who was the only legitimate child of King James V of Scotland?

Mary, Queen of Scots, was born Mary Stuart on 8th December 1542 at Linlithgow Palace, Scotland and was the only legitimate child to survive her father, King James V (1512-42), who died six days after her birth. He allegedly collapsed due to stress after the Battle of Solway Moss on the Anglo-Scottish border. Following her father’s death, Mary became the Queen of Scotland, although the country was ruled by a couple of regents until she became an adult. James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault, 2nd Earl of Arran (1519-75) ruled as regent until 1554 when he was replaced by Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise (1515-60).

When Mary began to rule in her own right, many men plotted against her and attempted to remove her from the throne. Her greatest threat, however, was the English royal family. Mary’s paternal grandmother, Margaret Tudor (1489-1541), was Henry VIII's sister, thus making Mary a potential heir to the English throne.

Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) did not marry, therefore had no direct heir. Elizabeth was concerned about Mary’s claim to the throne, so when Mary fled to England from the growing hostility in Scotland, Elizabeth kept her under lock and key at a variety of locations.

In 1571, Elizabeth’s principal secretaries uncovered a plot to assassinate the Queen and replace her with Mary. After several more plots, Mary was sentenced to death for treason. No one knows if Mary was directly involved with the plots, but she was beheaded on 8th February 1587 regardless.

[castellsipalaus]

Drottningholms slott

El nom Drottningholm significa en suec "illot de la reina" i és el lloc on es trobava una residència reial anomenada Torvesund, posteriorment convertida en palau renaixentista per ordre del rei Johan III de Suècia. El 1580, aquest va decidir oferir-lo a la seva dóna, la princesa polonesa Katarina Jagellonika, amb qui va compartir el títol reial des del 1569, abans de ser ducs (des del 1562) i grans prínceps (des del 1581) de Finlàndia.

Al segle XVII, la regent Hedwig Eleonora va comprar el castell el 1661, un any després de deixar de ser reina de Suècia en morir el seu marit Karl X Gustav, però el castell es va cremar el 30 de desembre del mateix any. El 1662 es van iniciar les obres de reconstrucció de l’edifici sota la direcció dels arquitectes Nicodemus Tessin el Vell i el seu fill, el Jove.

Hedwig Eleonora dirigí la regència del seu fill des del 1660 fins al 1672, quan el nen va assolir la majoria d'edat com a Karl XI de Suècia, i el poder de la dinastia sueca d'origen alemany, sorgit arran de la pau de Westfàlia, va exigir que el palau reial d'Estocolm fos prou impressionant. La reina regent el va utilitzar fins a la seva mort, el 1715.

Durant el regnat dels reis Karl XI i el seu fill Karl XII, la cort reial s'hi va instal·lar freqüentment a Drottningholm, especialment durant l'absència del net d'Hedwig Eleonora durant la Gran Guerra del Nord (1700-1721), un conflicte que va enfrontar Suècia amb els reis de Dinamarca -llavors també de Noruega–, Rússia i Polónia –que també ho era de Lituània i Saxònia–.

Al segle XVIII, Drottningholm va ser també una residència reial de caça i d'estiu, especialment sota el regnat de Fredrik I i Ulrika Leonora. Però amb el temps va perdre importància fins que sota el regnat de Karl XIV Johann (1818-1844) va restar abandonat.

Els seus jardins van ser oberts al públic, però el rei Oskar I (1844-1859) es va interessar de nou en el palau i hi va fer reparacions cap a mitjans de segle, però els seus successors –Gustav V i Karl XV– el van ignorar. Oskar II (1872-1907) va reprendre les reparacions. Les successives restauracions van conduïr a que actualment sigui una de les principals residències de la família reial sueca.

Foto: Ola Ericson / imagebank.sweden.se

[km-places]

Broughty Castle  Broughty Ferry  Dundee  Scotland

I visited this castle and its small museum in July 2017.

**************************************************************************************

The castle stands on the banks of the river Tay It was completed around 1495, although the site was earlier fortified in 1454 when George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus received permission to build on the site. His son Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus was coerced into ceding the castle to the crown. The main tower house forming the centre of the castle with four floors was built by Andrew, 2nd Lord Gray who was granted the castle in 1490.

The castle saw military action during the 16th-century War of the Rough Wooing. After the battle of Pinkie in September 1547 it was surrendered by purchase to the English by its owner, Lord Gray of Foulis.  The position of the old castle itself was advantageous to modern warfare, as it was discovered that the swift river current made naval bombardment impractical.

The town of Dundee agreed to support the garrison and resist the Governor of Scotland, Regent Arran on 27 October 1547.

The castle was attacked again, in 1651, by General Monck and his Parliamentary army during the English Civil Wars. On this occasion the Royalist defenders fled without a fight. After 1666, when the Gray family sold the castle, it gradually became more ruinous.

In 1846 the castle was bought by the Edinburgh and Northern Railway Company in order to build an adjacent harbour for their railway ferry. In 1855 the castle was acquired by the War Office with the intention of using it to defend the harbour from the Russians. In 1860 renewed fears of a French invasion led the War Office to rebuild and fortify the site. T

From 1886 to 1887 a range was built to house submarine miners to the east of the castle. In an emergency these would lay mines in the Tay Estuary to damage enemy shipping. . The castle remained in military use until 1932, and again between 1939 and 1949.

[scotianostra]

Nine month old Mary Stuart was crowned queen of Scotland on September 9, 1543.

Mary had actually become queen on December 14, 1542, when she was only six days old, the day that her father had died, making her the youngest female to become queen.

Mary’s mother, Mary of Guise, had schemed and plotted for months, in an effort to avoid Henry VIII’s offers of marriage to her daughter. He wanted the little queen for his son, the future Edward VI. However, Mary of Guise, being a French Catholic, wanted nothing to do with the Protestant Englishmen. Although James Hamilton, the Earl of Arran, had been appointed as regent to the young queen, her mother was very much in control of the young child’s comings and goings. Her wit and political savviness enabled her to remove the young Mary from Linlithgow Palace, where she was born, and where Arran felt he had more control over her. By July, the baby had been moved to Stirling Castle, Mary Guise’s castle of choice. This removed the infant queen out from under Arran’s control and allowed her mother more time and freedom to plot how to free Mary from the reach of the English.

On the ninth of September, Mary was carried to the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle and crowned Queen of Scots. It was a very solemn affair, having conferred not only civil legitimacy on the young queen, but it also validated her religious rights as queen as well.

According to biographer, John Guy, three items of significance were used during the ceremony. The Earl of Arran carried the crown, the Earl of Lennox held the scepter, and the Earl of Argyll carried the sword of state. The scepter was given to James IV in the 1490s by Pope Alexander VI, and the sword was obtained from Pope Julius II in 1507. The crown had been worn by Mary’s father, James V, at her mother’s coronation in 1540. These three items are known collectively as the honors of Scotland and are still on display at Edinburgh Castle today. However, they were not used together until the coronation of Mary.

The crown was, of course, too big for a baby to wear. Instead, Cardinal David Beaton held the crown over Mary’s head. He also anointed her with holy oil and said a blessing over her during the ceremony.

Traditionally, heralds would read aloud the royal genealogy, a list of titles and honors that could take up to a half an hour to recite. However, the infant queen had a different plan. She squawked and wailed throughout the ceremony, causing the typical proceedings to be cut short.

The coronation may have been a solemn affair, but it was followed by banqueting, masques, and dancing afterward.

[archaicwonder]

Law Castle, North Ayrshire, Scotland

Law Castle (aka Tower of Kilbride) was built in 1468 for Princess Mary, daughter of James II, when she married Thomas, Master of Boyd, and later Earl of Arran. Thomas’s father, Lord Robert Boyd, was Regent of Scotland for James III. Robert Boyd arranged the marriage of James III to the daughter of the King of Norway, who brought as her dowry, the Orkneys and Shetlands, thus becoming part of Scotland. Today the castle is available for rent as a luxurious and exclusive holiday home. It's located in the village of West Kilbride in North Ayrshire.

[helppoajuotavaa]

Alkon kovat paketit - marraskuun uutuudet (jouluoluet)

Alkon olutpruuvit ovat välillä olleet melko tylsiäkin kun esiteltäviä uutuuksia on ollut vain kourallinen. Ei tällä kertaa. Marraskuussa testiin pääsivät nimittäin jouluoluet. Valikoimaa on harrastajapiireissä kritisoitu tylsäksi ja ehkä siitä hieman terävin kärki jääkin puuttumaan, mutta 24 (sattumaako?!) jouluoluen joukosta löytyy kyllä laatua riittämiin. Näistä kaksi puuttui pruuvista, mutta jonon jatkona oli vielä 17 “tavallisen” uutuuden lista (kolme puuttui). Pruuvista töihin suuntaavan bloggarin oli siis suosiolla jätettävä kaikki muutaman viime vuoden aikana maistetut väliin ja keskityttävä uusiin tuttavuuksiin.

Oluita on tänä jouluna tarjolla varsin laajalla skaalalla, myös vaaleammasta päästä kuten ylläolevan kuvan kaksi jouluolueksi listattua tapausta osoittavat. Näistäkin mielestäni löytyy kuitenkin sen verran jouluisuutta että paikka listalla on oikeutettu. Lisäksi ei-jouluoluista löytyi useita erittäin hyvin joulupöytään sopivia oluita. Selkeitä huteja oli taas erittäin vähän. “Jätä hyllyyn” arvosanan saa minulta tällä kertaa vain Bock's Heller Bock. Ryhmittelynä tällä kertaa perinteisen “uutuudet” - uutuudet jaottelun sijaan jouluoluet ja “ei-jouluoluet”.

Top 5 jouluoluet:

1. Chris Banker / Insurgente / Stone Xocoveza Mocha Stout 4.3 / 4.7 € / 0.33 l 2. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock 4.1 / 3.98 € / 0.5 l 3. St-Feuillien Cuvée de Noël 4.1 / 4.7 € / 0.33 l 4. Chimay Triple / Blanche (White) / Cinq Cents 4.1 / 9.48 € / 0.75 l 5. Ayinger Winter Bock 4.0 / 4.49 € / 0.5 l

Stonen kaneli-vanilja-suklaa-kahvi oli melkoinen maustepommi erinomaisessa tasapainossa. Urbock on takuuvarma top5-tuote eikä St-Feuillienillakaan usein vikaan mennä. Ayingerin joulupakattu Celebrator on myös takuuvarma tuote. Kuvaan valitsin kolmanneksi Julequadin lähinnä valtavan kypsytyspotentiaalin vuoksi. Viimevuotinen vastaava oli loistavaa sellaisenaan ja tämäkin sai minulta 3.9. Sellainen fiilis kuitenkin jäi että ensi jouluna tuo on vielä parempaa. Huomionarvoista on myös melko maltillinen hintataso. Sekä Xocoveza että Julequad ovat noin viiden euron hintaisina pakko-ostoksia Suomen parhaasta nettikaupasta. Pruuvista puuttunut Talveöö kiinnostaa muuten myös kovasti.

Top 5 jouluoluiden hinta-laatu-suhde:

1. Bohemia Regent Zimni Special 0.58 p/€/l / 2.9 / 2.49 € / 0.5 l 2. Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock 0.52 p/€/l / 4.1 / 3.98 € / 0.5 l 3. Ayinger Winter Bock 0.45 p/€/l / 4.0 / 4.49 € / 0.5 l 4. Erdinger Schneeweisse Winterbier 0.44 p/€/l / 3.5 / 3.98 € / 0.5 l 5. La Trappe Witte Trappist 0.41 p/€/l / 3.7 / 2.98 € / 0.33 l

Edellisessä pruuvissa Sakun 0.52 p/€/l tuntui lähen sensaatiomaisen kovalta, mutta tällä kertaa sillä olisi tehnyt tiukkaa päästä edes toiseksi. Tsekkilager on toki vain “ihan OK”, mutta tasoonsa nähden todella halpa. Urbockin ja Ayingerin hinta-laatusuhde taas ei yllättänyt edes Mietaata. Erdingerin Schneeweisse on olut jonka arvotin pruuvissa selkeästi aiempaa korkeammalle. Joku sanoo mauton, minä sanon elegantti. Jouluna jää kuitenkin ruokien varjoon, joten kannattaa nauttia erikseen esim. joulusaunan kanssa.

Top 5 “ei-jouluoluet”:

1. Lehe / Vasileostrovskaya Ravnodenstvie - Barrel Aged 4.4 / 5.49 € / 0.33 l 2. Swannay Barrel Aged Orkney Porter (Isle of Arran) 4.1 / 6.98 € / 0.33 l 3. Liefmans Goudenband 4.0 / 4.25 € / 0.33 l 4. Mallaskuun Pumpkin Ale 3.7 / 7.16 € / 0.33 l 5. Steamworks Pumpkin Ale 3.7 / 4.99 € / 0.33 l

Loistava Ravnodenstvie on ehkä vain parantunut tynnyrikypsytyksellä, ja Orkney Porterkin osuu joulupöytään melko täydellisesti. Goudenband puuttui pruuvista mutta on aiemmin jo huikeaksi todettu. Kun vielä tasavahvat kurpitsaoluetkin ovat melko jouluista kamaa ja niukasti top 5:n ulkopuolelle jäi Zeta Beerin savuolut, on syytä laittaa “ei-jouluoluet” lainausmerkkeihin. Moni ei pitänyt Mallaskuun kurpitsaoluesta läheskään yhtä paljoa kuin Steamworksista, mutta minulle tuo maistui. Hinta vain valitettavasti estää ostamasta, kun reilun kahden euron hintaerolla ei saa mitään lisää Kanadan serkkuun verratessa.

Top 5 “ei-jouluoluiden” hinta-laatu-suhde:

1. Liefmans Goudenband 0.31 p/€/l / 4.0 / 4.25 € / 0.33 l 2. Vakka-Suomen Prykmestar Schwarzbock 0.27 p/€/l / 2.7 / 4.98 € / 0.5 l 3. Lehe / Vasileostrovskaya Ravnodenstvie - Barrel Aged 0.26 p/€/l / 4.4 / 5.49 € / 0.33 l 4. Kimito American IPA 0.25 p/€/l / 3.7 / 4.93 € / 0.33 l 5. Steamworks Pumpkin Ale 0.24 p/€/l / 3.7 / 4.99 € / 0.33 l

Tällä puolella ei päästy aivan yhtä hyviin hinta-laatu-suhteisiin kuin toisella puolella. Goudenband olisi ollut vasta 11. paras jouluolut hinta-laatu-suhteeltaan. Itse asiassa keskivertolistoillakin nämä olisivat pärjänneet vähän heikosti, mutta ehkä sen ymmärtää kun jouluoluita on tarjolla sen verran paremmilla hinnoilla.

Minun silmiini Alkon joulukattaus näyttää tänäkin vuonna laadukkaalta ja nettikauppatilauksen tulen varmasti tekemään suoraan vanhempieni lähiAlkoon. Saapahan ainakin sen yhden kovan paketin.

[weddingwade3]

Tourism and travel facilities in Chigwell

Check out more on our website Private Homes For Rent For Weddings

Chigwell is a town located in the County of Essex in Eastern England. The civil parish and town of Chigwell has a great history that dates back to more than four hundred years. The town was once a rural agricultural settlement in London's suburbs however later it was greatly developed especially during the suburban development and growth of London during the twentieth century. Today the town of Chigwell stands among the England's prominent towns and is now a part of the great capital city of London. The town of Chigwell was the suburban town of London until the recent past however it was later included in the city and now it uses the same area code (020) as the London City. The town of Chigwell is served by two London Underground Stations which are a great source of transportation. The people living in the town of Chigwell belong to various modern professions. The road links and transportation facilities in the town are also great. The Chigwell private car hire provide direct transfers to all major airports of London 24 hours a day.

The airport cabs in Chigwell run to all domestic and international airports serving London. The international airports of London which include Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City, London Luton and London Southend airports have special dedicated taxi ranks offering direct transfers to the town and parish of Chigwell at the most affordable rates. The Chigwell taxis for local as well as airport transfers include luxury estate saloons as well as executive vans which are also wheelchair accessible for the convenience of transferring disabled travelers to different destinations across the world. The limousine services in Chigwell include a complete variety of luxury cars which can be hired as self driven or chauffeur driven vehicles. The Chigwell car hire companies offer the most affordable and budget friendly rates for dedicated transfers to and from all parts of London. They also provide special event services for weddings, parties, night on the town tours and many other special events at competitive prices. The tourists of London choose Chigwell as their point of stay because of the cost effective accommodations found in the town.

The hotels, inns, break & breakfast and guest houses provide some of the most economical accommodations of all. Staying at a hotel in Central London would cost triple as that of booking a hotel in the town of Chigwell. The distance from Chigwell town to Charring Cross is only twelve miles therefore all the central London's attractions are within reach from the town of Chigwell. There is a huge list of hotels and cheap accommodations in and around the town of Chigwell for the tourists to choose from however the most commonly known include but are not limited to Menzies Prince Regent, Premier Inn Waltham Abbey, Premier Inn Loughton Buckhurst, The Gate House, Holiday Inn Express, Packfords Hotel, The Orchid Bed and Breakfast House, Sir Alfred Hitchcock Hotel, Aberdeen Guest House, Waltham Abbey Marriott Hotel, The Blue Boar, Arran Guest House, Forest Lodge Motel, St. Georgio Hotel and many more. All these hotels offer 24/7 taxis in Chigwell services for your local and airport transfer services at most convenient and cost effective prices.

The Chigwell taxis for local as well as airport transfers include luxury estate saloons as well as executive vans. All the hotels offer 24/7 taxis in Chigwell services for your local and airport transfer services.

Related Estate Weddings And Events Articles

Source Here: Tourism and travel facilities in Chigwell

[scotianostra]

On July 29th 1567 King James VI was crowned King of Scots at Stirling.

Mary Queen of Scot’s son was crowned only a few days after she herself was forced to abdicate, which I covered this on July 24th, more on her and James’s faither later.

James was born into a political cauldron on June 19th 1566, in Edinburgh Castle and, as a firstborn son, he automatically became Duke of Rothesay, Prince, and Grand Lieutenant of Scotland. He was baptised in a Catholic ceremony and received the name of Charles James. Elizabeth I, as godmother in absentia, sent a significant amount of gold to Edinburgh as a gift for the newborn’s baptism. It was not unusual for monarchs to use another given name for their term on the throne.

When he was only eight months old, Lord Darnley, his father, was assassinated at Kirk o‘ Field on February 10, 1567. After the death of her husband, Mary married for a third time with James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who was suspected of being the architect of Lord Darnley’s assassination.

His uncle, James Stuart, Earl of Moray, ruled in his place and became first of 4 regents, two were assassinated, a third died after a short illness, some historians point to poisoning, others say natural causes, the fourth and last of his Regents lost his head after being found guilty of playing a part in Darnley’s murder, it wasn’t a job with prospects and you wouldn’t be relying on collecting a pension from it.

From that moment onwards, the power, at least in theory, was held by the king himself rather than by a regent.

Nonetheless, James VI of Scotland did not reign directly: he relied on the advice of his closest courtiers, such as his cousin Esmé Steward, Duke of Lennox, and James Stuart, who received the title of Earl of Arran for his testimony against Morton. Since Lennox was Catholic, and Arran favoured episcopalism, the Scottish Presbyterian lords did not like the government. During the Ruthven Raid of 1582, some Presbyterian nobles, led by William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, captured James and held him captive for almost a year in Ruthven Castle (now known as Huntingtower Castle), in Perthshire. Arran was also held captive while Lennox was forced into exile in France. In 1583, the king and Arran managed to escape: Gowrie was executed whilst the rebels were forced to flee to England. The Scottish Parliament, which was loyal to the king, passed the Black Acts, which placed the Church of Scotland under the king’s control.

The acts were extremely popular but the clergy was opposed to them and denounced the king. In fact, the church was trying to keep James’ influence under control before he became powerful and bold enough to attack Presbyterianism, in the end no attack was made.

In 1586, thanks to the Treaty of Berwick, James VI and Elizabeth I became allies. James decided to continue to support the virgin queen of England, since, as a descendant of Margaret Tudor, he was a potential successor to her crown. Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, feared that the English crown would fall under the sovereignty of the Stuarts. To prevent this, he excluded Margaret and her descendants from the line of succession in his will. Nonetheless, since they were Elizabeth’s closest relatives, both Mary and James were both serious contenders for the Crown of England.

There is so much more about James to read, I have covered parts here and their in the past, in particular his persecution of women as witches. He did go on to be James I of England and during his troubled reign Guy Fawkes attempted to blow him, and his Parliament up.

James did gain some favour in both Scotland and England by marrying a protestant Princess, Anne of Denmark, they had 7 children, 4 of whom died in infancy, their son Charles became King and was of course executed.

James died in 1625 aged 58 and is buried at Westminster Abbey.

[scotianostra]

On October 16th 1516, Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home and his brother William were executed in Edinburgh.

It's fair to say that those men who held the title Duke of Albany, have been involved in some of the most troublesome intrigue in our long history, the first one, a ruthless politician, was brother of King Robert III and was widely regarded as having caused the murder of his nephew, the Duke of Rothesay, this in turn forced the King to send the future James I to France in 1406, but was captured by pirates and "sold" to the English and held for 18 years, his ambitious uncle ruled as King in all but name until his death in 1420, when the next his son Murdoch, took over as Duke and regent, James I was eventually released in 1425 and Murdoch inevitably lost his head after being found guilty of treason.

Jump forward about 90 years and just after James IV died at Flodden, John Stewart, the latest Duke of Albany took over as Regent to James V was another of the boy Kings, I mentioned in my post earlier about James II.

Lord Home led his horsemen were part of the Scottish force that fought at Flodden, and was one of the few successful charges of that day, his men defeated the right wing of the English army, it's a pity other tactics went horribly wrong. As the battle progressed and the Scots were being slaughtered Lord Home fled the field, he did however stay on in Northumbria and attempted, unsuccessfully to to recapture the taken Scottish artillery some days later.

This story seems to be more about two men who disliked each other than anything else.

Although accepting Albany as Regent things started to go sour when the two had a meeting at Dumbarton Castle, where legend has it, Albany joked about Lord Home's small stature, quoting 'minuit praesentia famam' meaning 'the appearance doesn't live up to report.' Their relationship deteriorated and it seems Home tried to garner influence in England, possibly hoping to seek refuge there, sensing things were not going to end well with the new Regent.

In September 1515 Albany forcibly took Hume Castle, and ordered Home to meet him later that year at the Collegiate Church at Dunglass, where he was arrested and imprisoned at Edinburgh Castle. The keeper of the castle at the time was the Earl of Arran and Home's Brother in Law. Home persuaded Arran to escape with him and take up arms against Albany, they joined another rebel, the Earl of Angus in the Borders.

Moving North they attacked Glasgow capturing ammunition and throwing it down a well, they then headed east and to Dunbar, attacking the castle there and heading south again captured the Chief Herald, the Lord Lyon King of Arms at Coldstream holding him ransom for his mother who was a prisoner of one of Albany's lieutenants.

After offering a pardon, Albany invited Home and his brother William to Holyroodhouse, where he promptly arrested the pair, imprisoning then on the fortified island of Inchgarvie on The Firth of Forth.

Initially they were accused of the trumped charges of the murder of James IV at Flodden, then of failing to prevent English re-fortification at Norham Castle after the battle.

Finally he and William were charged with rebellion against Albany and beheaded, and their heads displayed on the gable of Edinburgh Tolbooth.

In the mid 1520's Albany was overthrown from the Scottish regency, and lived mainly in France until his death in 1536.

The pic is model of the Old Tolbooth exhibited in Edinburgh's Huntly House Museum. The execution platform can be seen projecting from the building. The second pic is a painting by Scottish artist Henry G. Duguid of the Tolbooth and St Giles.

[scotianostra]

Marie Of Lorraine, also called Mary Of Guise/ Marie De Lorraine, or De Guise was born on November. 22nd, 1515 at Bar-le-Duc, Lorraine, France.

I cover Marie three or four times a year, but this time I shall post about her palace at 533 Castlehill on the Royal Mile.

Born in 1515, at the age of 11 Marie joined a convent. Her stay was relatively brief because her uncle, the Duke of Lorraine, took her into the French court where she matured into a tall, attractive, intelligent woman with auburn hair and grey eyes and with a ‘charming manner’. In 1534 she entered the first of her two relatively short marriages: to the Duke of Longueville with whom she bore 2 sons. Marie was widowed on the death of her husband in 1537. With the encouragement of the French king, Francis I,  Marie was betrothed to James V, and arrived in St Andrews to be married in the summer of 1538 whence followed 40 days of extravagant celebrations in honour of the occasion. She made her formal entry into the city of Edinburgh later in the year. As consort, Marie was guaranteed life-long rights (‘jointure’) to the Palace of Falkland, Stirling Castle, Linlithgow Palace, and other properties, together with substantial land holdings. By 1541 Marie had borne two sons, both of whom died in that year. In 1542, a daughter was born, the future Mary Queen of Scots: not the distant future given that her father died 6 days after her birth and the infant Mary thus became queen.

The Earl of Arran was appointed regent and governed during the turbulent years which followed, including the ‘rough wooing’ when an English invasion sought to force the Scots into accepting a marriage between Mary and Edward VI. Marie supported Arran and helped to maintain the effective alliance with France which eventually led to the withdrawal of the English army. In 1548, during the siege of Haddington, then occupied by an English garrison, Marie and the Scottish government signed the Treaty of Haddington at St Mary’s Abbey in which Mary was betrothed to the French Dauphin. In 1550/51 Marie travelled to France to complete the betrothal arrangements, among other things. On her return to Scotland, she set machinery in motion to replace Arran, buying  him off with a French dukedom, and so became Queen Regent in 1554. Her regency lasted until her death at the age of 44 in 1560.

It is thought that Marie spent much of her time in residence at Blyth’s Close off Castle Hill, in the period before her regency 1543-1554. Blyth’s Close no longer exists, having been demolished around 1846 to make way for New College and the Assembly Hall. Its location on the north side of the High Street was roughly opposite the Lawnmarket and, in the mid -16th century, Marie’s house would have been a large, imposing property with gardens and orchards laid out on the slope down to the Norloch. The view to the north would have been open and expansive. In the 1820s and 30s the buildings in the close were in a dilapidated, crumbling state and the High Street was by then crowded with the high tenement buildings with which we are familiar today. Victorian antiquarians took a great  interest in old Edinburgh and one among them, Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, concerned about the state of the increasingly ruinous Queen Regent’s house, bought all salvageable fixtures and fittings from the tenants.

His collection included four carved oak roundels which had formed part of what had been a rich and colourful renaissance décor. By this time the roundels, having been moved from their original positions as ceiling or wall mounts, reapplied elsewhere and whitewashed over several times, had lost almost all trace of their original colours, but the carved coats of arms were (and still are) clear. Sharpe died in 1831 and his huge collection was auctioned off. Much was acquired by the National Museum, but not the roundels. These were purchased by the 2nd Duke of Sutherland. The duke seems to have been toying with the idea of using them as part of the interior décor of Dunrobin Castle. Apparently, they were never put on display in the castle and simply stored away. They finally came to light in a Dunrobin Castle attic sale in 2021, when Dr Groundwater was able to bid for them on behalf of the National Museum of Scotland. Her success cost around £19 000!

The roundels have been restored and are due to be going on display in The Kingdom of the Scots area in The National Museum of Scotland, I'm unsure if they have been put out as yet, maybe a wee trip to the museum is in hand to see, and get some pics.

As I said 533 Castlehill was demolished in 1861 to make way for the Free Church General Assembly Hall. Before demolition, portions of a beautifully painted ceiling from the palace were rescued and preserved. It's hard to imagine how the Palce looked, we have some drawings and Canmore have photos of some of the ceiling art, I shall post a link to, so you can look att more photos, the pioneering photographer duo, Hill and Adamson took a photo, as you can see in the stereoscope photos. The doorway is a remnant of the building. The last two photos are my own, taken just a week a go at r New College.

[scotianostra]

James V of Scotland was born on 10th April 1512.

James was son of King James IV and his queen Margaret Tudor, a daughter of Henry VII of England, and was the only legitimate child of James IV to survive infancy, it was through this line that Mary Queen of Scots based her claim to the throne of England, and indeed her son, who took the throne after Elizabeth died.

James was born at Linlithgow Palace and baptised on April 11th, receiving the titles Duke of Rothesay and Prince and Grand Steward of Scotland. He became king at just seventeen months old when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field on 9th September 1513. James was “crowned” in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on 21st September 1513.

During his childhood, like so many of the Stewart monarchs, the country was ruled by regents, first by his mother, until she remarried the following year, and then by John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, who was next in line to the throne after James and his younger brother, the posthumously-born Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross.

Other regents included Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, a member of the Council of Regency who was also bestowed as Regent of Arran. Queen Margaret´s tempestuous private life complicated her son´s childhood, and after she divorced her second husband, Archibald Douglas 6th Earl of Angus, the Earl kidnapped young James. For over two years he held him as a virtual prisoner, showering him with gifts and introducing him to a round of unsuitable pleasures. James loathed him and finally managed to escape in 1528 and assumed the reins of government himself.

James´ personal rule began by savagely pursuing his opponents and he hounded the Earl of Angus out of Scotland. James combined suspicion of nobles with a popular touch, travelling anonymously among Scottish people as the ´Gudeman o´Ballengeich´. John Knox described him thus: ´he was called of some, a good poor man´s king; of others he was termed a murderer of the nobility, and one that had decreed their whole destruction´.

A highly strung, intelligent man who alternated between black depression and bouts of feverish energy, James had already fathered at least nine illegitimate children by a series of mistresses by the time a marriage was arranged for him.

He married Madeleine, daughter of Francois I of France, and the young couple returned to Scotland in May 1537. The Princess was a fragile woman, and the Scottish climate did not agree with her she died in her husband’s arms on 7th July 1537, seven weeks after her arrival in Edinburgh.

In governing, James increased his income by tightening control over royal estates and from the profits of justice, customs and feudal rights. He also gave his illegitimate sons lucrative benefices, diverting substantial church wealth into his coffers. James spent a large amount of his wealth on building work at Stirling Castle, Falkland Palace, Linlithgow Palace and Holyrood and built up a collection of tapestries from those inherited from his father.

In 1538 he married another French lady, the widowed Mary of Guise, tall, well-built and already the mother of two sons. She had two more sons by James but they both died in infancy within hours of each other in 1541. The death of the Kings’ mother in 1541 removed any incentive for peace with England, and war broke out.

Initially the Scots won a victory at the Battle of Haddon Rig in August 1542. The Imperial ambassador in London, Eustace Chapuys, wrote on 2nd October that the Scottish ambassadors ruled out a conciliatory meeting between James and Henry VIII in England until the pregnant Mary of Guise delivered her child. Henry would not accept this condition and mobilised his army north.

James was with his army at Lauder on 31 October 1542. Although he hoped to invade England, his nobles were reluctant. He returned to Edinburgh on the way writing a letter in French to his wife from Falahill mentioning he had three days of illness.

Next month his army suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss, a loss caused by infighting within the nobles on who was in command.

He took ill shortly after this, on 6th December; by some accounts this was a nervous collapse caused by the defeat, although some historians consider that it may just have been an ordinary fever. Whatever the cause of his illness, he was on his deathbed at Falkland Palace when his only surviving legitimate child, a girl, was born.

Sir George Douglas of Pittendreich brought the news of the king´s death to Berwick. He said James died at midnight on Thursday 15 December; the king was talking but delirious and spoke no "wise words." Having said that, history reports he uttered the following; 'It cam' wi' a lass, and it will gang wi' a lass,' meaning that whilst the Stewarts came to power through marrying a princess, the Stewart line would end with his daughter as queen. Of course this wasn’t true so I wonder to myself at times why such importance seems to have been placed on his words through the centuries.

He was buried at Holyrood Abbey alongside his first wife Madeleine and his two sons. The tomb was probably destroyed during the Rough Wooing in 1544, they were again “violated” at the end of James VII reign when the people of Edinburgh rioted. Queen Victoria arranged for the vault to be repaired.

There was another story regarding the grave of James V that happened in 1683, read about that on the great web pages of Dr Mark Jardine here https://drmarkjardine.wordpress.com/.../the-tomb-of.../

[scotianostra]

July 1st 1543 saw the Treaty of Greenwich, between Henry VIII and Earl of Arran, Regent of Scotland, agreeing betrothal of Mary Queen of Scots and Henry’s son Edward Prince of Wales

Following the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss the previous year, England and Scotland signed the treaty of Greenwich on 1st July, 1543. Coming at a time of frequent conflict between the countries, a key clause of the treaties was that Mary Queen of Scots, then aged one, was betrothed to Prince Edward Tudor, then aged five.

At this time protestant England found itself in a tactically precarious position. The Auld Alliance between Scotland and France meant that England was surrounded by enemies. A particular concern was that the French could use Scotland as a base to launch an invasion of England from the north. Both England and France viewed marriage of a member of their royal family to the recently born Queen Mary as a vital diplomatic, political and tactical tool, and as such made moves to try and form a treaty to do so. Even at 6 months old, Mary was a politic pawn.

Going back to Solway Moss, the death toll at the battle itself was not especially high, the English captured 1200 Scottish soldiers, including important figures such as Earls, Lords, and 500 landowners and noblemen, this gave them a big bargaining chip. With a substantial swathe of the country’s nobility imprisoned in the Tower of London and the Scottish military out fought on the battlefield, the Scottish representative, the Earl of Arran, was forced into accepting the terms of the treaties of Greenwich.

The Scottish Parliament ultimately cancelled the treaty in December 1543, with the English insistence that Scotland dissolve the Auld Alliance having caused particular anger. Henry’s retaliation was shockingly brutal, even by the standards already established in the long conflict between England and Scotland. English armies were sent north with the only intention being for them to cause destruction and fear until the Scottish Parliament agreed to the marriage between Mary and Edward. Henry’s orders to his troops were clear: “…Put all to fyre and swoorde, burne Edinborough towne, so rased and defaced when you have sacked and gotten what ye can of it, as there may remayn forever a perpetual memory of the vengeaunce of God lightened upon them for their faulsehode and disloyailtye.”

For two years English armies, under the command of the Earl of Hertford, waged a campaign of destruction and terror in Scotland, destroying whole towns such as Dunbar and Leith. Henry died in 1547, but the campaign continued under the leadership of the regent, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. The Scots suffered a particularly devastating defeat at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, when a bombardment from English artillery, longbow men and naval forces led to a shocking death toll, and highlighted the arrival of modern military techniques to the British Isles.

George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly is attributed as saying “I lyke not thys wooyng.” giving us the term we know today for the period “The Rough Wooing” it was popularised many years later by Sir Walter Scott

Ultimately, Mary’s mother secured her daughter’s safe escape to France, where it was agreed she would marry the Dauphin Francis, the son of the French king. Despite the bloody retaliation for breaking them, the treaty of Greenwich had failed to achieve their main aim. The official treaty for this will be covered in a post next Wednesday.

The picture is a beautiful 19th century bust of Mary Queen of Scots by French sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse and is in The San Francisco, de Young Museums’ Legion of Honor Gallery.