#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

[james-vi-stan-blog]

What do you think was James‘ opinion of his mother Mary Queen of Scots?

Oh this is a question that I CAN ramble about at length. Even though the short answer is "we don't know because James was very cagey about it", I CAN talk about all the different inputs that might lead James to ambivalent and shifting feelings.

Get ready for 2000+ words about this, tw 17th century misogyny, SA/forced marriage, Esmé Stewart, it's real rancid

1. James's tutors attempted to brainwash him and turn him against Mary

For his first twelve years, James was locked up in Stirling Castle, firmly under the control of the Protestant Confederate Lords who were engaged in a bloody civil war against Mary QOS. (Two out of three of infant James's assassinated regents were killed by the pro-Mary faction.) Meanwhile, James was being raised austerely by strict Presbyterian tutors such as George Buchanan, who were not only trying to turn him into a sober Protestant defender of the faith and a contractual monarch who would be obedient to the Kirk, but were also filling his brain constantly with the image of Mary as a Catholic whore, an adulteress with Bothwell, the murderer of James's father Darnley, and a general example of why women should not be given authority over men.

In a time of profound patriarchy, the murder of one's father is unforgivable. From what I have read, I get the impression that James believed she was involved through most of his young life. However, we're going to come back to that later.

2. Mary "abandoned" James.

It's abundantly evident from James's behavior and own writings about his experiences and feelings that James felt himself utterly alone in his childhood. The last time he saw his mother was at the age of 15 months, April 1567, just before Mary married Bothwell (and it is debated to this day if Mary was forced or if she was a co-conspirator; she herself claimed that she consented). Then followed the civil war, Mary's flight to England, and imprisonment.

It's extremely natural and normal for a child to feel abandonment if his parents are absent. But if she murdered Darnley (not proven), chose to leave you to remarry (not proven), and took up arms against YOU, the king (it was the other way around), I mean, that's some abandonment. It would be very easy for a young James in Stirling to blame all his loneliness, and his suffering at Buchanan's hands, on Mary.

3. For the entirety of their lives, James was in a delicate political situation between Mary and Elizabeth.

James's failure to do anything major to rescue Mary from Elizabeth 1568-1587, or to seriously stop her execution, or to seek revenge for the execution afterwards, can be read in a simplified manner to be aligning with Elizabeth over Mary in order to secure his succession to the English throne. And it was that, but it's not that simple.

Mary was constantly scheming to escape from imprisonment and return to Scotland and recover her throne (or to take the English throne!) If James exerted himself to rescue her, he would be introducing a rival for his own position! Furthermore, Mary was Catholic and while James did not become the good Presbyterian that was hoped, he had a life-long conception of himself as a defender of Protestantism, and a herald of a true, moderate way between disparate Protestant factions. (King James Version and all that.)

However... it is absolutely not the case that James happily aligned with Elizabeth. James generally pursued a policy of appeasement to Elizabeth, especially after 1586, in exchange for peace, financial support, and, hopefully, the English throne. However, James resented having to beg from Elizabeth. And Elizabeth had long been involved in many schemes against James, such as the Ruthven Raid, the armed march against James to oust Arran, etc. James pragmatically decides to stay on good terms with his godmother, but this is under duress as the relatively impoverished king of a smaller nation that, you know, doesn't want to go to war with England.

Don't forget James's phenomenally stupid move of backing the Essex Rebellion. He even quietly endorsed an assassination plot against Elizabeth. James was not happily and comfortably on her side.

4. Could the religious issue ever be overcome?

So James was an ardent Protestant, Mary an ardent Catholic. In the 16th century this is a huge barrier and life-or-death issue that people regularly shed massive amounts of blood over. So this might create an irreconcilable breach between James and Mary. However...

James was, actually, relatively pro-tolerance. For some reason I'm incompetent today and can't find the exact quote for the life of me, but James once said that, while he would defend the Protestant faith and it was the king's duty to order the Church, that the sword (coercion) should never figure into matters of private conscience.

Esmé Stewart, Duke of Lennox, arrived in Scotland a Catholic, after all. And, with Esmé's arrival and that breath of continental fresh air, James rebelled against pretty much all Buchanan's teachings, developing his philosophy of absolutism and divine right, etc. As a consequence of Esmé's ascent as Lennox, the board was set for the 1580s to be dominated by a struggle between anti-Lennox factions (Protestant, pro-English, anti-French and Catholic) and... pro-James factions (heavily populated by Catholic Scottish lords).

Esmé's supremacy was broken by the Ruthven Raid, the kidnapping of teenage James by Protestant lords backed by Elizabeth. (Mary, imprisoned in England, was horrified by this turn of events and wrote frantic letters worrying about James's safety.) This was a terrifying, traumatic, and humiliating experience for James, and he bore a serious grudge over it. He escaped with the help of key, largely Catholic allies, and ruled as he pleased surrounded by these allies from 1583-1586. I think that this experience was really formative for James; ever since, he was highly willing to work with Catholics and could have great personal affection for individual Catholics. This was a great sin in England and led to the long association of the Stuarts with Catholicism (long before they became actual Catholics) -- and contributed to early historians' smearing of James.

We think of James as this persecutor of Catholics because of the Gunpowder Plot, but James really tried to take a middle way of toleration for Catholics until the overwhelming anti-Catholic sentiment in England (fueled by, you know, constant extremist Catholic assassination attempts) forced him to take a harder line stance.

5. The association.

During 1580s, Lennox's dominance, the Ruthven Raid, and the early part of James's freedom after the Raid, Mary and her supporters were pushing the idea of an association. Co-rule of Scotland between James and Mary, forgiveness for the civil war, and mother-son reconciliation. Their advisors, and James and Mary themselves, wrote back and forth about this extensively -- with sweet words and promises to each other, and doubt and schemes within their own factions.

Would James have ever consented to the association? I don't think it likely. Really, throw away the rich English crown, potentially go to war with England, invite France or Spain to march its armies across the island and potentially end up a client state? This doesn't seem in-character for peace-loving, but also politically savvy, resource-hungry, and also wildly misogynist James. James had this self-image as a divinely appointed king and also a King Arthur, destined to unite Britannia. Would he throw that all away for... what, lowering his own prestige and power?

And yet.

James had already thrown away much of the Presbyterian programming of his childhood. Could he go a step further?

What if... Esmé Stewart (who was in correspondence with Mary) did back the association and lived? What if James's period of independence surrounded by his Catholic lords had continued, or when Arran was ousted, he did not decide to forgive (or "forgive") the Raiders and accede to Elizabeth's demands?

6. Longing for family.

I've rambled before about how James spent his whole life searching for love, especially familial love. Esmé Stewart was the first taste of such love, and if Esmé Stewart was pro-Mary... I think it's possible that Esmé could have softened James to Mary.

Historians characterize James and Mary's treatment of each other as cold and political. But remember, these are monarchs. They were previously at war with each other (at least in name). Their positions are both tenuous; James is constantly riding waves of rebellion as he tries to tame the Scottish court, and Mary is in really tight circumstances in her imprisonment. They haven't seen each other since James was 1 year old, so any actual affection between them is a mere wisp of a memory, and probably not even a memory for James.

But, while James was carefully and coldly maneuvering... could he have felt longing? Regret? Yes, I think so. He forever lamented his orphan-like status, the burden of being a cradle king. He was desperate for family, even if he really sucked at forming it sometimes. Even though James had a very poor opinion of women in general, he did care about Anna of Denmark, and his later-life fondness for Mary and Katherine Villiers shows that he did have some longing for female love in his life.

I think it's totally in-character for James to have wished for things to be different at the same time he was holding Mary at arm's length.

7. Why didn't James care more about Mary's execution?

James never made any attempt to rescue his mother. And loads of historians have analyzed James's response to Mary's trial and execution. While James protested and sent an angry letter to Elizabeth, he basically did not stand in the way.

The consensus, as I understand it, is that James's objections to Mary's execution probably had more to do with his discomfort (shared by Elizabeth!) with a foreign monarch executing an anointed queen. He's a divine-right king, after all.

But also, what could James do? Like I said in #5, go to war? Invite Spain to invade Great Britain? It's a terrible political decision. And James was a political creature; his survival to this point depended on it. I don't think James really could do anything.

8. The casket letters.

So remember how James was raised to believe that Mary was responsible for Darnley's death? The casket letters, letters allegedly showing Mary and Bothwell's scheme to murder Darnley, featured heavily in a show trial in England which Elizabeth and her councilors intended to damage Mary's reputation (without conclusively proving she murdered Darnley). Mary staunchly maintained they were forgeries.

In 1584, right in the middle of that period of James's freedom surrounded by Catholic allies, James destroyed the originals, so we now have nothing to analyze to decide forgery or not-forgery.

But why did James destroy them?

Did he think they were authentic and proved Mary's guilt -- and he destroyed them to protect his mother's reputation and honor? Was this a protective or reconciliatory move of son towards mother in this period when talk of the association was flying around?

Did he think they were forgeries, and he destroyed them to prevent Mary from being exonerated, to make sure that a cloud of ambiguous guilt always hung over Mary, to weaken her position and prevent her from returning to threaten his throne?

By the age of 18, what did James think about Mary's guilt?

It's a great mystery. We don't know.

9. Mary's monument.

After James became King of England, in 1611 he had Mary reburied in Westminster Abbey, right opposite Elizabeth, with a monument of the same style and equal splendor.

Why did he do this? We also don't know. Again, a lot of historians think this has more to do with James's respect for monarchy, not his mother, or his desire to further legitimize his line (situating Mary, and therefore himself, as a Tudor heir -- that's why James is buried in the Henry VII vault of all places).

But, it's still a striking symbolic action. It's a lot like the weird co-burial of Elizabeth and Mary I, where after all this strife, rivalry, and politicking, these rulers are enshrined together. What was James saying with this action? Was he trying to reconcile his mother and godmother? Family unity and amity in death? Who knows?

10. tl;dr nobody knows

So you see, this is another fascinating ambiguity about James. You can imagine him as this totally cold, resentful, purely political creature who either didn't care or totally hated Mary (a la the garbage Gunpowder, Treason & Plot (2004)). You can imagine him as a sad and hurt child who carries the wound of maternal abandonment his entire life. And I can even imagine a what-if where European history went massively differently if Esmé Stewart had lived and decided to back Mary.

It's a really fascinating case study on how love, kinship, and affiliation are really pressured and tainted by power. James was doomed never to have a normal relationship with his mother. The cradle crown is a curse that would wreck all of his relationships from infancy to death.

[weavingthetapestry]

9th September 1543- Coronation of Mary I of Scotland

On 9th September 1543, the coronation of Mary I of Scotland took place in the Chapel Royal of Stirling Castle. An infant of barely nine months, she had been recognised as the kingdom’s next monarch at just six days old, after the premature death of her father King James V, leaving no other legitimate heirs of his body. She had been described as queen of Scotland in most official government documents since, but her official coronation was preceded by nine months of political intrigue and tension, culminating in a double-edged triumph for the faction led by her mother, Mary of Guise, and Cardinal Beaton.

The little queen had been resident in Stirling for just over a month. At the end of July 1543, her mother, the dowager queen Mary of Guise, supported by Cardinal Beaton along with the Earls of Huntly, Argyll, Lennox, Bothwell, Sutherland, Menteith, lords Erskine, Ruthven, Fleming, Crichton, Drummond, Lisle, Hume, the bishops of Moray, Orkney, Galloway, Dunblane, and several thousand others, had finally succeeded in removing her from her birthplace in the palace of Linlithgow. This was achieved in the face of opposition from the Governor of Scotland, James Hamilton, Earl of Arran. Arran was the infant queen’s 27 year old cousin and the official head of the Scottish government as regent and the next in line to the throne. As he was then pursuing a pro-English policy, and also had reason to view both the dowager queen and Cardinal Beaton as rivals, in early 1543 he had had the Cardinal arrested and forbade Mary of Guise to leave Linlithgow for the greater protection of Stirling. However, following the Cardinal’s escape and the return of the Earl of Lennox from France in 1543, the opponents of the Governor (or at least the opponents of his policy in favour of an alliance with England) gathered an army and marched on Linlithgow. After several days of stalemate and negotiation, with the army sitting outside the palace walls, Arran had been forced to climb down and allow the little queen and her mother to leave.

The sudden flitting of the queen was an even greater source of displeasure to Henry VIII of England when he heard of it, as the English king had not only wished to marry her to his son the Prince of Wales, but had also wanted the queen to be kept in England until the marriage could take place. This would have served as a useful means of keeping the Scots in check, and anyway, despite their promises, he certainly did not trust her French mother to follow through with the English marriage, much less the wily pro-French and militantly Catholic Cardinal Beaton. Linlithgow would have suited Henry better as then there was at least a chance that one of the Scottish nobles he had attempted to suborn, or even an English invasion, would have been able to abduct the young queen from the beautiful, yet low-lying and relatively unprotected lochside palace. Stirling Castle was another matter entirely: perched on its high rock with a commanding view of the surrounding country, its Renaissance embellishments had not diminished its status as a formidable fortress, the veteran of many bitter Anglo-Scottish conflicts. Nevertheless, Henry VIII could live in hope. The Treaty of Greenwich might yet be ratified to his satisfaction, and the Scottish nobles who favoured alliance with the English king, whether for political or religious reasons, had managed to bring the Governor Arran round to his point of view, which lent their policy official authority.

(An engraving of the Earl of Arran in his later years,  and probably his most famous picture, which tends to obscure the age he was when he became Regent. Not my picture)

But any plan which rested on the consistent cooperation of the chronically indecisive Governor Arran could hardly be called secure. The Governor was already under pressure from his half-brother John Hamilton, Abbot of Paisley, an ardent Catholic who had recently returned from abroad and set about putting the fear of god into his pliable younger sibling over Arran’s recent support of Protestantism. Meanwhile the mood of the country was also shifting, and the English alliance was becoming increasingly unpopular, not least due to the disturbing effects of religious unrest in Scotland and Henry VIII’s not so thinly veiled intimidation tactics. Arran’s allies soon had reason to become wary of his behaviour and watched his movements closely. On 1st September 1543, the English Ambassador Sir Ralph Sadler wrote to his king and said of the Governor that, “he abides not long in one mind, and Sir George Douglas tells me that he much fears the Governor’s revolt, now that things grow to extremity, and that there is a great likelihood that this division will not be ended nor exterminated but by the sword. The Governor is so afraid, of so weak spirit, and faint hearted, that (...) he fears he will never abide the extremity of it, but will rather slip from them and beastly put himself into the hands of his enemies, to his own utter confusion.”

The Earl of Arran’s anxiety was perhaps understandable. He might have feared for his position as governor if the Stirling lords decided to choose a different governor at the coronation, as the event could serve as a major political coup for Cardinal Beaton and the dowager queen. Or perhaps it was the presence of the Earl of Lennox at Stirling which disturbed Arran as Lennox had a rival claim to be next in line to the throne. Perhaps, indeed, as Marcus Merriman argues, Arran was acting with uncharacteristic farsightedness, seeing that the collapse of the English marriage was inevitable almost immediately after the queen’s removal to Stirling, and yet delaying his defection long enough to put off English invasion until the harvest had been brought in and the best time for campaigning had passed. Although Arran ratified the Treaty of Greenwich which promised Queen Mary’s hand to Henry VIII’s son on 25th August 1543, this was to be the high watermark of his active support for the English alliance. Despite the English king’s last-ditch offer of a marriage between his daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and Arran’s son, and despite the careful watch set by his former allies and the blandishments of his own wife Margaret Douglas, Arran changed sides in the first week of September. On Monday 3rd September, he slipped away to Blackness Castle on the Forth, claiming that his wife was in labour there. But the next morning Arran departed from the castle again, leaving Margaret weeping tears of rage at his inconstancy, and he soon covered the ten miles or so to Lord Livingston’s residence at Callendar House, on the edge of Falkirk. There he met with the wily Cardinal Beaton and the Earl of Moray (the infant queen’s uncle), and after long discussion accompanied them back to Stirling that night. 

(An eighteenth century copy of a portrait of David Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews and Cardinal. Not my picture)

With the Governor’s ‘revolt’ accomplished, there was much to be discussed between Arran and his new, if not exactly beloved, allies. Arrangements had to be made for the secure keeping of the queen’s person during her time at Stirling, and also for the bairn’s coronation which was set for the coming Sunday, the 9th of September. Letters were sent to those recalcitrant Scottish nobles who- whether for reasons of religion, sound policy, or personal gain- had favoured the English marriage, asking them to attend the coronation. And there was spiritual work to be done as well: the lords at Stirling having agreed that Arran was “accurst” , it was determined that he should do penance for his previous flirtation with Protestantism. This was performed on Saturday the 8th of September in Stirling Greyfriars, when the earls of Bothwell and Argyll held the ‘towel’ over the humbled Governor’s head as the Cardinal and other bishops solemnly absolved him of his sin.

The coronation was due to take place early the next day, and the inner close of Stirling Castle must have been a hub of activity that September morning. The Chapel Royal, in which the event was to be held, stood on the north side of the close, forming a quadrangle with the King’s Old Buildings to the west, the magnificent Great Hall constructed by James IV to the east, and the mint-new royal palace (begun by Queen Mary’s father James V and to be completed by her mother over the next few years) standing to the south. The Chapel itself stood a little to the south of the current chapel (built by Mary’s son James VI in 1594) which now occupies the spot. It had been founded by James IV in 1501 and would witness several royal christenings and other notable events over the course of its short history. Perhaps most poignantly, it had also been the site of the coronation of Mary’s father James V, almost thirty years earlier in September 1513. This was the so-called ‘Mourning Coronation’ and the king on that occasion had also been little more than an infant. Had anyone called to mind this other coronation thirty years later, they might also have realised that the 9th of September 1543 was itself a significant date, being the thirtieth anniversary of the disastrous Battle of Flodden. This battle had caused the death of the new queen’s grandfather King James IV (also the Earl of Moray’s father and Huntly’s grandfather), her uncle Alexander Stewart who was one of Cardinal Beaton’s predecessors as Archbishop of St Andrews, the grandfathers of the earls of Lennox and Argyll, the father of the Earl of Bothwell, and countless other Scots of all classes. If anyone noticed this singularly inauspicious date however, it does not seem that it was allowed to throw a sombre shadow over proceedings.

(The only view I could find of most of the Inner Close of Stirling Castle- James V’s palace is to the right, James IV’s Great Hall in the centre, and on the left can be seen parts of the current Chapel Royal, built in 1594 by Mary’s son James VI almost on the same site as the Chapel Royal where she was crowned. Not my picture.)

Not much is known about the details of the coronation itself, which took place around ten o’clock in the morning, once the assembled lords and ladies had filed into the Chapel Royal. The Treasurer’s Accounts are unusually silent about the occasion, though it was probably carried out with as much propriety and careful observance of etiquette as was possible given the circumstances. We do know that Cardinal Beaton presided over the ceremony, and that the Earl of Arran bore the Crown, the Earl of Lennox the sceptre, and the Earl of Argyll the sword. These precious royal items- now known as the Honours of Scotland and still to be seen in Edinburgh Castle- each had their own story. The sceptre and sword had been gifted to King James IV by two separate popes, while the crown was of dubious but likely ancient origin (give or take a few meltings) possibly stretching back to the days of Robert Bruce, and it had been refashioned as recently as 1540 on the orders of Mary’s father. A heavy crown for a bairn, it was probably held above her head. There is a tradition that the infant queen cried all through the ceremony but otherwise the coronation went off without a hitch. 

In terms of coronation festivities, it must be said that even when taking into account the natural bias of the English ambassador, and the fact that he was not at the coronation himself (being unable to stray far from his house in Edinburgh without fear of the mob), it is hard to disagree with his assertion that Queen Mary was crowned, “with such solemnity as they do use in this country, which is not very costly”. There were to be no ceremonial entries, no elaborate pageantry such as had been planned for the coronations of James V’s consorts in the 1530s. As with most other recent Scottish coronations, which had a funny little knack of coming at the worst possible moment to kings who had hardly reached knee height, simple dignity was probably the order of the day. The late-sixteenth century writer Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie does state that the guests retired after the coronation and occupied themselves in dancing and merry-making however, so possibly there was more cheer than the records indicate. 

There was also no escaping from the harsh reality of the political situation. This coronation had been a political triumph for Cardinal Beaton and Mary of Guise and their supporters, but there were notable absences, not least the Earls of Glencairn, Cassilis and Angus, Lord Maxwell and the other lords still considered to be of the ‘English’ party. And there would have to be a reckoning with the king of England as well, especially after the Treaty of Greenwich was finally overturned by the Scottish parliament in December 1543. The events of 1543 would lead to the devastating period of Anglo-Scottish warfare which is nicknamed ‘the Rough Wooing’, and as a result of this, within five years of her coronation, the Queen of Scots was sent away from her kingdom to the safety of France. She would not return for thirteen years.

(Mary I in childhood, as painted by Clouet. Not my picture)

Selected references:

Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland

“Acts of the lords of council in public affairs, 1501-1554: Selections from the Acta dominorum concilii”, ed. R.K. Hannay

“Scottish Correspondence of Mary of Lorraine”, ed. Annie Dunlop

“Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic of the Reign of Henry VIII”, Volumes 17 and 18, ed. James Gairdner and R. H Brodie.

“The Hamilton Papers”, Vol. II, ed. Joseph Bain

The various histories of John Leslie, George Buchanan, Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie and John Knox- all of which can be found online but as only Lindsay was really useful, forgive me for not citing them properly here

“Mary of Guise”, by Rosalind Marshall

“Mary Queen of Scots”, by Antonia Fraser

“The Rough Wooing”, by Marcus Merriman

“Glory and Honour”, by Andrea Thomas

“Life of Mary Queen of Scots”, by Agnes Strickland (I hate admitting it but I do have to credit her)

And others

[the-busy-ghost]

Certain historical writers, talking about a famous woman from the past: She was power-hungry, conniving, and selfishly desired wealth and influence

Me, internally: Ok and the scheming kings and noblemen we were just talking about... so they weren’t??

[frostedarsenic]

House Targaryen in Returning in Fire and Blood

In this world, there are many Targaryens, but they are far subtler than King Aerys ever was, or so publicly well-liked or connected that Robert cannot get away with killing them. 

Two of King Maekar’s children still live:

Maester Aemon, formerly Targaryen, born in 198 AC, has been a Maester at the Wall since the Great Council of 233, when his father died, and his younger brother, King Aegon V Targaryen, took the throne.

Lady Rhae Dayne, formerly Targaryen, born in 205 AC, married Lord Vorian Dayne, her first cousin, in a love match. She had six children, three sons and three daughters.

She is the grandmother of Prince Doran Nymeros Martell, Prince Oberyn Nymeros Martell, and Queen Regent Elia Targaryen of House Nymeros Martell through her youngest, Prince Consort Bashar Nymeros Martell of House Dayne.

She is the grandmother of Lord Arran Dayne, Ser Arthur Dayne, Lady Ashara Stark, and Lady Allyria Dayne through her eldest, Lord Aali Dayne.

Lord Tremond Gargalen and Lady Tanselle Velaryon are her grandchildren through her eldest daughter Lady Tasnim Gargalen of House Dayne 

Lord Anders Yronwood and his brother Ser Ansar Yronwood are her grandsons through her second daughter and third child, Lady Farah Yronwood of House Dayne.

Two of King Aegon V Targaryen’s children were not at Summerhall, and yet live:

Lady Rhaelle Baratheon, formerly Targaryen, born in 230 AC,  was forced to marry Lord Ormund Baratheon to make up for her brother Prince Duncan breaking his betrothal with Lady Elenda Baratheon. She had three children with her duty-matched husband: Lord Steffon Baratheon (b. 246-d.278), Lady Aemma Baratheon (b. 248), and Lord Rogar Baratheon (b. 250).

Prince Daeron Targaryen, born in 228 AC. After he was refused first by Olenna Redwyne, and Lord Paramount Hagen Tully, he never married, occupying his time with fighting and his first paramour, Ser Jeremy Norridge. He fought in most of the rebellions and skirmishes of his time, though he retreated from other interaction for years after Ser Jeremy died in 251 AC. He later established rule over the Stepstones, his home being on Bloodstone, eliminating much of the former problems by sea faced by Westeros. At some point, he fell for Ser Brynden Tully the Blackfish, and they are paramours to this day.

Prince Daeron “the Drunken” Targaryen had one daughter, who handled her gifts far better than her father ever did:

Lady Dowager Vaella Stark, formerly Targaryen, born in 222 AC, is the matriarch of the Stark family. She had five children with her husband, Lord Warden Edwyle Stark, all of whom married.

Her eldest, Rickard Stark (b. 237-d. 282), had Lord Heir Brandon Stark (d. 282), Queen Regent Lyanna Targaryen of House Stark, Lord Regent Eddard Stark, and Lord Benjen Stark. 

Queen Regent Lyanna Targaryen and Queen Regent Elia Targaryen both married Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen (b. 259-d. 283). Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, born in 280 AC, was born from the union of Elia and Rhaegar. King Daeron Targaryen, born 283 AC, was born from the union of Lyanna and Rhaegar.

While neither Rhaegar nor his father King Aerys II Targaryen survived the rebellion, Queen Dowager Rhaella Targaryen, born 245 AC, and her two youngest--Prince Viserys Targaryen (b. 276) and Princess Daenerys Targaryen (b. 283)--did.

And finally, though the son of a man also known for his cruelty, Prince Maegor Targaryen, born 232 AC, is alive and well. He has four children:

Prince Daemar Targaryen, born 260 AC, has given his father three grandchildren by the time Returning in Fire and Blood begins:

Lady Elaena Lannister, formerly Targaryen, born 262 AC, is married to Tygett Lannister

Prince Joren Targaryen, born 265 AC, and Princess Vaeryana Targaryen, born 270 AC.

[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

[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.

[km-places]

Broughty Castle  Broughty Ferry  Dundee  Scotland

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

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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.

[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.

[the-busy-ghost]

In Stirling on 21 September 1513 a toddler dressed in his best clothes survived a series of boring ceremonies in which he was not even allowed to play with the large toys offered to him. It would be another fifteen years before the young James V would get his hands, metaphorically at least, on the sceptre and sword of state or feel that he was the one wearing the crown. Before 1528 the power to rule was held by a series of regents or those wielding vice-regal authority. Despite James V's tender age, there was no suggestion that he or the Stewart dynasty should be replaced. After his younger brother Alexander, duke of Ross, had died, if James himself had not survived, the succession would have gone to the duke of Albany and then to Arran, which added spice to their involvement in Scottish politics. James V remained in Stirling, at the centre of the kingdom, inside its safest fortress which dominated the routes into Scotland north of the Forth. The most pressing concern in 1513 was whether an invasion force would be outside the gates before long and although no English army came, the threat was real enough. After James' own death thirty years later, Scotland did experience prolonged warfare, devastation and English occupation. News of the defeat at Flodden travelled fast across Scotland, though for many women there would have been the agonising wait to find if their men were coming home. The queen had a poet to write lyrical lines about overcoming her grief and making a new life, but with every Scottish region mourning its dead, the national casualty list dissolved into individual tragedies, such as the loss of the laird of Garthclone and his son in Galloway, or three sons from Lord Glamis' family. All social ranks were found on the death roll, from the lowly Patrick Scott who laboured in Strathearn to the mighty Argyll who had led Clan Campbell into battle. Those who survived gave thanks, with a standing cross being erected in Lorn by Campbell of Lerags, and told their personal tales, as in the north-east, where Black John, standard-bearer for the Keiths, related how he had been taken prisoner but had hidden the blue silk banner from the English inside his clothes. The grief was not confined to Scotland. Erasmus wrote a moving elegy for his pupil Alexander, archbishop designate of St Andrews, who had died beside his royal father. He lamented, 'What hadst thou to do with the war-god... thou who was consecrated to the Muses, nay, to Christ himself?' After the shock of the news, the women did what they always had whilst their men were at war, and got on with managing things at home. At local and regional levels these unsung heroines ensured the country was kept running.

“Scotland Reformed, 1488-1587″, by Jane E.A. Dawson

I can’t think if I’ve ever shared this quote before but genuinely one of my favourite passages of Scottish historical writing in recent decades- now this is a way to begin a chapter.

[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.

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