James V of Scotland
Encyclopedia
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss
. His only surviving legitimate child, Mary, succeeded him to the throne when she was just six days old.
and his queen Margaret Tudor
, he was born on 10 April 1512, at Linlithgow Palace
, Linlithgowshire, and was just seventeen months old when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field
on 9 September 1513.
James was crowned in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle
on 21 September 1513. During his childhood, the country was ruled by regents, first by his mother, the sister of King Henry VIII of England
, until she remarried the following year, and thereafter by John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany
, who was himself 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
, the largest island in the Firth of Clyde. In February 1517, James came from Stirling to Holyroodhouse, but during an outbreak of plague in the city he was moved to the care of Antoine d'Arces
at nearby rural Craigmillar Castle
. At Stirling, the 10-year-old James had a guard of 20 footmen dressed in his colours, red and yellow. When he went to the park below the Castle, "by secret and in right fair and soft wedder (weather)," six horsemen would scour the countryside two miles roundabout for intruders. Poets wrote his own nursery rhymes, advising him on royal behaviour. William Stewart
in his Princelie Majestie counselled against ice-skating:
An impression of the Scottish court at Holyroodhouse on All Saints' Day 1524 is given by a letter of an English diplomat, Thomas Magnus
: "trumpets and shamulles
did sounde and blewe up mooste pleasauntely." Magnus saw the young king singing, with his horses, and playing with a spear at Leith
, and was given the impression that he preferred English manners over French fashions. In 1525, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus
, the young king's stepfather, took custody of James and held him as a virtual prisoner for three years, exercising power on his behalf. When James and his mother came to Edinburgh on 20 November 1526, she stayed in the chambers at Holyroodhouse which Albany had used, and James used the rooms above. In February 1527, Henry Fitzroy,
Duke of Richmond
, gave James twenty hunting hounds and a huntsman. Magnus thought the Scottish servant sent to Sheriff Hutton Castle
for the dogs was intended to note the form and fashion of the Duke's household, for emulation in Scotland. James finally escaped from Angus's care in 1528 and assumed the reins of government himself.
. He then subdued the Border rebels and the chiefs of the Western Isles. As well as taking advice from his nobility and using the services of the Duke of Albany in France and at Rome, James had a team of professional lawyers and diplomats, including Adam Otterburn
and Thomas Erskine of Haltoun
. Even his pursemaster and yeoman of the wardrobe, John Tennent
of Listonschiels was sent on an errand to England, though he got a frosty reception.
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. James sailed to France for his first marriage and built up the royal fleet
. In 1540 he sailed to Kirkwall
in Orkney, then Lewis
, in his ship the Salamander
, first making a will in Leith
, knowing this to be, "uncertane aventuris." The purpose of this voyage was to show the royal presence and hold regional courts, called "justice ayres."
Domestic and international policy was affected by the Reformation
, especially after Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church. James V did not tolerate heresy
and during his reign, a number of outspoken Protestants
were persecuted. The most famous of these was Patrick Hamilton
, who was burned at the stake
as a heretic at St Andrews in 1528. Later in the reign, the English ambassador Ralph Sadler
tried to encourage James to close the monasteries and take their revenue, so that he would not have to keep sheep like a mean subject. James replied that he had no sheep, he could depend on his god-father the King of France, and it was against reason to close the abbeys which, "stand these many years, and God's service maintained and kept in the same, and I might have anything I require of them." James did keep sheep on his estates; after his death 600 were given to James Douglass of Drumlanrig
). However, James recovered money from the church by getting Pope Clement VI
to allow him to tax monastic incomes. On 19 January 1537 Pope Paul III
sent James a sword and cap symbolising his prayers that James would be strengthened against heresies from across the border.
According to 16th-century writers, his treasurer
James Kirkcaldy of Grange
tried to persuade him against the persecution of Protestants and to meet Henry VIII at York. Although Henry VIII sent his tapestries to York in September 1541 ahead of a meeting, James did not come. The lack of commitment to this meeting was regarded by English observers as a sign that Scotland was firmly allied to France and Catholicism, particularly by the influence of Cardinal Beaton
, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and a cause for war.
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As early as August 1517, a clause of the Treaty of Rouen
provided that if the Auld Alliance
between France and Scotland was maintained, James should have a French royal bride. Yet the daughters of Francis I of France
were promised elsewhere or sickly. Perhaps to remind Francis of his obligations, James's envoys began negotiations for his marriage elsewhere from the summer of 1529, both to Catherine de'Medici, the Duchess of Urbino, and Mary of Austria, Queen of Hungary, the sister of Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V
. But plans changed. In February 1533, two French ambassadors, Guillaume du Bellay, sieur de Langes
, and Etienne de Laigue, sieur de Beauvais, who had just been in Scotland, told the Venetian ambassador in London that James was thinking of marrying Christina of Denmark
.
Francis I insisted that his daughter Madeleine's health was too poor for marriage. Eventually, on 6 March 1536, a contract was made for James V to marry Mary of Bourbon
, daughter of the Duke of Vendôme. She would have a dowry as if she were a French Princess. James decided to visit France in person. He sailed from Kirkcaldy
on 1 September 1536, with the Earl of Argyll
, the Earl of Rothes
, Lord Fleming
, David Beaton, the Prior of Pittenweem
, the Laird of Drumlanrig
and 500 others, using the Mary Willoughby
as his flagship. First he visited Mary of Bourbon at St. Quentin
in Picardy, but then went south to meet King Francis I. During his stay in France, in October 1536, James went boar-hunting at Loches
with Francis, his son the Dauphin, the King of Navarre
and Ippolito II d'Este
.
James renewed the Auld Alliance and fulfilled the 1517 Treaty of Rouen on 1 January 1537 by marrying Madeleine of Valois, the king's daughter, in Notre Dame de Paris
. The wedding was a great event: Francis I made a contract with six painters for the splendid decorations, and there were days of jousting at the Louvre
. At his entry to Paris, James wore a coat described as "sad cramasy velvet slashed all over with gold cut out on plain cloth of gold fringed with gold and all cut out, knit with horns and lined with red taffeta." James V so liked red clothing that, during the wedding festivities, he upset the city dignitaries who had sole right to wear that colour in processions. They noted he could not speak a word of French. When James was at Compiègne
on 25 February 1537, a messenger from Pope Paul III
arrived with a gift of a sword and hat
.
James and Madeleine returned from France on 19 May 1537, arriving at Leith, the king's Scottish fleet accompanied with ten great French ships. As the couple sailed northwards, some Englishmen had come aboard off Bridlington
and Scarborough. While the fleet was off Bamburgh
on 15 May, three English fishing boats supplied fish, and the King's butcher landed in Northumbria
to buy meat. The English border authorities were dismayed by this activity.
Madeleine did not enjoy good health. In fact, she was consumptive and died soon after arrival in Scotland in July 1537. Spies told Thomas Clifford, the Captain of Berwick, that James omitted "all manner of pastime and pleasure," but continually oversaw the maintenance of his guns, going twice a week secretly to Dunbar Castle
with six companions. James then proceeded to marry Mary of Guise
, daughter of Claude, Duke of Guise
, and widow of Louis of Orleans, Duke of Longueville, by proxy on 12 June 1538. Mary already had two sons from her first marriage, and the union produced two sons. However, both died in April 1541, just eight days after baby Robert was baptised. Their daughter and James's only surviving legitimate child, Mary, was born in 1542 at Linlithgow Palace
.
:
Many of the sons of his aristocatic mistresses entered ecclesiastical careers.
– meaning 'windy pass' in Gaelic). James was also a keen lute
player. In 1562 Sir Thomas Wood reported that James had "a singular good ear and could sing that he had never seen before" (sight-read), but his voice was "rawky" and "harske." At court, James maintained a band of Italian musicians who adopted the name Drummond. These were joined for the winter of 1529/30 by a musician and diplomat sent by the Duke of Milan
, Thomas de Averencia de Brescia
, probably a lutenist
. The historian Andrea Thomas makes a useful distinction between the loud music provided at ceremonies and professionals and instruments employed for more private occasion. This quieter music included a consort of viol
s played by four Frenchmen led by Jacques Columbell. It seems certain that David Peebles
wrote music for James V and probable that the Scottish composer Robert Carver
was in royal employ, though evidence is lacking.
As a patron of poets and authors James supported William Stewart and John Bellenden
, who translated the Latin History of Scotland compiled in 1527 by Hector Boece
into verse and prose. Sir David Lindsay of the Mount
, the Lord Lyon, head of the Lyon Court and diplomat, was a prolific poet. He produced an interlude at Linlithgow Palace thought to be a version of his play The Thrie Estaitis in 1540. James also attracted the attention of international authors. The French poet Pierre de Ronsard
, who had been a page of Madeleine of Valois, offered unqualified praise;
When he married Mary of Guise, Giovanni Ferrerio
, an Italian scholar who had been at Kinloss Abbey in Scotland, dedicated to the couple a new edition of his work, On the true significance of comets against the vanity of astrologers. Like Henry VIII, James employed many foreign artisans and craftsmen in order to enhance the prestige of his renaissance court. Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie
listed their professions;
of plate armour
in February 1540. In the same year, for his wife's coronation, the treasurer's accounts record that James personally devised fireworks made by his master gunners. When James took steps to suppress the circulation of salanderous ballads and rhymes against Henry VIII, Henry sent Fulke ap Powell, Lancaster Herald
, to give thanks and to make arrangements for the present of a lion for James's menagerie
of exotic pets.
in August 1542. The Imperial ambassador in London, Eustace Chapuys
, wrote on 2 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 against Scotland.
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
. He took ill shortly after this, on 6 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. John Knox
later described his final movements in Fife. 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." According to George Douglas in his delirium James lamented the capture of his banner and Oliver Sinclair
at Solway Moss more than his other losses. An English chronicler suggested another cause of the king's grief was his discomfort on hearing of the murder of the English Somerset Herald
, Thomas Trahern
, at Dunbar
. James was buried at Holyrood Abbey
in Edinburgh
.
Before he died, he is reported to have said, "it came wi a lass, it'll gang wi a lass" ("It began with a girl and it will end with a girl"). This was a reference to the Stewart dynasty, and how it came to the throne through Marjorie Bruce
, daughter of Robert the Bruce
. As it happened, his words came true, although not with his daughter Mary but with the last monarch of the House of Stewart (then spelled "Stuart"), Queen Anne
, who was his great-great-great-granddaughter.
alongside his first wife Madeleine and his two sons in January 1543. David Lindsay supervised the construction of his tomb. One of his French artists, Andrew Mansioun
, carved a lion and an inscription in Roman letters
measuring eighteen feet for the tomb, which was later destroyed. Scotland was ruled by Regent Arran and was soon drawn into the war of the Rough Wooing
.
James's full style prior to acceding the throne was Prince James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Lord Renfrew, Prince and Great Steward of Scotland
. The novels features Scotland in the aftermath of the Battle of Flodden, covering events to 1514. Margaret Tudor
, "Boy-King" James V, and Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus
are prominently featured.
. James is the titular Prince and the main character. He is depicted as an "adventure-loving persona".
. The novel depicts Orkney, Edinburgh and Normandy in the 16th century. James V "appears more than once" in the various chapters.
. Depicts events "just before" and "after" the death of James V. James V, Mary of Guise
and David Beaton
are prominently depicted.
Battle of Solway Moss
The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish Border in November 1542 between forces from England and Scotland.-Background:...
. His only surviving legitimate child, Mary, succeeded him to the throne when she was just six days old.
Early life
The son of King James IV of ScotlandJames IV of Scotland
James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
and his queen Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
, he was born on 10 April 1512, at Linlithgow Palace
Linlithgow Palace
The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are situated in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although maintained after Scotland's monarchs left for England in 1603, the...
, Linlithgowshire, and was just seventeen months old when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field
Battle of Flodden Field
The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field or occasionally Battle of Branxton was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey...
on 9 September 1513.
James was crowned in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
on 21 September 1513. During his childhood, the country was ruled by regents, first by his mother, the sister of King Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, until she remarried the following year, and thereafter by John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany
John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany
John Stewart, Duke of Albany was Regent of the Kingdom of Scotland, Duke of Albany in peerage of Scotland and Count of Auvergne and Lauraguais in France.-Early life:...
, who was himself next in line to the throne after James and his younger brother, the posthumously-born Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross
Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross
Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross was the fourth and last son of King James IV of Scotland and his queen Margaret Tudor....
. Other regents included Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell
Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell
Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell , A member of the council of Regency of the Kingdom of Scotland. Regent of the Isle of Arran and like his father before head of the clan Maxwell. A distinguished Scottish nobleman, politician, soldier and in 1513 Lord High Admiral...
, a member of the Council of Regency who was also bestowed as Regent of Arran
Isle of Arran
Arran or the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, and with an area of is the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire and the 2001 census had a resident population of 5,058...
, the largest island in the Firth of Clyde. In February 1517, James came from Stirling to Holyroodhouse, but during an outbreak of plague in the city he was moved to the care of Antoine d'Arces
Antoine d'Arces
Antoine d'Arcy, sieur de la Bastie-sur-Meylan and of Lissieu, was a French nobleman involved in the government of Scotland.-The White Knight:...
at nearby rural Craigmillar Castle
Craigmillar Castle
Craigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. It was begun in the late 14th century by the Preston family, feudal barons of Craigmillar, and extended through the...
. At Stirling, the 10-year-old James had a guard of 20 footmen dressed in his colours, red and yellow. When he went to the park below the Castle, "by secret and in right fair and soft wedder (weather)," six horsemen would scour the countryside two miles roundabout for intruders. Poets wrote his own nursery rhymes, advising him on royal behaviour. William Stewart
William Stewart (makar)
William Stewart was a Scottish poet working in the first half of the 16th-century.-Life:He was great-grandson of one of the illegitimate sons of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan. He was educated like his namesake William Stewart , the future bishop of Aberdeen, at the University of St Andrews....
in his Princelie Majestie counselled against ice-skating:
An impression of the Scottish court at Holyroodhouse on All Saints' Day 1524 is given by a letter of an English diplomat, Thomas Magnus
Thomas Magnus
Thomas Magnus, , English administrator and diplomat; Archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire 1504, employed on diplomatic missions 1509-19 and 1524-7; present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold 1520; Privy councillor c.1520; awarded a doctorate by the University of Oxford 1520; canon of Windsor...
: "trumpets and shamulles
Shawm
The shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...
did sounde and blewe up mooste pleasauntely." Magnus saw the young king singing, with his horses, and playing with a spear at Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
, and was given the impression that he preferred English manners over French fashions. In 1525, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus was a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots...
, the young king's stepfather, took custody of James and held him as a virtual prisoner for three years, exercising power on his behalf. When James and his mother came to Edinburgh on 20 November 1526, she stayed in the chambers at Holyroodhouse which Albany had used, and James used the rooms above. In February 1527, Henry Fitzroy,
Duke of Richmond
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset was the son of King Henry VIII of England and his teenage mistress, Elizabeth Blount, the only illegitimate offspring whom Henry acknowledged.-Childhood:...
, gave James twenty hunting hounds and a huntsman. Magnus thought the Scottish servant sent to Sheriff Hutton Castle
Sheriff Hutton Castle
Sheriff Hutton Castle is a quadrangular castle in the village of Sheriff Hutton, North Yorkshire, England.-History:The original motte and bailey castle, the remains of which can be seen to the south of the churchyard. was built by Bertram de Bulmer, Sheriff of York during the reign of King Stephen...
for the dogs was intended to note the form and fashion of the Duke's household, for emulation in Scotland. James finally escaped from Angus's care in 1528 and assumed the reins of government himself.
Reign and Religion
His first action as king was to remove Angus from the scene. The Douglas family were forced into exile and James besieged their castle at TantallonTantallon
Tantallon may be:*Tantallon Castle, Scotland*Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia*Tantallon, Saskatchewan...
. He then subdued the Border rebels and the chiefs of the Western Isles. As well as taking advice from his nobility and using the services of the Duke of Albany in France and at Rome, James had a team of professional lawyers and diplomats, including Adam Otterburn
Adam Otterburn
Adam Otterburn of Auldhame and Reidhall was a Scottish lawyer and diplomat. He was king's advocate to James V of Scotland and secretary to Mary of Guise and Regent Arran.-Servant to James V:...
and Thomas Erskine of Haltoun
Thomas Erskine of Haltoun
Sir Thomas Erskine of Haltoun and Brechin was the royal secretary to James V of Scotland from 1524.-Family:A royal charter of 8 February 1543 noted Thomas as the uncle of the reformer John Erskine of Dun, who was married to a French lady-in waiting of Mary of Guise, Barbara Berlay. Thomas's sister...
. Even his pursemaster and yeoman of the wardrobe, John Tennent
John Tennent
John Tennent of Listonshiels was a servant and companion of James V of Scotland. He kept an account of the king's daily expenses which is an important source document for the Scottish royal court....
of Listonschiels was sent on an errand to England, though he got a frosty reception.
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
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
, Falkland Palace
Falkland Palace
Falkland Palace in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a former royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, and serves as a tourist attraction.-Early years:...
, Linlithgow Palace
Linlithgow Palace
The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are situated in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although maintained after Scotland's monarchs left for England in 1603, the...
and Holyrood
Holyrood, Edinburgh
Holyrood is an area in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Lying east of the city centre, at the end of the Royal Mile, Holyrood was once in the separate burgh of Canongate before the expansion of Edinburgh in 1856...
and built up a collection of tapestries
Scottish Royal tapestry collection
The Scottish royal tapestry collection was a group of tapestry hangings assembled to decorate the palaces of sixteenth century kings and queens of Scotland....
from those inherited from his father. James sailed to France for his first marriage and built up the royal fleet
Royal Scots Navy
The Royal Scots Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Scotland from its foundation in the 11th century until its merger with the Kingdom of England's Royal Navy per the Acts of Union 1707.- Origins :...
. In 1540 he sailed to Kirkwall
Kirkwall
Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
in Orkney, then Lewis
Lewis
Lewis is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The total area of Lewis is ....
, in his ship the Salamander
Salamander of Leith
Salamander of Leith was a warship of the 16th-century Royal Scots Navy. She was a wedding present from Francis I of France to James V of Scotland....
, first making a will in Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
, knowing this to be, "uncertane aventuris." The purpose of this voyage was to show the royal presence and hold regional courts, called "justice ayres."
Domestic and international policy was affected by the Reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
, especially after Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church. James V did not tolerate heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
and during his reign, a number of outspoken Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
were persecuted. The most famous of these was Patrick Hamilton
Patrick Hamilton (martyr)
Patrick Hamilton was a Scottish churchman and an early Protestant Reformer in Scotland. He travelled to Europe, where he met several of the leading reforming thinkers, before returning to Scotland to preach...
, who was burned at the stake
Burned at the Stake
Burned at the Stake is a 1981 film directed by Bert I. Gordon. It stars Susan Swift and Albert Salmi.-Cast:*Susan Swift as Loreen Graham / Ann Putnam*Albert Salmi as Captaiin Billingham*Guy Stockwell as Dr. Grossinger*Tisha Sterling as Karen Graham...
as a heretic at St Andrews in 1528. Later in the reign, the English ambassador Ralph Sadler
Ralph Sadler
Sir Ralph Sadler, PC, Knight banneret was an English statesman of the 16th century, and served as a Secretary of State for King Henry VIII.-Background:...
tried to encourage James to close the monasteries and take their revenue, so that he would not have to keep sheep like a mean subject. James replied that he had no sheep, he could depend on his god-father the King of France, and it was against reason to close the abbeys which, "stand these many years, and God's service maintained and kept in the same, and I might have anything I require of them." James did keep sheep on his estates; after his death 600 were given to James Douglass of Drumlanrig
James Douglas, 7th Baron Drumlanrig
-Life:He was the son of Sir William Douglas, 6th Baron Drumlanrig and Elizabeth Gordon of Lochinvar....
). However, James recovered money from the church by getting Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI , bornPierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was pope from May 1342 until his death in December of 1352...
to allow him to tax monastic incomes. On 19 January 1537 Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
sent James a sword and cap symbolising his prayers that James would be strengthened against heresies from across the border.
According to 16th-century writers, his treasurer
Treasurer of Scotland
The Treasurer was a senior post in the pre-Union government of Scotland, the Privy Council of Scotland.The full title of the post was Lord High Treasurer, Comptroller, Collector-General and Treasurer of the New Augmentation, formed as it was from the amalgamation of four earlier offices...
James Kirkcaldy of Grange
James Kirkcaldy of Grange
James Kirkcaldy of Grange was a Fife laird and treasurer of Scotland.He married Janet Melville, aunt of Sir James Melville of Halhill. Their heir was William Kirkcaldy of Grange. His main property at the Grange was called Halyards Palace...
tried to persuade him against the persecution of Protestants and to meet Henry VIII at York. Although Henry VIII sent his tapestries to York in September 1541 ahead of a meeting, James did not come. The lack of commitment to this meeting was regarded by English observers as a sign that Scotland was firmly allied to France and Catholicism, particularly by the influence of Cardinal Beaton
David Beaton
The Most Rev. Dr. David Cardinal Beaton was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish Cardinal prior to the Reformation.-Career:...
, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and a cause for war.
Marriages
Treaty of Rouen
The Treaty of Rouen was signed on August 26, 1517 between France and Scotland. The treaty provided the renewal of the Auld Alliance in terms of mutual military assistance and reciprocal aid...
provided that if the Auld Alliance
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France. It played a significant role in the relations between Scotland, France and England from its beginning in 1295 until the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh. The alliance was renewed by all the French and Scottish monarchs of that...
between France and Scotland was maintained, James should have a French royal bride. Yet the daughters of Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
were promised elsewhere or sickly. Perhaps to remind Francis of his obligations, James's envoys began negotiations for his marriage elsewhere from the summer of 1529, both to Catherine de'Medici, the Duchess of Urbino, and Mary of Austria, Queen of Hungary, the sister of Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
. But plans changed. In February 1533, two French ambassadors, Guillaume du Bellay, sieur de Langes
Guillaume du Bellay
Guillaume du Bellay, seigneur de Langey , from a notable Angevin family was a French diplomat and general under King Francis I....
, and Etienne de Laigue, sieur de Beauvais, who had just been in Scotland, told the Venetian ambassador in London that James was thinking of marrying Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark
Christina of Denmark was a Danish princess who became Duchess-consort of Milan, then Duchess-consort of Lorraine...
.
Francis I insisted that his daughter Madeleine's health was too poor for marriage. Eventually, on 6 March 1536, a contract was made for James V to marry Mary of Bourbon
Mary of Bourbon
Mary of Bourbon or Marie de Bourbon was a daughter of Charles, Duke of Vendôme and Françoise d'Alençon, daughter of René, Duke of Alençon. Mary was the subject of marriage negotiations of James V of Scotland. He visited her in France, but subsequently married the Princess Madeleine...
, daughter of the Duke of Vendôme. She would have a dowry as if she were a French Princess. James decided to visit France in person. He sailed from Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
on 1 September 1536, with the Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll
Gillespie Roy Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll was a Scottish nobleman and politician.-Biography:He was the eldest son of Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll and Jean Gordon, daughter of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly...
, the Earl of Rothes
George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes
George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes was a Scottish nobleman and diplomat.George became Earl of Rothes after his father's death at the Battle of Flodden. The title had previously been possesed by his uncle, William Leslie, the 2nd Earl...
, Lord Fleming
Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming
Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming , was Lord Chamberlain of Scotland to King James V, from 1524.He was the son and heir of John Fleming, 2nd Lord Fleming, who was killed in a feud with the Tweedie of Drumelzier family in 1524....
, David Beaton, the Prior of Pittenweem
Prior of May (Pittenweem)
The Prior of May then Prior of Pittenweem was the religious superior of the Benedictine monks of Isle of May Priory, which later moved to the mainland became called Pittenweem Priory...
, the Laird of Drumlanrig
James Douglas, 7th Baron Drumlanrig
-Life:He was the son of Sir William Douglas, 6th Baron Drumlanrig and Elizabeth Gordon of Lochinvar....
and 500 others, using the Mary Willoughby
HMS Mary Willoughby
Mary Willoughby was a ship of the Royal Navy. She was appears in the navy lists from 1535, during the reign of Henry VIII. She was named after Maria Willoughby, a lady-in-waiting and close friend of Catherine of Aragon. The ship was taken by the Scots in 1536 and joined the Royal Scots Navy, The...
as his flagship. First he visited Mary of Bourbon at St. Quentin
Saint-Quentin, Aisne
Saint-Quentin is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France. It has been identified as the Augusta Veromanduorum of antiquity. It is named after Saint Quentin, who is said to have been martyred here in the 3rd century....
in Picardy, but then went south to meet King Francis I. During his stay in France, in October 1536, James went boar-hunting at Loches
Loches
Loches is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.It is situated southeast of Tours by railway, on the left bank of the Indre River.-History:...
with Francis, his son the Dauphin, the King of Navarre
Henry II of Navarre
Henry II was the eldest son of John III of Navarre and Catherine I of Navarre, sister and heiress of Francis Phoebus, King of Navarre; he was born at Sangüesa.-King of Navarre:...
and Ippolito II d'Este
Ippolito II d'Este
Ippolito d'Este was an Italian cardinal and statesman. He was a member of the House of Este, and nephew of the other Ippolito d'Este, also a cardinal.-Biography:...
.
James renewed the Auld Alliance and fulfilled the 1517 Treaty of Rouen on 1 January 1537 by marrying Madeleine of Valois, the king's daughter, in Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
. The wedding was a great event: Francis I made a contract with six painters for the splendid decorations, and there were days of jousting at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
. At his entry to Paris, James wore a coat described as "sad cramasy velvet slashed all over with gold cut out on plain cloth of gold fringed with gold and all cut out, knit with horns and lined with red taffeta." James V so liked red clothing that, during the wedding festivities, he upset the city dignitaries who had sole right to wear that colour in processions. They noted he could not speak a word of French. When James was at Compiègne
Compiègne
Compiègne is a city in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.The city is located along the Oise River...
on 25 February 1537, a messenger from Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
arrived with a gift of a sword and hat
Honours of Scotland
The Honours of Scotland, also known as the Scottish regalia and the Scottish Crown Jewels, dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, are the oldest set of crown jewels in the British Isles. The existing set were used for the coronation of Scottish monarchs from 1543 to 1651...
.
James and Madeleine returned from France on 19 May 1537, arriving at Leith, the king's Scottish fleet accompanied with ten great French ships. As the couple sailed northwards, some Englishmen had come aboard off Bridlington
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...
and Scarborough. While the fleet was off Bamburgh
Bamburgh
Bamburgh is a large village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It has a population of 454.It is notable for two reasons: the imposing Bamburgh Castle, overlooking the beach, seat of the former Kings of Northumbria, and at present owned by the Armstrong family ; and its...
on 15 May, three English fishing boats supplied fish, and the King's butcher landed in Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
to buy meat. The English border authorities were dismayed by this activity.
Madeleine did not enjoy good health. In fact, she was consumptive and died soon after arrival in Scotland in July 1537. Spies told Thomas Clifford, the Captain of Berwick, that James omitted "all manner of pastime and pleasure," but continually oversaw the maintenance of his guns, going twice a week secretly to Dunbar Castle
Dunbar Castle
Dunbar Castle is the remnants of one of the most mighty fortresses in Scotland, situated over the harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian.-Early history:...
with six companions. James then proceeded to marry Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
, daughter of Claude, Duke of Guise
Claude, Duke of Guise
Claude de Lorraine, duc de Guise was a French aristocrat and general. He became the first Duke of Guise in 1528....
, and widow of Louis of Orleans, Duke of Longueville, by proxy on 12 June 1538. Mary already had two sons from her first marriage, and the union produced two sons. However, both died in April 1541, just eight days after baby Robert was baptised. Their daughter and James's only surviving legitimate child, Mary, was born in 1542 at Linlithgow Palace
Linlithgow Palace
The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are situated in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although maintained after Scotland's monarchs left for England in 1603, the...
.
Issue
Legitimate
James had legitimate issue only by his second spouse, Mary of GuiseMary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
:
- James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (22 May 1540 – 21 April 1541)
- Robert Stewart, Duke of AlbanyDuke of AlbanyDuke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on the younger sons in the Scottish, and later the British, royal family, particularly in the Houses of Stuart and Hanover....
(April 1541) - Mary, later Queen of Scots
Illegitimate
James V had nine known illegitimate children, at least three of whom were fathered before the age of 20. The young King was said to have been encouraged in his amorous affairs by the Angus regime to keep him distracted from politics. In addition to these aristocratic liaisons, David Lindsay described the king's other affairs in his poem, The Answer to the Kingis Flyting; 'ye be now strang lyke ane elephand, And in till Venus werkis maist vailyeand.'Many of the sons of his aristocatic mistresses entered ecclesiastical careers.
- Adam Stewart (d. 20 June 1575), son of Lady Elizabeth Stewart (daughter of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of LennoxJohn Stewart, 3rd Earl of LennoxJohn Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox was a prominent Scottish magnate. He was the son of Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox, and Elizabeth Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton and Mary Stewart, Princess of Scotland, daughter of King James II of Scotland.The Earl of Lennox had led...
.)
Prior of CharterhousePerth CharterhousePerth Charterhouse or Perth Priory, known in Latin as Domus Vallis Virtutis , was a monastic house of Carthusian monks based at Perth, Scotland. It was the only Carthusian house ever to be established in the Kingdom of Scotland, and one of the last non-mendicant houses to be founded in the kingdom...
, Perth. Buried at St. Magnus, Kirkwall, Orkney; tombstone survives. - James Stewart, son of Christine Barclay
- Jean Stewart (d. 7 January 1588), daughter of Elizabeth BethuneElizabeth BethuneElizabeth Bethune, or Beaton, was one of the mistresses of James V of Scotland. Their daughter Jean married Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll...
.
Married Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of ArgyllArchibald Campbell, 5th Earl of ArgyllArchibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll was one of the leading figures in the politics of Scotland during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the early part of that of James VI.-Biography:...
in 1553, divorced in 1573 due to desertion. - James Stewart (c. 1529–57), son of Elizabeth Shaw.
Commendator of Kelso and Melrose. - Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of OrkneyRobert Stewart, 1st Earl of OrkneyRobert Stewart, Knt., 1st Earl of Orkney and Lord of Zetland was a recognized illegitimate son of James V, King of Scotland, and his mistress Eupheme Elphinstone....
(b.1533), son of Euphame Elphinstone
Prior of Holyroodhouse Monastery and, after the Scottish reformationScottish ReformationThe Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
, its commendator. - John Stewart, Lord Darnley (c. 1531 – November 1563), son of Elizabeth Carmichael (1514-1550) who later married John Somerville of Cambusnethan.
Prior of ColdinghamColdinghamColdingham is a historic village in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders, on Scotland's southeast coastline, north of Eyemouth.As early as AD 660, Coldingham was the site of a religious establishment of high order, when it is recorded that Etheldreda, the queen of Egfrid, became a nun at the Abbey of...
Monastery in Inverness and, after the Scottish reformationScottish ReformationThe Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
, its commendator. He married Jean (or Jane) HepburnJean HepburnJean Hepburn, Lady Darnley, Mistress of Caithness, Lady Morham was a Scottish noblewoman and a member of the Border clan of Hepburn. Her brother was James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Jean's first husband was John Stewart, 1st Lord Darnley, an illegitimate...
, sister and heiress of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of BothwellJames Hepburn, 4th Earl of BothwellJames Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney , better known by his inherited title as 4th Earl of Bothwell, was hereditary Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He is best known for his association with and subsequent marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third husband...
and fathered Francis Stewart, 1st Earl of Bothwell. - James Stewart, 1st Earl of MorayJames Stewart, 1st Earl of MorayJames Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray , a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V, was Regent of Scotland for his nephew, the infant King James VI of Scotland, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570...
, son of Margaret ErskineMargaret ErskineLady Margaret Erskine was a mistress of King James V of Scotland.She was a daughter of John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine and Margaret Campbell.James V had a number of mistresses in his time, but some accounts describe her as his favourite...
, James's favourite mistress.
Prior of St. Andrews, Advisor and rival to his half-sister, Mary, Queen of Scots and regent for his nephew, James VIJames I of EnglandJames VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
. - Robert Stewart, junior, (d. 1581), mother unknown.
Prior of Whithorn. - Margaret Stewart, mother unknown.
Outside interests
According to legend, James was nicknamed "King of the Commons" as he would sometimes travel around Scotland disguised as a common man, describing himself as the "Gudeman of Ballengeich" ('Gudeman' means 'landlord' or 'farmer', and 'Ballengeich' was the nickname of a road next to Stirling CastleStirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
– meaning 'windy pass' in Gaelic). James was also a keen lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
player. In 1562 Sir Thomas Wood reported that James had "a singular good ear and could sing that he had never seen before" (sight-read), but his voice was "rawky" and "harske." At court, James maintained a band of Italian musicians who adopted the name Drummond. These were joined for the winter of 1529/30 by a musician and diplomat sent by the Duke of Milan
Francesco II Sforza
Francesco II Sforza , also known as Francesco Maria Sforza, was the last Duke of Milan from 1521 until his death.He was the son of Ludovico Sforza and Beatrice d'Este...
, Thomas de Averencia de Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, probably a lutenist
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
. The historian Andrea Thomas makes a useful distinction between the loud music provided at ceremonies and professionals and instruments employed for more private occasion. This quieter music included a consort of viol
Viol
The viol is any one of a family of bowed, fretted and stringed musical instruments developed in the mid-late 15th century and used primarily in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The family is related to and descends primarily from the Renaissance vihuela, a plucked instrument that preceded the...
s played by four Frenchmen led by Jacques Columbell. It seems certain that David Peebles
David Peebles
-Biography:Little is known of his life but the majority of his work dates to between 1530 and 1576. He is known to have been a canon at the Augustinian Priory of St Andrews until the Scottish Reformation . After leaving the priory at the Reformation he seems to have married and had two children...
wrote music for James V and probable that the Scottish composer Robert Carver
Robert Carver (composer)
Robert Carver was a Scottish Renaissance monk and composer of Christian sacred music.He spent much of his life at Scone Abbey in Perthshire and is regarded as Scotland's greatest sixteenth-century composer. He is best known for his sacred choral music, of which there are five surviving masses and...
was in royal employ, though evidence is lacking.
As a patron of poets and authors James supported William Stewart and John Bellenden
John Bellenden
John Bellenden or Ballantyne of Moray was a Scottish writer of the 16th century.He was born towards the close of the 15th century, and educated at St. Andrews and Paris. At the request of James V he translated Hector Boece's Historia Gentis Scotorum...
, who translated the Latin History of Scotland compiled in 1527 by Hector Boece
Hector Boece
Hector Boece , known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Aberdeen.-Biography:He was born in Dundee where he attended school...
into verse and prose. Sir David Lindsay of the Mount
David Lyndsay
Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, was a Scottish Lord Lyon and poet of the 16th century, whose works reflect the spirit of the Renaissance.-Biography:...
, the Lord Lyon, head of the Lyon Court and diplomat, was a prolific poet. He produced an interlude at Linlithgow Palace thought to be a version of his play The Thrie Estaitis in 1540. James also attracted the attention of international authors. The French poet Pierre de Ronsard
Pierre de Ronsard
Pierre de Ronsard was a French poet and "prince of poets" .-Early life:...
, who had been a page of Madeleine of Valois, offered unqualified praise;
"Son port estoit royal, son regard vigoureux
De vertus, et de l'honneur, et guerre amoureux
La douceur et la force illustroient son visage
Si que Venus et Mars en avoient fait partage"
His royal bearing, and vigorous pursuit
of virtue, of honour, and love's war,
this sweetness and strength illuminate his face,
as if he were the child of Venus and Mars.
When he married Mary of Guise, Giovanni Ferrerio
Robert Reid (bishop)
Robert Reid was abbot of Kinloss, commendator-prior of Beauly, and bishop of Orkney. He was one of the greatest of the bishops of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Scotland, and his legacy was the founding of the University of Edinburgh....
, an Italian scholar who had been at Kinloss Abbey in Scotland, dedicated to the couple a new edition of his work, On the true significance of comets against the vanity of astrologers. Like Henry VIII, James employed many foreign artisans and craftsmen in order to enhance the prestige of his renaissance court. Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie
Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie
Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie was a Scottish chronicler, author of The Historie and Chronicles of Scotland, 1436–1565, the first history of Scotland to be composed in Scots rather than Latin....
listed their professions;
he plenished the country with all kind of craftsmen out of other countries, as French-men, Spaniards, Dutch men, and Englishmen, which were all cunning craftsmen, every man for his own hand. Some were gunners, wrights, carvers, painters, masons, smiths, harness-makers (armourers), tapesters, broudsters, taylors, cunning chirugeons, apothecaries, with all other kind of craftsmen to apparel his palaces.One technological initiative was a special mill for polishing armour at Holyroodhouse next to his mint. The mill had a pole drive 32 feet long powered by horses. Mary of Guise's mother Antoinette of Bourbon sent him an armourer. The armourer made steel plates for his jousting saddles in October 1538, and delivered a skirt
Tassets
Tassets are a piece of plate armour designed to protect the upper legs. They take the form of separate plates hanging from the breastplate or faulds. They may be made from a single piece or segmented...
of plate armour
Plate armour
Plate armour is a historical type of personal armour made from iron or steel plates.While there are early predecessors such the Roman-era lorica segmentata, full plate armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, especially in the context of the Hundred Years' War, from the coat of...
in February 1540. In the same year, for his wife's coronation, the treasurer's accounts record that James personally devised fireworks made by his master gunners. When James took steps to suppress the circulation of salanderous ballads and rhymes against Henry VIII, Henry sent Fulke ap Powell, Lancaster Herald
Lancaster Herald
Lancaster Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an English officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. The title of Lancaster Herald first occurs in 1347 at Calais, and to begin with this officer was a servant to the noble house of Lancaster...
, to give thanks and to make arrangements for the present of a lion for James's menagerie
Menagerie
A menagerie is/was a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to...
of exotic pets.
War with England
The death of James's 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 RigBattle of Haddon Rig
The Battle of Hadden Rig was a battle fought about 3 miles east of Kelso, in the Scottish Borders, between Scotland and England on August 24, 1542, during the reign of King James V of Scotland. The English army was led by Robert Bowes, Deputy Warden of the English East March...
in August 1542. The Imperial ambassador in London, Eustace Chapuys
Eustace Chapuys
Eustace Chapuys was a Savoyard diplomat who served as the Imperial ambassador to England from 1529 until 1545 and is best known for his extensive and detailed correspondence.-Life:...
, wrote on 2 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 against Scotland.
James was with his army at Lauder
Lauder
The Royal Burgh of Lauder is a town in the Scottish Borders 27 miles south east of Edinburgh. It is also a royal burgh in the county of Berwickshire. It lies on the edge of the Lammermuir Hills, on the Southern Upland Way.-Medieval history:...
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
Battle of Solway Moss
The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish Border in November 1542 between forces from England and Scotland.-Background:...
. He took ill shortly after this, on 6 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. John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
later described his final movements in Fife. Whatever the cause of his illness, he was on his deathbed at Falkland Palace
Falkland Palace
Falkland Palace in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a former royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, and serves as a tourist attraction.-Early years:...
when his only surviving legitimate child, a girl, was born. Sir George Douglas of Pittendreich
George Douglas of Pittendreich
George Douglas of Pittendreich was a member of the powerful Douglas family who struggled for control of the young James V of Scotland in 1528. His second son became James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton and Regent of Scotland. Initially, George Douglas promoted the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and...
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." According to George Douglas in his delirium James lamented the capture of his banner and Oliver Sinclair
Oliver Sinclair
Sir Oliver Sinclair de Pitcairnis , , was a favourite courtier of James V of Scotland. A contemporary story tells that James V gave him the battle standard and command at the Battle of Solway Moss...
at Solway Moss more than his other losses. An English chronicler suggested another cause of the king's grief was his discomfort on hearing of the murder of the English Somerset Herald
Somerset Herald
Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. In the year 1448 Somerset Herald is known to have served the Duke of Somerset, but by the time of the coronation of King Henry VII in 1485 his successor appears to have been raised to the rank of a royal...
, Thomas Trahern
Thomas Trahern (officer of arms)
Thomas Trahern was Somerset Herald, an English officer of arms. His murder was a setback to Anglo-Scottish relations.-Prelude:...
, at Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
. James was buried at Holyrood Abbey
Holyrood Abbey
Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reformation the Palace of Holyroodhouse was expanded...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
Before he died, he is reported to have said, "it came wi a lass, it'll gang wi a lass" ("It began with a girl and it will end with a girl"). This was a reference to the Stewart dynasty, and how it came to the throne through Marjorie Bruce
Marjorie Bruce
Marjorie Bruce or Marjorie de Brus was the eldest daughter of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots by his first wife, Isabella of Mar, and the founder of the Stewart dynasty. Her marriage to Walter, High Steward of Scotland gave rise to the House of Stewart...
, daughter of Robert the Bruce
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
. As it happened, his words came true, although not with his daughter Mary but with the last monarch of the House of Stewart (then spelled "Stuart"), Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
, who was his great-great-great-granddaughter.
Aftermath
James was succeeded by his infant daughter Mary. He was buried at Holyrood AbbeyHolyrood Abbey
Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reformation the Palace of Holyroodhouse was expanded...
alongside his first wife Madeleine and his two sons in January 1543. David Lindsay supervised the construction of his tomb. One of his French artists, Andrew Mansioun
Andrew Mansioun
Andrew Mansioun, or Mentioun or Manschone, was a French artist who worked at the court of James V of Scotland. He was the master carpenter of the Scottish artillery for Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI of Scotland.-Works:...
, carved a lion and an inscription in Roman letters
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
measuring eighteen feet for the tomb, which was later destroyed. Scotland was ruled by Regent Arran and was soon drawn into the war of the Rough Wooing
The Rough Wooing
The War of the Rough Wooing was fought between Scotland and England. War was declared by Henry VIII of England, in an attempt to force the Scots to agree to a marriage between his son Edward and Mary, Queen of Scots. Scotland benefited from French military aid. Edward VI continued the war until...
.
Titles and styles
- 10 April 1512 – 9 September 1513: The Duke of Rothesay
- 9 September 1513 – 14 December 1542: His Grace The King
James's full style prior to acceding the throne was Prince James Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Lord Renfrew, Prince and Great Steward of Scotland
Fictional portrayals
James V has been depicted in historical novels, poems and short stories. They include:- Scott, Sir WalterWalter ScottSir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
, The Lady of the LakeThe Lady of the Lake (poem)The Lady of the Lake is a narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1810. Set in the Trossachs region of Scotland, it is composed of six cantos, each of which concerns the action of a single day...
, a Romantic narrative poem published in 1810 set in the TrossachsTrossachsThe Trossachs itself is a small woodland glen in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It lies between Ben A'an to the north and Ben Venue to the south, with Loch Katrine to the west and Loch Achray to the east. However, the name is used generally to refer to the wider area of wooded glens and...
. He appears in disguise. The poem was tremendously influential in the nineteenth century, and inspired the Highland Revival.
. The novels features Scotland in the aftermath of the Battle of Flodden, covering events to 1514. Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
, "Boy-King" James V, and Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus
Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus
Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus , was a late medieval Scottish magnate. He became known as "Bell the Cat"...
are prominently featured.
. James is the titular Prince and the main character. He is depicted as an "adventure-loving persona".
. The novel depicts Orkney, Edinburgh and Normandy in the 16th century. James V "appears more than once" in the various chapters.
. Depicts events "just before" and "after" the death of James V. James V, Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
and David Beaton
David Beaton
The Most Rev. Dr. David Cardinal Beaton was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish Cardinal prior to the Reformation.-Career:...
are prominently depicted.