History of the Titles of the Prince of Wales: Part IX

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Baron of Renfrew, British Peerage, Earl of Carrick, James I of Scotland, Lords of Parliament, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Scottish Peerage

Since the history of one the titles of the Prince of Wales is rather short today I’ll include two for the price of one!

Baron of Renfrew is a title held by the heir apparent to the British throne. It was held by the Scottish heir apparent beginning in 1404 when it was bestowed on the future King James I of Scotland. It is closely associated with the title Duke of Rothesay. An act of the Scottish Parliament passed in 1469 confirmed the pattern of succession of attaching the Barony of Renfrew with the heir to the Scottish crown. Renfrew is a town near Glasgow, is sometimes called the “cradle of the royal Stewarts.”

HRH The Baron of Renfrew and Earl of Carrick.

In Scotland, the title of Baron is a feudal titles, not peerages: a Scottish Lord of Parliament equates to an English or British baron. There is a debate however if the Barony of Renfrew is actually a peerage title. Some historians claim that the Act of 1469 elevated the Barony of Renfrew to the dignity of a peerage when it officially attached the Barony to the other peerage titles connected to the heir to the Scottish Crown. Other historians suggest that the barony became a peerage upon the Union of the Crowns in 1603. Finally, some scholars argue that the uncertainty surrounding the text of the 1469 Act leaves the barony as only a feudal dignity, not a peerage dignity. The title of Lord Renfrew was used by the traveling Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII and Prince Edward, Duke of Rothesay, later King Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor, when he traveled in a private capacity or when he wished to pay visits incognito.

Earl of Carrick or Mormaer of Carrick is the title applied to the ruler of Carrick (now southern Ayrshire), subsequently part of the Peerage of Scotland. The position came to be strongly associated with the Scottish crown when Robert the Bruce, who had inherited it from his maternal kin, became King of the Scotland in the early 14th century. Since the 15th century the title of Earl of Carrick has automatically been held by the heir apparent to the throne, meaning Prince Charles is the current Earl.

The earldom emerged in 1186, out of the old Lordship of Galloway, which had previously encompassed all of what is now known as Galloway as well as the southern part of Ayrshire. Though the Lords of Galloway recognised the King of Scotland as their overlord, their lordship was effectively a separate kingdom, and had its own laws.

The first Lord of Carrick recorded is Fergus, who died in 1161 leaving two sons: Uchtred and Gille Brigte (Gilbert). As was the custom then, the two brothers shared the lordship and the lands between them. In 1174, they joined with King William I the Lion of Scotland in his invasion of Northumberland. During the invasion King William was taken prisoner by the English, the Galwegians broke into rebellion. Uchtred remained loyal to the Scottish king, while Gille Brigte took control of the entirety of Galloway. Uchtred was savagely murdered by Gille Brigte and his son Máel Coluim. In 1175, King William was restored to liberty, and he marched an army into Galloway to bring justice upon Gille Brigte. However, he seems to have contented himself with exacting a fine, leaving Gille Brigte to go unharmed.

In 1176, Gille Brigte obtained an agreement with King Henry II of England, in which he became his vassal; in exchange, he paid the English king the then enormous sum of £919 and gave his son Duncan (Donnchadh) as a hostage. Gille Brigte then spent the next decade carrying out devastating raids on King William’s territory, with the protection of the English.

Gille Brigte’s death in 1185 created general turmoil amongst the Galwegians. Roland, son of the murdered Uchtred, defeated the supporters of Gille Brigte in 1185, and planted forts across Galloway to secure his authority. This angered King Henry II and he marched a large force to Carlisle in preparation for invasion. However, war was averted at a meeting between Roland, William I of Scotland and Henry II of England, where it was agreed that Roland would rule the main part of Galloway, while Gille Brigte’s son Duncan would rule the northern section, known as Carrick. Duncan agreed to these terms, and renounced all claims to the Lordship of Galloway, becoming the first Earl of Carrick.

Duncan married Avelina, daughter of Alan, High Steward of Scotland. His son or grandson Niall’s eldest daughter Marjorie succeeded him, becoming Countess of Carrick in her own right. She married firstly Adam de Kilconquhar. In 1269, Adam journeyed to the Holy Land under the banners of King Louis IX of France, as part of the Eighth Crusade. He never returned, dying of disease at Acre in 1270. The next year, the widowed Countess happened to meet Robert de Brus hunting in her lands. According to legend, Marjorie imprisoned Robert until he agreed to marry her. They were married at Turnberry Castle, without their families’ knowledge or the requisite consent of the King. When news got out, Alexander III seized her castles and estates, but she later atoned for her foolishness with a fine, and Robert was recognised as her husband and Earl of Carrick jure uxoris.; They had five sons and five daughters: Robert, Edward, Thomas, Alexander, Nigel, Isabel, Mary, Christina, Matilda and Margaret.

Royal earls

Marjorie and Robert were succeeded by their eldest son. When the old House of Dunkeld became extinct, this Robert, known as “the Bruce”, became a principal candidate for the throne as the great-great-great-great grandson of David I. He was crowned at Scone in 1306, causing his titles (Earl of Carrick, Lord of Annandale and Baron Bruce in the Peerage of England) to merge into the Crown. It would take more creations of the title before it became associated with the heir to the Scottish throne.

Around 1313, King Robert created his younger brother Edward, the Earl of Carrick. Edward had no issue, save a natural son, Alexander, he had by Lady Isabella Strathbogie, daughter of John, Earl of Atholl. The title therefore became extinct on his death at the Battle of Faughart in 1318.

After briefly being held by Robert’s son David prior to his accession to the throne, the title was granted in 1332 to Alexander, Edward’s bastard. However, Alexander was killed the next year at the Battle of Halidon Hill and the title once again became extinct.

In 1368, King David created his great-nephew John Stewart the Earl of Carrick. David died unexpectedly in 1371. He had no children, meaning he was succeeded by his nephew Robert Stewart, John’s father. After Robert’s death in 1390, John succeeded him, taking the regnal name Robert III; thus the Earldom of Carrick again merged with the Crown.

The title was next held by Robert III’s son David, who was also created Duke of Rothesay and Earl of Atholl. David died childless in 1402, and the Earldom was regranted to his brother James; however he was generally known by the higher title Prince or Steward of Scotland. James acceded to the throne in 1406, and his titles merged with the Crown.

In 1469, the Scottish Parliament passed an Act declaring that the eldest son of the King and heir to the throne would automatically hold the Earldom of Carrick along with the Dukedom of Rothesay. After the Union of the Crowns of Scotland and England, the Dukedom and Earldom have been held by the eldest son and heir apparent of the kings and queens of Great Britain. Thus Prince Charles is the current Duke of Rothesay and Earl of Carrick.

Stewart earls (1628)

Despite the Earldom of Carrick being connected to the Duke of Rothesay and therefore the heir to the throne a separate Earldom of Carrick was created for an illegitimate scion of the House of Stuart/Stuart.

In 1628, King Charles I created John Stewart the Earl of Carrick. He had already been made Lord Kincleven in 1607, also in the Peerage of Scotland. Stewart was a younger son of Robert, Earl of Orkney, bastard son of King James V; thus he was Charles’s half-great-uncle. This title was deemed not to conflict with the Earldom of Carrick held by the heir to the throne, as it referred not to the province in Ayrshire, but to the lands of Carrick on Eday in Orkney. John married Lady Elizabeth Southwell, daughter of Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham and widow of Sir Robert Southwell. By her he had one daughter, Margaret. He is also known to have had two natural children: a son, named Henry, and a daughter, whose name is unknown. As he had no legitimate son, his titles became extinct on his death around 1645.

James I of Scotland: Death of the King

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Earl of Atholl, James I of Scotland, Joan of England, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, Louis XI of France, Philippe III of Burgundy, Regicide, Robert II of Scotland, Walter Stewart

As we have seen so far in the life of James I of Scotland many of his troubles were the result of internal family squabbles within the House of Stewart. These family dynamics would also lead to his downfall. We’ll begin by examining Walter Stewart, the youngest son of Robert II. Walter was the only one not to have been provided with an earldom during his father’s lifetime. Walter became ward of his niece Euphemia, daughter of his deceased brother, David, earl of Strathearn and Caithness. After the death of David, Earl of Strathearn in March of 1389, Euphemia became countess of Strathearn in her own right and Walter, administered Strathearn for her for the next decade and a half.

Assisting Walter in the administration of Strathearn was his brother Robert, Earl of Fife and Guardian of Scotland. Walter again supported Robert (now Duke of Albany) against their nephew, David, Duke of Rothesay in 1402.

The Duke Albany most likely arranged the marriage of Euphemia to one of his friends , Patrick Graham and by doing this removed Walter’s involvement in the administration of Strathearn. Duke Robert, possibly to make up for the loss of the rewards of Strathearn, created Walter earl of Atholl and Lord of Methven. In 1413, Graham was killed in a quarrel with his own principal servant in the earldom, John Drummond.

Methven Castle. The original castle was the seat of Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl.

The Drummond relations were close to the Earl of Atholl and the with the death of Graham it renewed the Earl’s involvement in Strathearn as ward to Graham’s son. The renewal of the Earl’s involvement in Strathearn produced a strong opposition from the Duke Albany and much of this hinted at the Earl of Atholl’s possible involvement in the murder of Graham. There was bad blood now existing between Duke of Albany and the Earl of Atholl. The animosity between the two Scottish Nobles led King James to ally himself with Earl Walter, his uncle, on his return to Scotland in 1424. The Earl of Atholl participated at the assize that sat over the May 24/25 1425 that tried and found the prominent members of the Albany Stewarts guilty of rebellion—their executions followed swiftly.

With the Albany Stewarts out of the way, King James granted the Earl of Atholl the positions of Sheriff of Perth and Justicier and also returned to him the Earldom of Strathearn, confirming Earl Walter’s policing remit given by Albany and his already effective grip on Strathearn. Atholl’s elder son, David, had been one of the hostages sent to England as a condition of James’s release and had died there in 1434—his younger son, Alan died in the king’s service at the Battle of Inverlochy in 1431.

David’s son Robert was now the Earl of Atholl’s heir and both were now in line to the Scottish throne after the young Prince James. James continued to show favour to the Earlmof Atholl and appointed his grandson Robert as his personal chamberlain but by 1437, after a series of setbacks at the hands of James, the Earl and Robert probably viewed the king’s actions as a prelude to further acquisitions at Atholl’s expense.

This weakened Atholl’s hold on the rich earldom of Strathearn and both he and Robert realized that after the Earl’s death Strathearn would revert to the crown. This meant that Robert’s holdings would have been the relatively impoverished earldoms of Caithness and Atholl and amounted to no more than what was in the Earl Walter’s possession in the years between 1406 and 1416.

The alliance with France had virtually ceased after 1428 and after that James adopted a much more non-aligned position with England, France and Burgandy while at the same time opening up diplomatic contacts with Aragon, Austria, Castile, Denmark, Milan, Naples and the Vatican. Generally, Scotto–English relations were relatively amiable for a time and an extension of the truce until 1436 helped the English cause in France and the promises made in 1428 of a Scottish army to help Charles VII. James had to balance his European responses carefully, because England’s key ally, Philippe III, Duke of Burgundy was also in possession of the Low Countries, a major trading partner of Scotland’s at the time, and therefore James’s support for France was muted.

The truce with England expired in May 1436 but James’s perception of the Anglo-French conflict changed following a realignment of the combatants. The breakdown of the talks between England and France in 1435 precipitated an alliance between Burgundy and France and a request from France for Scottish involvement in the war and for the fulfilment of the promised marriage of Princess Margaret, the eldest daughter of King James to the Dauphin (future Louis XI of France). In the spring of 1436 Princess Margaret sailed to France and in August Scotland entered the war against England with James leading a large army to lay siege to the English enclave of Roxburgh Castle.

James appointed his young and inexperienced cousin Robert Stewart of Atholl as the constable of the host ahead of the experienced march wardens, the earls of Douglas and Angus. Both earls possessed considerable local interests and that the effects of such a large army living off the land may have created considerable resentment and hostility in the area. When the militant prelates of York and Durham together with the Earl of Northumberland took their forces into the marches to relieve the fortress, the Scots swiftly retreated – a chronicle written a year later said that the Scots ‘had fled wretchedly and ignominiously’ – but what is certain is that the effects and the manner of the defeat and the loss of their expensive artillery was a major reversal for James both in terms of foreign policy and internal authority.

The retreat from Roxburgh exposed the king to questions regarding his control over his subjects, his military competence and his diplomatic abilities yet he remained determined to continue with the war against England. Just two months after the failure at Roxburgh, James called a general council in October 1436 to finance further hostilities through more taxation. The estates firmly resisted this and their opposition was articulated by their speaker Sir Robert Graham, a former Albany attendant but now a servant of Atholl. The council then witnessed an unsuccessful attempt by Graham to arrest the king resulting in the knight’s imprisonment followed by banishment but James did not see Graham’s actions as part of any extended threa. In January 1437, Atholl received yet another rebuff in his own heartlands when James overturned the chapter of Dunkeld Cathedral whose nominee was replaced by the king’s nephew and firm supporter, James Kennedy.

Conspiracy and regicide

The reaction against the king at the general council had shown Atholl that not only was James on the back-foot but his political standing had received a huge setback, and may have convinced the earl that James’s killing was now a viable course of action Atholl had seen how assertive action by two of his brothers at different times had allowed them to take control of the kingdom and that as James’s nearest adult relative, the earl must have considered that decisive intervention on his part at this time could prove to be equally successful.

The destruction of the Albany Stewarts in 1425 appears to have played a large part in the conspiracy against the king. Their judicial killing and forfeiture of their lands influenced the servants who administered and depended on these estates for their living. The vacuum left by this was filled by Atholl in whose employment many of these disaffected Albany men appear. These included Sir Robert Graham, who only three months earlier had attempted to arrest the king at the Perth council, and the brothers Christopher and Robert Chambers. Even although Robert Chambers was a member of the Royal household, the old Albany ties were stronger.

A general council was held in Atholl’s heartland in Perth on 4 February 1437 and crucially for the conspirators, the king and queen had remained in the town at their lodgings in the Blackfriars monastery. In the evening of 20 February 1437 the king and queen were in their rooms and separated from most of their servants. Atholl’s grandson and heir Robert Stewart, the king’s chamberlain, allowed his co-conspirators—thought to number about thirty—led by Robert Graham and the Chambers brothers access to the building. James was alerted to the men’s presence, giving the king time to hide in a sewer tunnel but with its exit recently blocked off to prevent tennis balls getting lost, and James was trapped and murdered.

Aftermath

The assassins had achieved their priority in killing the king but the queen, although wounded, had escaped. Importantly, the six-year-old king, now James II, had been safeguarded from Atholl’s control by the removal of the earl’s associate, John Spens, from his role as James’s custodian. Spens vanished from the records following the regicide but the re-allocation of his positions and lands immediately following the murder indicate his part in the plot. Yet, in the chaos following the murder, it appeared that the queen’s attempt to position herself as regent was not guaranteed.

No surviving documentation exists that suggest that there was any general feeling of horror or condemnation aimed at the murderers. It was possible that had the botched attempt at killing the queen succeeded and had Atholl taken control of the young king then his attempted coup might have succeeded. The queen’s small group of loyal supporters that included the Earl of Angus and William Crichton ensured her continued hold of James. This in itself greatly reinforced her situation but Atholl still had followers. By the first week of March neither side seemed to have ascendancy and the Bishop of Urbino, the pope’s envoy, called for the council to pursue a peaceful outcome.
 
Despite this by the middle of March it is probable that both Angus and Crichton had mobilised to move against Atholl. It is equally likely that Atholl had gathered his forces to resist incursions into his heartlands—on 7 March the queen and the council entreated the burgess’ of Perth to resist the forces of the ‘feloune traitors’.

The position of Atholl and his circle of close supporters only collapsed after Earl Walter’s heir Robert Stewart had been captured and who, in Shirley’s account, confessed to his part in the crime. Walter was taken prisoner by Angus and held at the Edinburgh Tolbooth where he was tried and beheaded on 26 March 1437, the day after the coronation of the young James II. Sir Robert Graham, the leader of the band of assassins was captured by former Atholl allies and was tried at a session of the council sitting at Stirling castle and subsequently executed sometime shortly after 9 April.

Queen Joan’s pursuit of the regency ended probably at the council of June 1437 when Archibald, 5th Earl of Douglas, was appointed to act as lieutenant-general of the kingdom.

King James I’s embalmed heart may have been taken on pilgrimage to the Holy Land following his interment at Perth Charterhouse, as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland for 1443 note the payment of £90 to cover the costs of a knight of the Order of St John who had returned it to the Charterhouse from the Island of Rhodes.

James I, King of Scots: Part IV.

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Archibald Douglas, Duke of Albany, Duke of Mar, Edinburgh Castle, James I of Scotland, kings and queens of Scotland, Melrose Abbey, Murdoch Stewart, Robert of Albany

So far in our examination of the life of James I, King of Scots we have had some empathy for this boy king who was captured by the English and held in captivity for 18 years under a ransom. This view of James is about to change.

Throughout the 15th century, Scottish kings suffered from a lack of crown revenue and James’s reign was no exception. The Albany regency had also been constrained with Duke Robert owed his fees of governorship. For the nobility, royal patronage ceased entirely following James’s capture; irregular forms of political favours emerged with Albany allowing nobles such as the earl of Douglas and his brother James to remove funds from the customs. It was against this backdrop that James’s coronation took place at Scone on May 21, 1424.

The coronation parliament of the Three Estates witnessed the king perform a knighthood ceremony for eighteen prominent nobles including Alexander Stewart, Murdoch’s son; an event probably intended to foster loyalty to the crown within the political community. Called primarily to discuss issues surrounding the finance of the ransom payments, the parliament heard James underline his position and authority as monarch. He ensured the passing of legislation designed to substantially improve crown income by revoking the patronage of royal predecessors and guardians. The earls of Douglas and Mar were immediately affected by this when their ability to remove large sums from the customs was blocked. Despite this, James was still dependent on the nobility—especially Douglas—for its support and initially adopted a less confrontational stance. The early exception to this was Walter Stewart, Albany’s son. Walter was the heir to the earldom of Lennox and had been in open revolt against his father during 1423 for not giving way to his younger brother Alexander for this title. He also disagreed with his father’s acquiescence to the return of James to Scotland.

James had Walter arrested on May 13, 1424 and imprisoned on the Bass Rock—at this time, this was probably in Murdoch’s interests as well as James’s. It is probable that the king felt unable to move against the rest of the Albany Stewarts while Murdoch’s brother, John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, and Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas, were fighting the English on the Dauphinist cause in France. Buchan, a leader with an international reputation, commanded the large Scottish army but both he and Douglas fell at the Battle of Verneuil in August 1424 and the Scottish army routed. The loss of his brother and the large fighting force left Murdoch politically exposed.

A ruthless and acquisitive king

Douglas’s death at Verneuill was to weaken the position of his son Archibald, the 5th earl. On October 12, 1424, the king and Archibald met at Melrose Abbey ostensibly to agree the appointment of John Fogo, a monk of Melrose, to the abbacy. The meeting may also have been intended as an official acceptance of Douglas but it signalled a change in the Black Douglas predominance vis-a-vis the crown and other nobles. Important Douglas allies died in France and some of their heirs realigned with rival nobles through blood ties while at the same time Douglas experienced a loosening of allegiances in the Lothians and, with the loss of his command over Edinburgh Castle, this all served to improve James’s position. Even though, James continued to retain Black Douglas support allowing him to begin a campaign of political alienation of Albany and his family. The king’s rancor directed at Duke Murdoch had its roots in the past—Duke Robert was responsible for his brother David’s death and neither Robert nor Murdoch exerted themselves in negotiating James’s release and must have left the king with the suspicion that they held aspirations for the throne itself. lands did not fall to the Albany Stewarts but were forfeited by the crown, Albany’s father-in-law, Duncan, Earl of Lennox was imprisoned and in December the duke’s main ally Alexander Stewart, 1st Earl of Mar, settled his differences with the king. An acrimonious sitting of parliament in March 1425 precipitated the arrest of Murdoch, Isabella, his wife, and his son Alexander—of Albany’s other sons Walter was already in prison and James, his youngest, also known as James the Fat, escaped into the Lennox.

James the Fat led the men of Lennox and Argyll in open rebellion against the crown and this may have been what the king needed to bring a charge of treason against the Albany Stewarts. Murdoch, his sons Walter and Alexander and Duncan, Earl of Lennox were in Stirling Castle for their trial on 18 May at a specially convened parliament. An assize of seven earls and fourteen lesser nobles were appointed to hear the evidence that linked the prisoners to the rebellion in the Lennox. The four men were condemned, Walter on 24 May and the others on 25 May and immediately beheaded in ‘front of the castle’. James demonstrated a ruthless and avaricious side to his nature in the destruction of his close family, the Albany Stewarts, that yielded the three forfeited earldoms of Fife, Menteith and Lennox. An enquiry set up by James in 1424 into the dispersal of crown estates since the reign of Robert I exposed legal defects in a number of transactions where the earldoms of Mar, March and Strathearn together with the Black Douglas lordships of Selkirk and Wigtown were found to be problematic. Strathearn and March were forfeited in 1427 and 1435 respectively. Mar was forfeited in 1435 on the earl’s death without heir which also meant that the lordships of Garioch and Badenoch reverted to the crown. James sought to boost his income further through taxation and succeeded in getting parliament to pass legislation in 1424 for a tax to go towards paying off the ransom—£26,000 was raised but James sent only £12,000 to England. By 1429, James stopped the ransom payments completely and used the remainder of the taxation on buying cannons and luxury goods from Flanders. Following a fire in the castle of Linlithgow in 1425, funds were also diverted to the building of Linlithgow Palace which continued until James’s death in 1437 and absorbed an estimated one tenth of royal income.

Part V: Downfall. Coming soon!

James I, King of Scots: Part Three.

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Duke of Albany, Edward III of England, James I of Scotland, King and Queens of Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, Lady Joan Beaufort, Louis XI of France, Murdoch Stewart, Queen of Scotland, Scottish Parliament

One of the political negotiations for the release of James I of Scotland was his marriage to Lady Joan Beaufort and this will be the focus of today’s posting.

The regency council of the infant King Henry VI was inclined to have James released as soon as possible. In the early months of 1423 their attempts to resolve the issue met with little response from the Scots, clearly influenced by the Albany Stewarts and adherents.

The marriage of King James I of Scotland and Lady Joan Beaufort was a true love match and to some degree political. The regency council of Henry VI made the marriage between James and Joan part of the agreement for his release from captivity. It was believed that an English bride would make James more immalleable toward English policies and whims. Further, an alliance with the Beauforts was meant to establish his country’s alliance with the English, rather than the French, the Scots traditional ally. Negotiations resulted in Joan’s dowry of 10,000 merks being subtracted from James’s substantial ransom that was part of the demands on the Scots for the king’s release.

Background and early life

Joan Beaufort (c. 1404 – 15 July 1445) was a daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, a legitimated son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (a son of Edward III of England) by his mistress (and later wife) Kathryn Swynford. Joan’s mother was Margaret Holland, the granddaughter of Joan of Kent (wife of Edward “the Black Prince” Prince of Wales, eldest son of Edward III of England) by her marriage to Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent. This made Joan an extended member of the English Royal Family being she was also a half-niece of King Henry IV of England, great-niece of Richard II and  great-granddaughter of Edward III. Her uncle, Henry Beaufort, was a cardinal and Chancellor of England.

King James I of Scotland met Joan during his time as a prisoner in England, and knew her from at least 1420. James was with the court at Windsor, when he saw Joan for the first time while walking her little lap-dog in the garden, below his window. His narrow window afforded him only a limited view, but the Lady Joan walked the same route every morning. James, it seems was immediately smitten with Joan and wrote of her in his poem famous long poem, The Kingis Quair:

“Beauty, fair enough to make the world to dote, Are ye a worldy creature? Or heavenly thing in likeness of nature? Or are ye Cupid’s own priestess, come here, To loose me out of bonds”

One morning James managed to drop a plucked rose down to Lady Joan, which he saw her wearing the following evening at dinner. Their romance blossomed Lady Joan grieved over James’s imprisonment and even pleaded for him to be released. Soon they were parted as James accompanied Henry V in his dealings in France.

On September 3, 1420, Robert, Duke of Albany died at the age of around 80. His eldest son, 1420, Murdoch, now aged 58, inherited the Dukedom of Albany. He also inherited the Earldom of Fife and the Earldom of Menteith, and at last became Governor of Scotland in his own right. He would hold this position from 1420 to 1424, while King James I was still held captive in England. Few serious attempts appear to have been made by Duke Albany to return James to Scotland, but eventually political pressure compelled Murdoch to agree to a general council.

In August 1423 it was agreed that an embassy should be sent to England to negotiate James’s release. The marriage of James and Joan was part of the negotiations. On February 12, 1424, Joan Beaufort and King James were wed at St Mary Overie Church in Southwark. They were feasted at Winchester Palacethat year by her uncle Cardinal Henry Beaufort.

On March 28, 1424 A ransom treaty of 60,000 marks (an enormous sum) was agreed at Durham onto which James attached his own seal—he and his queen, accompanied by an escort of English and Scottish nobles, proceeded to Melrose Abbey, arriving on April 5, 1424, where he met the Duke of Albany to receive the governor’s seal of office. Upon the return of James I to Scotland, the Duke of Albany lost his position as Regent.

Murdoch, Duke of Albany, was arrested, along with his sons Walter and Alexander, and Duncan, Earl of Lennox were in Stirling Castle for their trial set for May 18, 1425, in front of a prorogued Parliament in the presence of the King. An assize of seven earls and fourteen lesser nobles heard the evidence and in a trial lasting just one day the four men were found guilty of treason.

The jury which condemned them was composed of 21 knights and Peers, including the Duke of Albany’s cousin Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas, Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, and Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar. Murdoch, Duke of Albany and his sons All the prisoners were publicly beheaded on Heading Hill at Stirling Castle. The title Duke of Albany was attainted and all of his peerage titles were forfeited and reverted to the crown. Murdoch, Duke of Albany was buried at Blackfriars’ Church, Stirling.

Queen Joan of Scotland accompanied her husband on his return from captivity in England to Scotland, and was crowned alongside her husband at Scone Abbey. As queen, she often pleaded with the king for those who might be executed.

The royal couple had eight children, including the future James II, and Margaret of Scotland, future spouse of Louis XI of France.

Issue with James I of Scotland

* Margaret Stewart, Princess of Scotland (1424–1445) married Prince Louis, Dauphin of Viennois (later King Louis XI of France)
* Isabella Stewart, Princess of Scotland (1426–1494) married Francis I, Duke of Brittany
* Mary Stewart, Countess of Buchan (died 1465) married Wolfart VI van Borsselen
* Joan of Scotland, Countess of Morton (c. 1428–1486) married James Douglas, 1st Earl of Morton
* Alexander Stewart, Duke of Rothesay (born and died 1430); Twin of James
* James II of Scotland (1430–1460)
* Annabella Stewart, Princess of Scotland married and divorced 1. Louis of Savoy, and then married and divorced 2. George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly
* Eleanor Stewart, Princess of Scotland (1433–1484) married Sigismund, Archduke of Austria.

James I, King of Scots: Part Two.

Tags

Catherine ofValois, Charles VI of France, Duke of Albany, Henry IV, Henry IV of England, Henry V of England, James I of Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, Murdoch of Albany, Robert Duke of Albany

King in captivity

James, now the uncrowned King of Scots, began what proved to be his 18-year period as a hostage while at the same time Robert, Duke of Albany transitioned from his position of lieutenant to that of Governor of Scotland, wielding immense power and was king in all but name. The Duke of Albany confiscated James’s lands and placed them under his own control. This deprived the young king of any income. The Duke of Albany also confiscated the regalia (the Honors of Scotland).

James was held in Windsor Castle and although technically a prisoner Henry IV treated the young James well, provided him with a good education. With James now a regular member of the Court of Henry IV he was ideally placed to observe Henry’s methods of kingship. Despite being a prisoner of the English king, and with his uncle ruling Scotland, James was kept abreast of the events and news within Scotland as he received personal visits from his nobles coupled with letters to individuals to maintain his visibility in his kingdom.

Henry IV died on March 30, 1413 and his son, Henry V, became King of England and Lord of Ireland and the policies and treatment of James changed immediately. The King of Scots became not just a prisoner in theory, he became a prisoner in reality as James’s comparative freedom was halted and Henry V moved him to the Tower of London along with the other Scottish prisoners.

Ironically, one of these prisoners being held at the same time was James’s cousin, Murdoch Stewart, the Duke of Albany’s son, who had been captured in 1402 at the Battle of Homildon Hill. Initially the cousins were held apart but from 1413 until Murdoch’s release in 1415 they were together in the Tower and at Windsor Castle.

James’s value to Henry became apparent in 1420 when he accompanied the English king to France where his presence was used against the Scots fighting on the Dauphinist side. Following the English success at the siege of Melun, a town southeast of Paris, the contingent of Scots were hanged for treason against their kings. These events changed James’s standing at Henry V’s court and his condition improved greatly; he ceased to be regarded as a hostage and more of a guest.

James attended Catherine of Valois’s coronation on February 23, 1421 and was honoured by being seated immediately on the queen’s left at the coronation banquet. Catherine of Valois was the wife of Henry V and the daughter of King Charles VI of France and his wife Isabeau of Bavaria. In March, Henry began a circuit of the important towns in England as a show of strength and it was during this tour that James was knighted on Saint George’s day. By July, the two kings were back campaigning in France where James, evidently approving of Henry’s methods of kingship, seemed content in supporting the English king’s claim for the French crown.

Henry appointed the Duke of Bedford and James as the joint commanders of the siege of Dreux on July 18, 1421 and on August 20, they received the surrender of the garrison. Henry died of dysentery on August 31, 1422 and in September James was part of the escort taking the English king’s body back to London. Henry V was succeeded on the English throne by his 9 month old son who became Henry VI.

Next: The King’s Marriage.

James I, King of Scots: Part One.

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Archibald Douglas, Duke of Albany, Earl of Douglas, Henry IV, Henry IV of England, James I of Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, Robert III of Scotland, Robert of Albany, The Earl of March

King James I of Scotland has an interesting and tragic history. I recently wrote about his father, Robert III of Scotland, and I have decided to do a small series on this tragic Scottish king. This will come in at least three sections, if not more.


James I, King of Scotland (late July 1394 – February 21,1437), was the the youngest of three sons to King Robert III and his wife Annabella Drummond. James was born in Dunfermline Abbey and was not suspected to become Kingof Scots but by the time he was eight both of his elder brothers were dead. The eldest, Robert, had died in infancy and his second brother, David, Duke of Rothesay, died suspiciously in Falkland Palace while being detained by his paternal uncle, Robert, Duke of Albany. Although the Duke of Albany was exonerated by parliament, the vast majority of scholars do believe that the Duke of Albany did have an active hand in the death of his nephew the Duke of Rothesay.

The issues that put the life of young Prince James in peril stems from a complex struggle for power amongst the various branches of the House of Stuart after it had only recently mounted the Scottish throne and faced threats from England. King Robert III was unpopular at this time and apposed by his brother the Duke of Albany. Along with the Duke of Albany, the other key noble opposing King Robert III was Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas. The Earl of Douglas was the eldest legitimate son of Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas and Joanna de Moravia of Bothwell, he was born either at Threave Castle or at Bothwell Castle c.1372 and was known as the Master of Douglas until his accession to the Earldom. Prior to 1390 he had married the Princess Margaret of Carrick, a daughter of King Robert III of Scotland.

In 1399 the Earl of Douglas, along with the Duke of Albany and Albany’s son Murdoch, justiciar North of the Forth, and the bishops Walter of St Andrews and Gilbert of Aberdeen, met at Falkland Castle because the general council criticised Robert III’s governance for the failure to pacify the Gaelic areas in west and north. The outcome of this meeting was that King Robert III was forced to surrender power. He did not surrender power to Douglas or to Albany, but instead to his son and heir the Duke Rothesay. This release of power was to last for a period of three years. Many Scottish nobles supported Douglas and Albany rather than Rothesay. This also motivated Albany to get rid of the Duke of Rothesay. With the Nobles support of Douglas and Albany is considered the source of the reasoning why the two were exonerated so willingly by the Scottish Parliament for the death of the Duke of Rothesay.

Removing Douglas and Albany from the equation created a source of the friction between and the rest of the Scottish Royal house and the nobility because Douglas and Albany were considered to be the only fit antidote to George Dunbar, Earl of March and his renewed hostility with Robert III and the Duke of Rothesay. These hostilities would also involve Henry IV and his English troops.

The conflict between Earl of March and the Duke of Rothesay occurred when the Rothesay married decided to marry Mary Douglas, daughter of the Earl of Douglas rather than remarrying Elizabeth Dunbar as previously agreed. In consequence of this slight upon his family’s honour, the Earl of March renounced his allegiance to Robert III and retired into England, placing himself under the protection of King Henry IV. In 1401 he made a wasteful inroad into Scotland, and in June 1402 he was victorious against a small Scottish force at the Battle of Nesbit Moor. At the subsequent Battle of Homildon Hill he again fought on the English side.

With the death of the Duke of Rothesay fears for James’s safety grew through the winter of 1405–1406 and plans were made to send him to France to keep him out of reach of both the Duke of Albany (the Earl of Douglas died in 1400) along with the Earl of March and his garrisons. In February 1406 James was accompanying nobles close to his father when they clashed with supporters of the Earl of March, forcing the prince to take refuge in the castle of the Bass Rock, a small islet in the Firth of Forth. He remained there until mid-March when he boarded a vessel bound for France, but on March 22 while off the English coast, pirates captured the ship and delivered James to Henry IV of England. The ailing Robert III died on April 4, 1406 and the 12-year-old James, now the uncrowned King of Scots, was a prisoner of the English king.


Part II: Captivity in England.

Death of King Robert III of Scotland.

Tags

David II of Scotland, Duke of Albany, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Henry IV, Henry IV of England, House of Stuart, James I of Scotland, Kings and Queens of England, kings and queens of Scotland, Robert III of Scotland, Robert the Bruce

On this date in History. April 4, 1406. Death of King Robert III of Scotland.

Robert III (c.1337/40 – April 4, 1406), born John Stewart, was King of Scots from 1390 to his death. He was known primarily as John, Earl of Carrick before ascending the throne. He was the eldest son of Robert II and Elizabeth Mure and was legitimated with the marriage of his parents in 1347.

In 1368 David II, King of Scots created John Earl of Carrick. His father became king Robert II in 1371 after the unexpected death of the childless King David II. Robert II’s claim to the throne of Scotland was as the nephew of David II and also as a grand son of Robert I (Robert the Bruce). Robert II was the son of the son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of the Scottish king Robert the Bruce by his first wife Isabella of Mar. This made Robert II the first Scottish king of the House of Stewart (Stuart)*

John Stewart, Earl of Carrick was influential in the government of the kingdom but became progressively more impatient at his father’s longevity. The Earl of CarrickRobert II died at Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire on April 19, 1390 and was buried at Scone on April 25. The Earl of Carrick was 53 years old when he ascended the Scottish throne.

In May 1390 the Scottish Parliament granted John permission to change his regnal name to Robert III probably in part to maintain the link back to Robert I but also to disassociate himself from unpopular King John Balliol.

In 1367 Robert III, then Earl of Carrick, married Annabella Drummond the daughter of Sir John Drummond, 11th Thane of Lennox and Mary Montifex, daughter of Sir William Montifex. They had seven children. The heir to the throne was David Stewart (24 October 1378 – 26 March 1402). He was the first Duke of Rothesay from 1398. He was named after his great-great-uncle, David II of Scotland, and also held the titles of Earl of Atholl (1398–1402) and Earl of Carrick (1390–1402).

In late February 1402, while travelling officially to St Andrews, David was arrested just outside the city at Strathtyrum in a sting operation which had been arranged by Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340 – 3 September 1420), the younger brother of Robert III, King of Scots a ruthless politician. The Duke of Albany, at that time in complicit alliance with Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglas. (David’s father-in-law, the highly influential third Earl, had died two years before, in 1400.) concocted the pretext for David’s arrest was that his lieutenancy had expired. He was initially held captive in St Andrews Castle, and soon afterwards taken to Falkland Palace, Albany’s residence in Fife. At Falkland David remained a prisoner and shortly died there, reputedly of starvation. A few weeks later, in May 1402, a public enquiry into the circumstances of David’s death exonerated Albany of all blame.

Following David, the Duke of Rothesay’s death, and with the restoration of the lieutenancy to Albany and the Scottish defeat at the battle of Humbleton, Robert III experienced almost total exclusion from political authority and was limited to his lands in the west.

By October 28, 1405 Robert III had returned to Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire. With the king’s health failing, it was decided in the winter of 1405–6 to send the young prince James, now heir to the throne after his brothers death, to France out of the reach of the Duke of Albany. On March 22, 1406 the ship was taken by English pirates off Flamborough Head, who delivered James to King Henry IV of England. Robert III had moved to Rothesay Castle where, after hearing of his son’s captivity, died on April 4, 1406, and was buried in Paisley Abbey, which had been founded by the Stewarts.

James Stewart, succeeded Robert III as James I, King of Scots (although at that time remaining uncrowned and in captivity in England) while the Duke of Albany secured himself as de facto ruler of Scotland.

* Stewart was the original spelling for the name of the Royal House. It was after the reign of Mary I, Queen of Scots and her time in France did the spelling of the Royal House change to Stuart, the French form of the name.