Category Archives: Scottish Royals

Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots

by Susan Flantzer  by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2016

by Daniel Mytens; Credit – Wikipedia

The highborn and noble princess Lady Margaret, known better as Margaret Tudor, was born at the Palace of Westminster in London, England on November 28, 1489. She was the eldest daughter and the second of the eight children of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch, and Elizabeth of York, the eldest child of King Edward IV of England. When the Tudor line died out with the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1603, Margaret’s great-grandson James VI, King of Scots succeeded to the English throne as King James I. Margaret is the ancestor of many European royal families, past and present.

Margaret was christened the day after her birth at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster. Her godparents were:

Margaret had six siblings. Unlike her older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, who lived in his own household, Margaret spent most of her childhood with her siblings.

Henry VII’s family: At left, Henry VII, with Arthur, Prince of Wales behind him, then Henry (later Henry VIII), and Edmund, who did not survive early childhood. To the right is Elizabeth of York, with Margaret, then Elizabeth who didn’t survive childhood, Mary, and Katherine, who died shortly after her birth; Credit – Wikipedia

On January 24, 1502, England and Scotland concluded the Treaty of Perpetual Peace, agreeing to end the warfare between England and Scotland that occurred over the previous two hundred years. As part of the treaty, a marriage was arranged between 28-year-old James IV, King of Scots and twelve-year-old Margaret Tudor. A proxy marriage was held on January 25, 1503, at Richmond Palace with Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell standing in for James IV. Margaret was exactly the same age as her paternal grandmother Margaret Beaufort had been when she married Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond. Margaret Beaufort was determined that her granddaughter not consummate her marriage at such an early age and insisted that Margaret must remain in England until she was older. After the proxy marriage, Margaret was officially Queen of Scotland and received the precedence and honor due to a Queen.

In 1501, Margaret’s elder brother Arthur, Prince of Wales married Catherine of Aragon, the youngest daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Five months later, on April 2, 1502, 15-year-old Arthur was dead, probably of sweating sickness, and his family was devastated. Shortly after Arthur’s death, Margaret’s mother Elizabeth became pregnant again and hoped for a son. Elizabeth spent that year preparing her daughter Margaret for her role as Queen of Scots. In early 1503, Elizabeth spent her confinement at the Tower of London. On February 2, 1503, she gave birth to a daughter, Katherine. Shortly after giving birth, Elizabeth became ill with puerperal fever (childbed fever) and died on February 11, 1503, her 37th birthday. Little Katherine died on February 18, 1503.

James IV, King of Scots and Margaret Tudor; Credit – Wikipedia

In June 1503, just a few months after her mother’s death, Margaret left London with her father to begin her journey to Scotland. Her formal court farewell was held at her paternal grandmother’s home Collyweston Palace near Stamford, Northamptonshire, England. After two weeks of celebrations, Margaret rode out to her new life with only one relative, Sir David Owen, the illegitimate son of her great-grandfather Owen Tudor. On August 3, 1503, at Dalkeith Castle in Midlothian, Scotland, Margaret first met King James IV. The couple was married in person on August 8, 1503, at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Margaret and James had four sons and two stillborn daughters. Only one of their children survived infancy.

James IV, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1509, Margaret’s father King Henry VII of England died and was succeeded by his son as King Henry VIII. Despite the great hopes of peace between England and Scotland as symbolized by the marriage of Margaret and James IV, Margaret’s brother Henry VIII did not have his father’s diplomatic patience and was heading toward a war with France. James IV was committed to his alliance with France and invaded England. Henry VIII was away on campaign in France and Flanders in 1513 and he had made his wife Catherine of Aragon regent in his absence. It was up to Catherine to supervise England’s defense when Scotland invaded. Ultimately, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Flodden near Branxton, Northumberland, England on September 9, 1513, and 30-year-old King James IV was killed in the battle. Catherine sent Henry VIII the blood-stained coat of his defeated and dead brother-in-law.

Margaret and James IV’s only surviving child  James V, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret’s seventeen-month-old son succeeded his father as James V, King of Scots. Under the terms of James IV’s will, Margaret was the regent for her son as long as she did not remarry. On April 30, 1514, Margaret gave birth to a son Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross who died on December 18, 1515. While the Scottish Parliament had confirmed Margaret as regent, many were unhappy with an English female regent and wanted Margaret replaced with John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, grandson of James II, King of Scots, the closest male relative of the infant king, and the heir presumptive to the throne after the death of young son Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross.

Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus; Credit – Wikipedia

Margaret sought an ally with the pro-English House of Douglas. On August 6, 1514, Margaret secretly married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. The marriage stirred up the Scottish nobles and opposition to the faction supporting French influence in Scotland. Civil war broke out, and Margaret lost the regency to John Stewart, Duke of Albany. Margaret and Douglas escaped to England where she gave birth to their only child at Harbottle Castle in Northumberland, England. While in the north of England, Margaret learned of the death of her son Alexander, Duke of Ross.

Daughter of Margaret and Archibald Douglas:

Lady Margaret Douglas, Margaret Tudor’s daughter; Credit – Wikipedia

Sometime after the birth of her daughter, Margaret and her husband went to London where they were well treated by her brother Henry VIII and lived in Scotland Yard, the traditional residence of the Scottish diplomats and Scottish kings when they visited English royalty. Margaret returned to Scotland in 1517, hoping to regain her dower, a provision accorded by law to a wife for her support if she should survive her husband, and also to regain access to her son James V, but she was unsuccessful in both pursuits. After returning to Scotland, it soon became clear that Margaret’s marriage with Archibald Douglas was on the rocks. He lived openly with his mistresses, gave them gifts paid for with Margaret’s money, and separated Margaret from her daughter. On March 11, 1527, Pope Clement VII granted Margaret a divorce from Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus.

On March 3, 1528, Margaret married Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven to the consternation of her brother King Henry VIII who insisted that marriage was “divinely ordained” and protested against the “shameless sentence sent from Rome.” Ironically, a few years later Henry VIII would seek to end his marriages with Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. Margaret and Stewart had one daughter who died young. Stewart proved to be even worse than Margaret’s second husband in his desire for other women and Margaret’s money. Margaret tried to divorce Stewart, but her son James V blocked the proceedings and Margaret felt that Stewart had bribed her son. Margaret often wrote to her brother Henry VIII about her plight, but he never helped her. In 1537, Margaret tried to escape to England but was brought back to Methven Castle where she lived until her death.

Methven Castle; By Arthur Bruce, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=482685

After suffering a stroke, Margaret died at Methven Castle on October 18, 1541, at the age of 51. On her deathbed, Margaret asked her second husband Archibald Douglas to forgive her for having divorced him, telling him that he was her lawful husband and that their marriage was valid. It is not clear whether her motivation was regret or an attempt to ensure the legitimacy of her daughter Margaret Douglas to preserve her position in the line of succession to the English throne. Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots was buried at the Carthusian Charterhouse in Perth, Scotland. Her tomb was destroyed and her remains were burned on May 11, 1559, when a mob of Calvinists attacked and destroyed the Charterhouse.

Monument marking the site of the Perth Charterhouse; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited
Abrufstatistik. “Margaret Tudor.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 2006. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
De Lisle, Leanda. Tudor. Philadelphia: Perseus Books Group, 2013. Print.
“James IV of Scotland.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Oct. 2016. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
“Margaret Tudor.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Oct. 2016. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
Williamson, David. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell, 1996. Print.

Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Matilda of Scotland, the first wife of King Henry I of England, was born around 1080 at Dunfermline in Scotland. Christened with the Anglo-Saxon name Edith, she was one of the eight children of King Malcolm III of Scotland and his second wife Saint Margaret of Scotland.  At her christening was her godfather Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of King William I of England (the Conqueror), and her godmother, Matilda of Flanders, the wife of King William I of England (the Conqueror). The infant Matilda pulled at Queen Matilda’s headdress, which was seen as an omen that the younger Matilda would be a queen one day. In fact, she would marry Queen Matilda’s son and Robert Curthose’s brother, King Henry I of England.

Matilda’s father is the Malcolm character in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.  Her mother Saint Margaret of Scotland was born an Anglo-Saxon princess. Margaret’s father was Edward the Exile (also called Edward Ætheling), the son of Edmund Ironside, King of the English, and had the best hereditary claim to the English throne during the reign of the childless Edward the Confessor. In 1057, Edward the Confessor, the childless King of England, discovered that his nephew Edward the Exile, believed to have been killed, was still alive and summoned him to England in 1057 as a potential successor. However, Edward died within two days of his arrival in England and the cause of his death has never been determined. Murder is a possibility, as he had many powerful enemies. His three children, Margaret, her brother Edgar the Ætheling, and her sister Cristina, were then raised in the court of Edward the Confessor, who died in January of 1066.

Saint Margaret of Scotland and King Malcolm III of Scotland depicted on a frieze by the Victorian painter William Hole; Credit – Wikipedia

Following the death of Edward the Confessor’s successor Harold Godwinson, King of England at the Battle of Hastings, Margaret’s brother Edgar the Ætheling, who was the last of the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex, was elected King of England. As William of Normandy’s (King William I of England the Conqueror) position grew stronger, it became evident to those in power that King Edgar should be abandoned and that they should submit to William. In 1068, Edgar, along with his mother Agatha and sisters Margaret and Cristina, fled to Northumbria. Supposedly, Agatha wanted to return to her native Hungary, but their ship was blown off course by a storm and they sought refuge from King Malcolm III of Scotland. Malcolm’s first wife Ingebjorg Finnsdotter died around 1069, and shortly thereafter he married Margaret. Margaret and Malcolm’s children had a strong genetic connection to the Anglo-Saxon kings. Bearing in mind that William the Conqueror’s new dynasty in England was not secure, Margaret and Malcolm gave four of their sons Anglo-Saxon royal names, and named the other two sons after Alexander the Great and the biblical King David.

Matilda’s seven siblings:

Matilda had three half-brothers from her father’s first marriage to Ingibiorg Finnsdottir.

At about the age of six, Matilda, then still called Edith, and her sister Mary were sent to be educated at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire, England where their maternal aunt Cristina was the Abbess. The girls also were educated for a time at Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire, England which had a connection to their ancestors from the House of Wessex.  Both girls learned English, French, and some Latin, and were literate enough to read the Bible. As the daughter of the King of Scots, Matilda had several suitors including William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, and Alan Rufus, 1st Lord of Richmond, and possibly even King William II Rufus of England.

On November 13, 1093, Matilda’s father King Malcolm III of Scotland and her eldest brother Edward were killed at the Battle of Alnwick. Malcolm was succeeded by his eldest son from his first marriage King Donald II of Scotland who was killed in battle in 1094. Thereafter, three brothers of Matilda succeeded to the Scottish throne. Weakened from her constant fasting and austere life, Matilda’s mother Margaret was already ill when her husband and eldest son went off to battle. She died at Dunfermline just three days after her husband and son’s death. Margaret was canonized as a saint in 1250 by Pope Innocent IV.

Sometime in 1093, Matilda left Wilton Abbey. This is known because Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote to Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury ordering that Matilda should return to Wilton Abbey. The Archbishop of Canterbury mistakenly thought that Matilda had taken vows as a nun. There is no mention of Matilda in any chronicle from 1093-1100. Her whereabouts during that time period are unknown.

On August 2, 1100, King William II Rufus of England was killed in a hunting accident, and his younger brother succeeded as King Henry I. Henry was about 32 years old and needed a bride, and his choice fell upon Matilda of Scotland, basically motivated for one reason. Through her mother, Matilda would merge the bloodline of the Anglo-Saxon kings with Henry’s Norman bloodline. However, Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury still had that problem thinking Matilda had taken vows as a nun, so he called a council of bishops to determine if Matilda and Henry could marry. Matilda testified that her parents had sent her to the abbeys to be educated and that she had never taken vows. Her aunt Cristina, Abbess of Romsey Abbey had insisted she wear a nun’s habit to protect her from unruly Norman lords and unwanted marriages. The council of bishops determined that Matilda had never been a nun and gave their permission for Matilda and King Henry I to marry. Matilda and Henry were married on November 11, 1100, at Westminster Abbey by Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury. Afterward, she was crowned with the Norman name Matilda in honor of Henry’s deceased mother Matilda of Flanders.

Statues of King Henry I and Matilda of Scotland from the west front of Rochester Cathedral; Credit – Wikipedia

Matilda and Henry had four children, but only two survived childhood. Their son William Ætheling died on November 25, 1120, as he was returning to England from Normandy when his ship hit a submerged rock, capsized, and sank. William Ætheling and many others drowned. See Unofficial Royalty: The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession. Henry was not faithful to Matilda. He holds the record for the British monarch with the most illegitimate children, 25 or so illegitimate children, but the tragedy of the White Ship left him with only one legitimate child, his daughter Matilda, known as Empress Matilda from her first marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.

Matilda and Henry’s children:

Matilda accompanied her husband in his travels throughout England and Normandy. She was a patron of music and poetry and commissioned a biography of her mother, The Life of Saint Margaret, attributed to Turgot of Durham.  Influenced by her abbey upbringing and her mother Saint Margaret of Scotland, Matilda was pious and generous to the poor. She built a leper hospital at St. Giles-in-the-Fields in London and founded Holy Trinity Priory at Aldgate in London.  Like her saintly mother, Matilda wore a hair shirt, walked barefoot during Lent, gave food and clothing to the poor, and washed the feet of lepers and poor people.

Matilda died when she was about the age of 38 on May 1, 1118, at the Palace of Westminster in London. The place of her burial is uncertain. One tradition says that she was buried at Winchester Cathedral in the old monastery and that around 1158 Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester had her remains placed in a mortuary chest which is now lost. Another tradition says Matilda was buried in Westminster Abbey at the entrance of the chapter house and then later reburied to the south of Edward the Confessor’s shrine by King Henry III.

After Matilda’s death, her husband King Henry I married Adeliza of Louvain, hoping for sons to prevent a succession crisis, but the marriage remained childless. On Christmas Day of 1226, King Henry I of England gathered his nobles at Westminster where they swore to recognize his daughter Empress Matilda and any future legitimate heir she might have as his successors. That plan did not work out. Henry died on December 1, 1135. Upon hearing of Henry’s death, Stephen of Blois, one of Henry’s nephews, quickly crossed the English Channel from France, seized power, and was crowned King of England on December 22, 1135. This started the terrible civil war between Stephen and Empress Matilda known as The Anarchy.  England did not see peace for 18 years until Empress Matilda’s son acceded to the throne as King Henry II of England in 1153.

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England: House of Normandy Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Anne of Denmark, Queen of Scots, Queen of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Anne of Denmark (Anna in Danish) was born at Skanderborg Castle on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark on December 12, 1574. She was the second of the eight children of King Frederik II of Denmark and Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow. Anne had seven siblings:

Anne spent the first part of her childhood with her sister Elisabeth and her brother Christian in Güstrow with her maternal grandparents Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg- Güstrow and
Elisabeth of Denmark, sister of King Christian III of Denmark, the children’s paternal grandfather. In 1588, Anne’s father died and her 11-year-old brother became King Christian IV, and the three children returned to Denmark. King Christian IV reigned for 59 years and is the longest-reigning Danish monarch.

Anne was 14-years-old when she returned to Denmark and candidates for her hand in marriage were numerous as the Danish court was considered wealthy and a high dowry was expected. Anne’s mother opted for the Scottish King James VI, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. On August 20, 1589, Anne was married by proxy to James VI, King of Scots at Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, Denmark. Ten days after the proxy wedding, Anne set sail for Scotland, but severe storms forced her to land in Norway. Upon hearing this, James set sail to personally bring Anne to Scotland. On November 23, 1589, the couple was formally married at the Bishop’s Palace in Oslo, Norway. After a prolonged visit to Denmark, James and Anne landed in Scotland on May 1, 1590. On May 5, 1590, Anne made her state entry into Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. She was crowned Queen of Scots on May 17, 1590, at the Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.

James and Anne had seven children and at least three miscarriages. Only three of their children survived childhood:

by Charles Turner, published by Samuel Woodburn, after Willem de Passe, mezzotint, published 1814

‘James I and his royal progeny’ by Charles Turner, published by Samuel Woodburn, after Willem de Passe mezzotint, published 1814 NPG D9808 © National Portrait Gallery, London

Although Anne and James were close at the beginning of their marriage, their relationship deteriorated over the years. Their first major argument was over the transfer of the custody of their firstborn Henry, Prince of Wales to John Erskine, Earl of Mar at Stirling Castle, in keeping with Scottish royal tradition, which led to estrangement and a competition for the custody of the Prince of Wales. Courtiers noticed a number of incidents of marital discord including a three-year rift when Anne refused to dismiss two of her ladies-in-waiting after their brothers were killed by James’ attendants for a supposed assault on the king, and a confrontation when Anne shot and killed James’ favorite dog during a hunting session.

On March 24, 1603, Queen Elizabeth I of England died and James became King James I of England. Since none of the children of King Henry VIII had children, James was the senior heir of King Henry VII through his eldest daughter Margaret Tudor. (King Henry VII → Margaret Tudor married King James IV of Scotland → King James V of Scotland → Mary, Queen of Scots → King James VI of Scotland). Anne was pregnant when Queen Elizabeth died, so James set out for England without her. Anne miscarried the child in May 1603 and joined James in England when she had recovered. James and Anne were crowned King and Queen of England at Westminster Abbey on July 25, 1603. Religion provided another conflict. Although Anne was raised a Lutheran, she refused to take Communion during the Church of England coronation at Westminster Abbey. There were suspicions that Anne secretly converted to Roman Catholicism which put James in an awkward situation as King of England.

Anne’s expensive tastes in clothing and jewels contributed much to the English court’s costs and this hurt James’ reputation. After 1606, Anne and James lived mostly apart, with Anne residing largely at Somerset House, renamed Denmark House.  In 1612, 18-year-old Henry, Prince of Wales died from typhoid fever, which was a great tragedy for Anne and the entire nation. Anne could not bear to have Henry’s death mentioned and people were advised not to give her condolences. After her son’s death, Anne’s health began to deteriorate and she withdrew from social activities.

Anne in mourning for her son Henry, Prince of Wales; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1616, the Queen’s House, designed by the famed architect Inigo Jones, was commissioned for Anne at Greenwich, London, but work on the house stopped in April 1618 when Anne became quite ill. Work did not restart again until 1629 when the house was given to Henrietta Maria of France by her husband King Charles I, and the house was completed in 1635.

The Queen’s House at Greenwich, Credit – Wikipedia, © Bill Bertram 2006, CC-BY-2.5 — Attribution

By 1617, Anne’s condition became debilitating. James visited Anne only three times during her last years, but her surviving son Charles was often with her and was at her bedside when Anne died at the age of 44 from dropsy (edema) at Hampton Court Palace on March 2, 1619. Also with Anne at her deathbed was her personal maid Anna Roos who came with Anne from Denmark in 1590. On May 13, 1619, Anne was buried at Westminster Abbey in a vault beneath the monument to the Dukes of Buckingham in the Henry VII Chapel. Her grave is marked by the inscription on the floor: “ANNE OF DENMARK QUEEN OF KING JAMES 1st 1619.” It had taken James twelve weeks to raise the money for proper funeral rites of his wife. James survived his wife by six years, dying on March 27, 1625, and was succeeded by his son King Charles I who was beheaded during the English Civil War.

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House of Stuart Resources at Unofficial Royalty

James VI, King of Scots/King James I of England

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2015

James VI, King of Scots/King James I of England; Credit – Wikipedia

King James VI’s reign in Scotland was 57 years and 246 days, longer than any of his predecessors. In 1603, upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England, James also became King of England and reigned there for nearly 22 years. James was born in Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 19, 1566. He was the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband (and first cousin) Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, both grandchildren of Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England and sister of King Henry VIII of England. James was baptized Charles James in a Catholic ceremony at Stirling Castle. His godparents were King Charles IX of France, Queen Elizabeth I of England, and Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy.  All of the godparents were represented by other people at the christening.

James’ parents, Henry, Lord Darnley and Mary, Queen of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

James was only eight months old when his father was murdered by an explosion at Kirk o’ Field, the house where he was staying in Edinburgh, Scotland. When James was 11 months old, Protestant rebels arrested his Catholic mother and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle. Mary never saw her son again. She was forced to abdicate on July 24, 1567, in favor of James and to appoint her illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, as regent. Little James was crowned on July 29, 1567, at the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling, Scotland.

A young James VI, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1568, Mary escaped from her imprisonment at Loch Leven Castle. After being defeated at the Battle of Langside, Mary was forced to flee to England and was subsequently imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I of England. She remained imprisoned until her execution in 1587, after her implication in the Babington Plot, a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. Initially buried at Peterborough Cathedral, Mary’s remains were exhumed upon the orders of her son in 1612, then King of England, and were reburied in a marble tomb with an effigy in Westminster Abbey in a chapel opposite the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I.

James was consigned to the care of John Erskine, Earl of Mar. He was brought up in the Protestant Church of Scotland and was educated by a group of tutors led by the Scottish historian and humanist George Buchanan. During his childhood, James was controlled by powerful nobles and the clergy of the Church of Scotland and was merely a pawn in their machinations.

Throughout his life, James had close relationships with male courtiers, which has caused debate among historians about the nature of the relationships. However, marriage was necessary to provide heirs to the throne. On August 20, 1589, James was married by proxy to Anne of Denmark at Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, Denmark. Anne was the eldest daughter of King Frederik II of Denmark and Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, who conducted the marriage negotiations after the death of her husband in 1588. Ten days after the proxy wedding, Anne set sail for Scotland, but severe storms forced her to land in Norway. Upon hearing this, James set sail to personally bring Anne to Scotland. On November 23, 1589, the couple was formally married at the Bishop’s Palace in Oslo, Norway. After a prolonged visit to Denmark, James and Anne landed in Scotland on May 1, 1590.

by Renold or Reginold Elstrack (Elstracke), line engraving, early 17th century

King James I of England and VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark by Renold or Reginold Elstrack (Elstracke) line engraving, early 17th-century NPG D25686 © National Portrait Gallery, London

James and Anne had seven children, but only three survived childhood:

by Charles Turner, published by Samuel Woodburn, after Willem de Passe, mezzotint, published 1814

‘James I and his royal progeny’ by Charles Turner, published by Samuel Woodburn, after Willem de Passe mezzotint, published 1814 NPG D9808 © National Portrait Gallery, London

James was the author of several works including Daemonologie (1597), in which he supports the practice of witch-hunting, True Law of Free Monarchies (1598), in which he sets out the doctrine of the divine right of kings that proved fatal to his son and successor King Charles I, and Basilikon Doron (1599), written as a book of instruction for his heir Prince Henry. After Prince Henry’s death in 1612, James gave it to his second son, later King Charles I.

Henry, Prince of Wales, circa 1610; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1586, James signed the Treaty of Berwick, a peace agreement between Scotland and England. The treaty included a defensive pact should either Scotland or England be invaded and provided James with an annual pension of £4,000 from England. This led many to believe that Queen Elizabeth I already considered James an heir to the English throne. Since none of the children of King Henry VIII had children, James was the senior heir of King Henry VII through his eldest daughter Margaret Tudor. From 1601 onward, Sir Robert Cecil, Queen Elizabeth’s chief minister maintained a secret correspondence with James to facilitate a smooth succession. On her deathbed, Queen Elizabeth gave her assent that James should succeed her. Elizabeth died on March 24, 1603. James entered London on May 7, 1603, and his coronation was held on July 25, 1603.

James was now James VI, King of Scots and King James I of England. The following Stuart monarchs of England were also Kings/Queens of Scots until 1707 when Scotland and England were united into a single kingdom called Great Britain: Charles I, Charles II, James II, Mary II, William III, and Anne.

King James I of England in his coronation robes; Credit – Wikipedia

Some important events of King James I’s reign:

  • “Golden Age” of Elizabethan literature and drama continued, with writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Sir Francis Bacon
  • Survived two plots to overthrow him in 1603: Bye Plot and Main Plot
  • Made peace with Spain in 1604: Treaty of London ended Anglo-Spanish War
  • Gunpowder Plot, 1605: Catholic Guy Fawkes conspired with others to blow up Parliament, plot averted
  • Popish Recusants Act, 1606: required citizens to take an Oath of Allegiance denying the Pope’s authority over the king
  • English colonization starts in North America with the founding of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607
  • King James Version of the Bible: an authorized version of the Bible completed in 1611
  • James I dissolves Parliament in 1610 and 1614: James I reigns without Parliament from 1614 – 1621
  • Spanish Match, 1614 – 1623: a proposed marriage between James I’s son and heir Charles and Infanta Maria Anna, the daughter of Philip III of Spain, the negotiations were closely related to British foreign policy and religious policy and were ultimately unsuccessful

Anne of Denmark, 1617; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1619, James’ wife Anne died, aged 44, from dropsy (edema) after suffering extended bouts of debilitating illness since 1617. She was buried in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey in London, England. James’ health began to suffer from arthritis, gout, and kidney stones when he was about 50 years old. During the last year of his life, he was rarely well enough to visit London. In March 1625, James became ill with a recurring fever and then suffered a stroke. He died on March 27, 1625, aged 58, at Theobalds House in Hertfordshire, England, one of his favorite country homes. He was buried in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey in the vault of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, his great-great-grandparents. Plans were drawn up for a monument in the classic style, but the monument was never built. Only an inscription on the floor of the chapel marks his grave.

Inscription on the floor of the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey marking the nearby grave of James I; Photo Credit – findagrave.com

House of Stuart Resources at Unofficial Royalty

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William I, King of Scots (the Lion)

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2015

Seal of William I, King of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

William I, King of Scots, nicknamed “the Lion,” had the second-longest reign in Scottish history before the Act of Union with England in 1707. He reigned for 49 years, from 1165 – 1214, and was a contemporary of King Henry II of England and his sons King Richard I and King John. Born around 1143, William was the second son of Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Northumberland and the 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and Northampton (who was a son of David I, King of Scots) and Ada de Warenne.  William was not known as “the Lion” in his lifetime. The nickname did not refer to his personality or his military ability but referred to his standard, a red lion rampant with a forked tail on a yellow background. This became the Royal Standard of Scotland and is used today on the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom, quartered with the royal standards of England and Ireland.

The royal standard of Scotland; Credit – Wikipedia

William had six siblings:

Upon the death of his grandfather David I, King of Scots, William’s elder brother succeeded to the throne as Malcolm IV, King of Scots because David’s only son, Malcolm and William’s father Henry, had predeceased him. Malcolm died in 1165 at the age of 24 and William became King of Scots. William was crowned and anointed at Scone Abbey on December 24, 1165.

Malcolm IV had been forced to surrender Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland to King Henry II of England and to acknowledge Henry II as his overlord. In 1173, rebellious English barons enticed William to join their cause with the promise of the return of Northumberland. William invaded England but was taken prisoner at the Battle of Alnwick on July 13, 1174. The Treaty of Falaise obliged William to acknowledge Henry II as his overlord, agree to pay for the cost of the English army’s occupation of Scotland by taxing the Scots, and to surrender several castles as security. William was released on February 2, 1175, and allowed to return to Scotland. The treaty was canceled in 1189 when King Richard I of England effectively sold southern Scotland back to William to help fund his crusade in the Holy Land.

In 1178, William founded Arbroath Abbey in memory of the martyred Saint Thomas Becket, whom he had met at the English court. Henry II restored the Earldom of Huntington (which still exists today) to William in 1185 who then granted it to his brother David. During William’s reign, settlements were extended and new ones were founded, criminal law clarified, the responsibilities of justices and sheriffs became greater, and trade grew.

The terms of the Treaty of Falaise gave Henry II of England the right to choose William’s wife. As a result, William married Ermengarde de Beaumont, a great-granddaughter of King Henry I of England (through an illegitimate child of Henry I), at Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England on September 5, 1186. William and Ermengarde had four children:

William had a number of illegitimate children. Their descendants, along with the descendants of William’s siblings, were among those who would lay claim to the Scottish crown when seven-year-old Margaret, Maid of Norway, the grandchild of the late Alexander III, King of Scots, died in 1290.

William lived to be about 70, dying at Stirling Castle in Stirling, Scotland on December 4, 1214. He was buried at Arbroath Abbey in Arbroath, Scotland. He was succeeded by his son Alexander II who reigned from 1214 to 1249.

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David II, King of Scots

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2015

Credit – Wikipedia

The second and last monarch of the House of Bruce, David II, King of Scots is one of the longest-reigning monarchs of Scotland, having reigned for 41 years, 260 days. He became king in 1329 at the age of five and reigned until his death in 1371 at the age of 46. Born on March 4, 1324, at Dunfermline Palace in Fife, Scotland, David was the elder, but only surviving son of Robert I, King of Scots (also known as Robert the Bruce) and his second wife Elizabeth de Brugh.

David had a twin brother and two sisters:

  • Margaret (died 1346/47), married William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland, had one son who died at age 20 of the plague
  • Matilda (died 1353), married Thomas Isaac, had two daughters
  • John (March 5, 1324 – 1327), younger twin brother of David II

David also had a half-sister, Marjorie Bruce (1296 – 1316), from his father’s first marriage to Isabella of Mar. Marjorie married Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland. Like her mother Isabella of Mar, Marjorie also died in childbirth at age 19. She was thrown from her horse and went into premature labor and died soon after delivering a son. Her son became Robert II, King of Scots, the first monarch of the Stewart dynasty. Marjorie’s descendants include the House of Stewart and all their successors on the thrones of Scotland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom.

On July 17, 1328, four-year-old David married seven-year-old Joan of the Tower, the youngest daughter of King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. David’s mother had died in 1327 and upon the death of his father on June 7, 1329, David succeeded to the Scottish throne. The child king and queen were crowned and anointed at Scone Abbey on November 24, 1331.

Joan and David II with Philip VI of France; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1332-1333, David’s brother-in-law, King Edward III of England, invaded Scotland in support of Edward Balliol‘s claim to the Scots throne and defeated the Scots. David and Joan sought refuge in France and remained there from 1334 until May of 1341 when David returned to Scotland and took control of the government. King Philip VI of France persuaded David to invade England. However, the Scots forces were defeated at the Battle of Neville’s Cross on October 17, 1346, and David was taken prisoner. He was held by the English for 11 years and was finally freed in 1357 by the Treaty of Berwick which stipulated that a large ransom would be paid over the next 10 years.

David II (left) and Edward III (right); Credit – Wikipedia

Joan, who had accompanied her husband in his exiles, died on September 7, 1362, at the age of 41, without giving her husband an heir. David married his mistress Margaret Drummond on February 20, 1364. He divorced her in 1370 on the grounds of infertility. However, Margaret successfully petitioned Pope Urban V to reverse the divorce because it seemed likely that David was infertile as his 34-year marriage to his first wife produced no issue.

In the later years of his reign, David continued to pursue peace with England and worked to make Scotland a stronger kingdom with a more prosperous economy. David II, King of Scots, aged 46, died unexpectedly on February 22, 1371, at Edinburgh Castle and was buried at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, now in ruins. As both his marriages were childless, David was succeeded by his nephew, the son of his half-sister Marjorie, who became Robert II, King of Scots, the first monarch of the House of Stewart.

Ruins of Holyrood Abbey; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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Saint Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Scotland

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2013

Saint Margaret of Scotland, stained glass window at St. Margaret’s Chapel at Edinburgh Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

Despite being called Saint Margaret of Scotland, Margaret was born an Anglo-Saxon princess around 1045 in Hungary.  Her father was Edward the Exile (also called Edward Ætheling), the son of King Edmund Ironside (King Edmund II).  Edmund Ironside succeeded his father Æthelred II the Unready as King of England on April 23, 1016. Edmund’s reign was short-lived.  During his seven-month reign, Edmund battled against the Danish Cnut the Great for control of England.  After a victory for the Danes at the Battle of Assandun on October 18, 1016, Edmund was forced to sign a treaty with Cnut which stated that all of England except Wessex would be controlled by Cnut.  When one of the kings died, the other would take all of England, that king’s son being the heir to the throne.  Edmund Ironside died on November 30, 1016, and Cnut became king of all England.

Edmund Ironside had two very young children, Edward and Edmund. According to the English monk and chronicler John of Worcester, King Cnut sent the two children to King Olaf Skötkonung of Sweden to be murdered, but instead, the king sent them to Kyiv where his daughter was the queen.  Sometime in the 1040s, Edward and Edmund, now adults, both traveled to Hungary and helped the exiled Andrew of Hungary become King of Hungary. Edmund died in Hungary before 1054.  Edward the Exile married Agatha,  whose background is uncertain.  Edward and Agatha had three children who were all born in Hungary:  Margaret (born circa 1045), Edgar the Ætheling (born circa 1051), and Cristina (born in the 1040s).

In 1057, Edward the Confessor, the childless King of England, discovered that his nephew Edward the Exile was still alive and summoned him to England in 1057 as a potential successor.  However, Edward died within two days of his arrival in England and the cause of his death has never been determined.  Murder is a possibility, as he had many powerful enemies.  His three children were then raised in the court of Edward the Confessor, who died in January 1066.  At that time Edgar was considered too young to be king and the Witenagemot elected Harold Godwinson king mainly because he could defend England against foreign claimants to the English throne.  In October 1066, William of Normandy (the Conqueror) invaded England and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings.  Following Harold’s death in battle, the Witenagemot elected Edgar the Ætheling, the last of the House of Wessex, as King of England.  As William of Normandy’s position grew stronger, it became evident to those in power that King Edgar should be abandoned and that they should submit to William.

In 1068, Edgar, along with his mother Agatha and sisters Margaret and Cristina, fled to Northumbria.  Agatha wanted to return to Hungary, but a storm blew their ship off course. They sought refuge from King Malcolm III of Scotland, the Malcolm in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare.  Malcolm’s first wife Ingebjorg Finnsdotter died around 1069, and shortly thereafter he married Margaret.  Margaret and Malcolm had eight children, six sons and two daughters.  Bearing in mind that William the Conqueror’s new dynasty in England was not secure, Margaret and Malcolm gave Anglo-Saxon royal names to four of their sons and named the other two sons after Alexander the Great and the biblical  King David.  Their daughter Edith married King Henry I of England and is the ancestor of the British and other European royal families.

Margaret introduced continental fashions, manners, and ceremonies to the Scottish court, thereby increasing economic ties and communication between Scotland and the European continent.   Malcolm sought Margaret’s advice on matters of state, and with other English exiles, Margaret was influential in introducing English-style feudalism and parliament to Scotland.

Margaret had been religious since childhood and her strong faith influenced her husband.  Margaret taught Malcolm how to control his temper and encouraged his religious faith by reading him Bible stories. She and the king prayed together and fed the hungry, serving as role models to the people of Scotland.  Margaret personally supervised the religious studies and education of her children.

In her private life, Margaret exhibited great piety.  She had certain times of the day for prayer and reading the Bible. She ate sparingly and slept little to have time for prayers. During Lent and Advent, Margaret always awakened at midnight for Mass.  After Mass, she would wash the feet of six poor people and give them alms. Beggars always surrounded her in public and she never refused them. Her biographer Turgot, Bishop of St. Andrews recorded that she never sat down to eat without first feeding nine orphans and 24 adults.

On November 13, 1093, Margaret’s husband Malcolm and her eldest son Edward were killed at the Battle of Alnwick. Malcolm’s eldest son from his first marriage King Donald II of Scotland succeeded him. After King Donald II was killed in battle in 1094, Margaret and Malcolm’s three sons succeeded to the Scottish throne.

Weakened from her constant fasting and austere life, Margaret was already ill when her husband and eldest son went off to battle.  She died at Dunfermline just three days after her husband and son’s death and was buried in Dunfermline Abbey which she and her husband had founded.  Margaret was canonized as a saint in 1250 by Pope Innocent IV.  On June 19, 1250, following her canonization, Margaret’s remains were disinterred and placed in a reliquary at the high altar of Dunfermline Abbey. Malcolm’s remains were reburied next to Margaret.  During the Scottish Reformation in 1560, Dunfermline Abbey was sacked and fell into disrepair.  St. Margaret’s remains, along with those of her husband, were transferred to a chapel in El Escorial, near Madrid, Spain but the location of the remains is now unknown.  Upon the orders of Queen Victoria, the tomb of Saint Margaret and King Malcolm III was restored during the 19th century.

Original burial place of St. Margaret of Scotland; Credit – Wikipedia

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Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scots

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2013

Madeleine of Valois, Queen of Scots; Credit – Wikipedia

Madeleine of Valois was born on August 10, 1520, at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye in France.  Her parents were King François I of France and Claude, Duchess of Brittany.  King François I had inherited the throne from his cousin King Louis XII, who had no surviving sons despite three marriages (his last marriage was to Mary Tudor, the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England).  King Louis XII had two surviving daughters, Claude and Renée, from his marriage to Anne, Duchess of Brittany.  Because France followed the Salic Law which dictated that the crown should pass to and through the male line, Louis XII’s cousin François succeeded him as King of France.  However, Brittany allowed the duchy to be passed to and through the female line, so when Anne, Duchess of Brittany died, the duchy passed to her elder daughter Claude.  French nobles urged Claude’s father to marry her to his cousin François as he was French and the heir presumptive to the French throne.  Shortly after she became Duchess of Brittany, thirteen-year-old Claude married François and in the following year (1515), Claude’s father died and her husband became King of France.  Claude died in 1524 when she was 24 and her daughter Madeleine was only three years old.  During her ten years of marriage, Claude was almost constantly pregnant, bearing King François I seven children, the siblings of Madeleine of Valois.

Madeleine’s siblings:

Madeleine (back right) with her mother and sisters, from the Book of Hours of Catherine de’Medici; Credit – Wikipedia

After the death of her mother, Madeleine and her younger sister Margaret were raised by their paternal aunt Margaret of Navarre.  In 1530, King François I married Eleanor of Austria, the sister of the powerful Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Madeleine and Margaret were then placed in their stepmother’s household.  Madeleine, who was sickly since her birth, developed tuberculosis by the time she was sixteen.

After the Battle of Flodden in 1514, where King James IV of Scotland led an invading army into England, was defeated, and died in the battle, Scotland wanted to strengthen their alliance with France.  The Treaty of Rouen was signed in 1517 and one of the provisions was for King James V of Scotland to marry a French princess. King James V was the son of King James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, the daughter of King Henry VII of England and the sister of King Henry VIII of England. When King James V reached a marriageable age, talks began regarding a marriage with Madeleine.  However, Madeleine had tuberculosis and her ill health was an issue and another French bride, Mary of Bourbon, was offered as a substitute.  When James V came to France to meet Mary of Bourbon, he met Madeleine and decided to marry her.  Because of his daughter’s health issues, François I was reluctant to agree to the marriage, but eventually, he did so.  Madeleine and King James V of Scotland were married on January 1, 1537, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

After months of celebrations in France, the couple arrived in Scotland on May 19, 1537, but Madeleine’s health had further deteriorated.  Madeleine wrote a letter to her father on June 8, 1537, saying that she was feeling better and that her symptoms had subsided.  Despite this, on July 7, 1537, Madeleine died from tuberculosis in her husband’s arms, a month short of her seventeenth birthday.  Less than a year later, still wanting a French bride, King James V of Scotland married Mary of Guise.  The couple had three children, two sons who died in infancy, and a daughter Mary, Queen of Scots, who succeeded her father at the age of six days when he died five years into the marriage.

Madeleine was buried at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland which now lies in ruins.  A sign near tomb says: This simple vault was built after the eastern part of this Abbey Church was destroyed by the English army in 1544. Here were placed the coffins of James V, Madeleine his first Queen, and his infant sons by his second marriage to Mary of Guise.  In 1688 the tomb was violated during the riots at the end of James VII’s reign and its contents were left in disorder.  In 1898 Queen Victoria ordained a repair of the vault and the remains of those previously interred here were re-buried in one coffin.  The vault also contains the coffin of Mary of Gueldres, Queen of James II, which was moved in 1848 from Trinity Church, Edinburgh.

james-v_tomb_1

The burial vault at the ruins  of Holyrood Abbey; Credit – Susan Flantzer

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