KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND James possessed an “eagerness” in “literary composition and writing,” and his most enduring piece is a love poem he wrote to his bride, “The Kingis Quair.” “NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Iacobvs.I.D.Gratia.Rex.Scotorvm HDT WHAT? INDEX IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND 1394 Late July: It was probably at this point that James Stewart was born in Dunfermline, the youngest of three sons of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. There, and also at Scone, in his mother’s household, James would spend most of his early childhood. NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Iacobvs.I.D.Gratia.Rex.Scotorvm HDT WHAT? INDEX KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM 1401 Prince James Stewart was 7 when his mother Annabella Drummond died. SCOTLAND NO-ONE’S LIFE IS EVER NOT DRIVEN PRIMARILY BY HAPPENSTANCE “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Iacobvs.I.D.Gratia.Rex.Scotorvm HDT WHAT? INDEX IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND 1402 During a truce in the Hundred Years War, English and French soldiers would compete in jousting, battle-ax fighting, and wrestling. Commoners would be competing for prizes, while these knights would compete, in the words of the Duke of Orleans, “for the love of the ladies and the fun of the thing.” There were weight divisions in the wrestling events and aristocrats were squaring off against commoners. In the presence of gentlewomen, they were wrestling fully clothed. A match might go on for hours, since three clean falls were generally required for victory (the modern endurance record, set in 1912 at the Stockholm Olympics, is 11 hours and 40 minutes). By the time James Stewart had reached 8 years of age –although at the point of his birth he had been the youngest of three sons of Robert III and Annabella Drummond– he had come to be in the line of succession to the throne (his brother Robert Stewart had died in infancy and his other elder brother, David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, had died in Falkland Castle in the detention of his uncle Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany). He was the only impediment to the transfer of the royal line to the Albany Stewarts. SCOTLAND LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD? — NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES. LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD. “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Iacobvs.I.D.Gratia.Rex.Scotorvm HDT WHAT? INDEX KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM September: Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany and his close ally Archibald, Earl of Douglas having been absolved from any involvement in the death of David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, the Duke of Albany had once again been appointed as King’s Lieutenant. As a reward for his support, Albany had allowed Douglas to resume hostilities with England. At this point their army was defeated by the English at Homildon and numerous prominent nobles and adherents were captured. The captives included Douglas himself, Albany’s son Murdoch, and the earls of Moray, Angus, and Orkney (Orkney would quickly be ransomed). That same year Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross, and Malcolm Drummond, lord of Mar, also died. Between 1402 and 1406 Albany’s numerous interests in the north would be exposed and the duke would reluctantly be forced into an alliance with his brother Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, and that man’s son, Alexander. SCOTLAND The Corporation of London began to hold an important autumn fair in Southwark. This was known unofficially as the Southwark Fair, but officially it was the Our Lady Fair because the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin fell on September 8th. It would continue as one of England’s most popular fairs until prostitution, drunkenness, and hooliganism would bring about its closure in 1763 (according to a 1733 painting by William Hogarth, the entertainments offered at Southwark Fair included stage plays, freak shows, acrobatic acts, and prizefighting). HDT WHAT? INDEX IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND 1404 December: The royal Stewart lands in the west of Scotland, in Ayrshire and around the Firth of Clyde, were granted to Prince James Stewart in regality, in order to protect them from outside interference and provide the prince with a territorial base should there be need for this. THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Iacobvs.I.D.Gratia.Rex.Scotorvm HDT WHAT? INDEX KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM 1405 Prince James Stewart was under the protection and tutelage of Bishop Henry Wardlaw of St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT Winter: Due to growing fears for his safety as heir to the throne of Scotland, plans were being made to send 12-year- old Prince James Stewart to France. “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Iacobvs.I.D.Gratia.Rex.Scotorvm HDT WHAT? INDEX IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND 1406 February (1405, Old Style): Bishop Wardlaw released Prince James Stewart into the care of the earls of Orkney and Fleming, who with a large mounted force proceeded from St Andrews through Fife and ultimately into the hostile Douglas territory of east Lothian. With a company of nobles loyal to his father Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, Robert III clashed with followers of the James Douglas of Balvenie. The Earl of Orkney took Prince James Stewart to a temporary refuge on Bass Rock in the Forth estuary. SCOTLAND WHAT I’M WRITING IS TRUE BUT NEVER MIND YOU CAN ALWAYS LIE TO YOURSELF Mid-March (1405, Old Style): A vessel bound for France, the Maryenknyght out of Danzig, picked up Prince James Stewart at his temporary refuge on Bass Rock in the Forth estuary. SCOTLAND “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Iacobvs.I.D.Gratia.Rex.Scotorvm HDT WHAT? INDEX KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM March 22, Monday (1405, Old Style): The vessel bound for France that had Prince James Stewart aboard, the Maryenknyght out of Danzig, was taken by English pirates off Flamborough Head. They would deliver their prize teenager to King Henry IV of England. The father, Robert III, was at Rothesay Castle when he learned of his son’s capture. SCOTLAND HDT WHAT? INDEX IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND April 4, Sunday (Old Style): Robert III, the father of Prince James Stewart, died (the body would be interred in the Stewart foundation abbey of Paisley). The death of the father of course made the son, currently a captive of King Henry IV of England at the Tower of London and then at Windsor Palace, even more valuable as a hostage/asset. In the English court he would be subjected to a good education, while in Scotland, which would be in his absence more and more under the control of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, he would soon be being referred to merely as “the son of the late king.” HDT WHAT? INDEX KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM 1416 Prince James Stewart’s cousin Murdoch Stewart, who had been being held by the English since 1402, was in this year traded for Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland. SCOTLAND CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Iacobvs.I.D.Gratia.Rex.Scotorvm HDT WHAT? INDEX IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND 1420 It would have been in about this year that Robert Henryson was born. During this year and the following one Prince James Stewart of Scotland, a hostage/asset of King Henry V of England, was allowed to serve in the English army against the French (his presence was politically useful as many Scots were fighting on the Dauphinist side). The Treaty of Troyes was concluded between King Henry V of England, King Charles VI of France, and Philip, Duke of Burgundy. This treaty stipulated that Henry would be “regent” over France and would unite his arms to those of Charles and Philip in order to subdue the adherents of the pretended dauphin. Henry and the Princess Catherine of France would wed and although Charles would be allowed retain the title and dignity and appearances of King of France to his death, Henry as regent would at once be in full control over the actual administration of the French government. At his death Charles would be succeeded not by Charles’s heirs but by Henry and/or Henry’s heirs, so that while retaining their several usages, customs, and privileges the two nations of France and England should forever be united under one monarch. By this arrangement all the princes, peers, vassals, and communities of France were to pay Henry V of England present obedience as regent and swear allegiance to him as their future monarch. HDT WHAT? INDEX KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD. “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Iacobvs.I.D.Gratia.Rex.Scotorvm HDT WHAT? INDEX IACOBVS.I.D.GRATIA.REX.SCOTORVM KING JAMES I OF SCOTLAND November 17, Sunday (Old Style): Following an English success at the siege of a town on the Seine River southeast of Paris, Melun, 20 Scots who had been serving with the French who had lain down their arms and surrendered found themselves being hanged for treason against their legitimate ruler, Prince James Stewart of Scotland — because as they found out too late for them, the guy was serving with the English (they should have been using their binoculars?).