James I of Scotland

Not to be confused with James VI and I.

James I
King James I
16th century portrait of James
King of Scots
Reign4 April 1406 – 21 February 1437
Coronation21 May 1424
PredecessorRobert III
SuccessorJames II
Regents
See list
Bornpossibly 25 July 1394[1][2]
Dunfermline Abbey, Fife, Scotland
Died21 February 1437 (aged 42)[3][4]
Blackfriars, Perth, Scotland
Burial
Perth Charterhouse
Spouse
​
(m. 1424)​
Issue
HouseStewart
FatherRobert III of Scotland
MotherAnnabella Drummond
Events
  • 1405–1406
    During winter, decision made to send James to France for safe-keeping[5]
    1406
    Fled Scotland for France around the middle of March 1406 but captured at sea on 22 March and taken prisoner of the English King Henry IV[6]
    1406–1413
    Provided with good education by Henry IV[7]
    1413–1415
    Henry IV died on 20 March 1413.[8]
    Henry V had different attitude towards James and regarded him as a prisoner and held him at the Tower of London and at Windsor Castle[9]
    1420–1422
    By this time, Henry now regarded James as a guest at court and took him on campaigns to France until Henry's death[10]
    1423
    In August the council agreed that negotiations between Scotland and England should begin for James's release[11]
    1424
    James married Joan Beaufort in February; released from captivity and is crowned at Scone Abbey, 21 May[1]
    1425
    James destroyed his near relatives, the Albany Stewarts, and forfeited their lands[12]
    1425–1427
    James got Parliament's agreement to restrict the influence of the Church and the prelacy[13]
    1428–1431
    James attempted to bring the Lordship of the Isles under direct control of the Crown by force failed
    1429
    By this time, James had stopped all ransom payments[14]
    1436
    James led an unsuccessful attack against the English enclave at Roxburgh Castle which drew much criticism[15]
    1437
    James murdered in his chambers in the Greyfriars monastery in Perth by men acting for his uncle, Walter, Earl of Atholl, on 20 February.
    Atholl arrested, tried and executed on 26 March[16]

James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III and Annabella Drummond. His eldest brother David, Duke of Rothesay, died under suspicious circumstances while detained by his uncle, Robert, Duke of Albany. James's other brother, Robert, died young. Concerns for James's safety deepened in the winter of 1405–1406 prompting plans to send him to France. In February 1406, James took refuge in the castle of the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth after his escort was attacked by supporters of Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas. He remained there until mid-March when he boarded a vessel bound for France. On 22 March, an English vessel captured the ship and delivered James to Henry IV of England. The ailing Robert III died on 4 April and the 11-year-old James, now the uncrowned King of Scotland, would remain in captivity for eighteen years.

James was educated well during his imprisonment in England, where he was often kept in the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, and other English castles. He was generally well-treated and developed respect for English forms of governance.[17] James joined Henry V of England in his military campaigns in France between 1420 and 1421. His cousin, Murdoch Stewart (Albany's son), an English prisoner since 1402, was traded for Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, in 1416. However, Albany refused to negotiate James's release. James married Joan Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, in February 1424, shortly before his release in April. His return to Scottish affairs was not altogether popular due to his service to Henry V in France, sometimes against Scottish forces. Noble families faced increased taxes to fund the ransom payments, and to provide family hostages as security. James, who excelled in sports, literature, and music, aimed to impose law and order on his subjects but sometimes he applied such order selectively.

To secure his position in the Scottish court, James launched pre-emptive attacks on some of his nobles beginning in 1425 with his close kinsmen, the Albany Stewarts. This led to the execution of Duke Murdoch and his sons. In 1427 James summoned the Highland clans to a sitting of parliament in Inverness and came in great numbers. There, James unscrupulously had some murdered, imprisoned others including Alexander, Lord of the Isles, along with his mother, Mariota, Countess of Ross. This betrayal effectively destroyed any peace he might have had with them.

Archibald, 5th Earl of Douglas, was arrested in 1431, followed by George, Earl of March, in 1434. The fate of the hostages in England was ignored by Scotland's ruling elite and the repayment money was diverted into the construction of Linlithgow Palace and other schemes. In August 1436, James's siege of Roxburgh Castle failed, and he subsequently faced an ineffective attempt by Sir Robert Graham to arrest him at a general council. On the night of 20/21 February 1437, James was assassinated in Perth during a failed coup by his uncle Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl. Queen Joan, though wounded, escaped the attackers and reached Edinburgh Castle to be reunited with her son, the new King James II.

  1. ^ a b Weir, Britain's Royal Families, p. 232
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brown, p 9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Weir, Britain's Royal Families, p. 235
  4. ^ Brown, James I, pp. 186–187
  5. ^ Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 291
  6. ^ Brown, James I, p. 17
  7. ^ Nicholson, Scotland: The Later Middle Ages, pp. 278–279
  8. ^ Weir, Britain's Royal Families, p. 130
  9. ^ Brown, James I, p. 19
  10. ^ Stevenson, Chivalry and knighthood in Scotland, 1424–1513 p. 170
  11. ^ Brown, James I, p. 28
  12. ^ Nicholson, Scotland: The Later Middle Ages, p. 287
  13. ^ Nicholson, Scotland: The Later Middle Ages, pp. 293–295
  14. ^ Grant,Independence and Nationhood, p. 188
  15. ^ Grant,Independence and Nationhood, pp. 189–190
  16. ^ McGladdery, The Kings & Queens of Scotland: James I, p. 143
  17. ^ Brown, Michael (1994). James I. Edinburgh, Scotland: Canongate Academic. pp. 17–20.