James I

  James I was born in 1394, the third son of Robert III. His brother Robert had died before his birth and his other brother, David was murdered in Rothesay castle in 1402. This left James as heir to the throne of Scotland. In 1304 James was given the earldom of Carrick, and lordship of Kyle, Cunningham, Renfrew, Bute, Arran and Knapdale. This was probably an attempt by his father to provide the young James with a power base. In 1405, James was handed over to the Bishop of St Andrews for his own protection. During the rebellion of 1406, James was taken to the Bass Rock where he would wait for a month for a ship to France. When he finally embarked, his ship was captured by Norfolk pirates and James was taken as a prisoner to London. Two weeks later, Robert III died and James became nominal king.

                The young James was destined to spend 18 years in England during the reigns of Henry IV and V. According to Michael Brown:

“It was from England that he (James I) drew his knowledge of Kingship”[1]

  In 1420, James was sent to France at the command of Henry V. There was a large Scottish army in France at that time fighting the English and by using James as the Scottish king, Henry could justify hanging any Scottish prisoners as rebels and traitors. On St George’s day 1421, Henry V knighted James. In 1422, following the death of Henry V, moves were made to repatriate James. In 1424, James married Joan Beaufort, daughter of a powerful English noble. Later that year, he returned to Scotland for a ransom of £40,000. He had himself crowned at Scone and proceeded to call a parliament at which he asserted himself as king by outlawing breaches of the Kings peace and reminding the assembled company of the dire punishment that awaited those who rebelled. On the 17^th of August, The Scots host in France was virtually wiped out at the battle of Verneuil. This removed the threat that such an army could pose since it was under control of Douglas and Buchan not the King. Hereafter, no Scots soldiers would be sent to France without the permission of the king.

                In early 1425, James gained the support of the Lords of the Isles. In March of that year, James held a parliament at which he had his cousin, the Stewart Duke of Albany and his supporters arrested. There followed a short rebellion by Albany’s youngest son at the end of which, Albany was executed in Stirling. This clearly demonstrates a ruthless side to James though that is not necessarily a bad trait among kings. James made numerous attempts to raise funds through taxes with which to pay the ransom demanded by the English. However, there was little enthusiasm for these taxes and James was often forced to extract ‘benevolences’ from his unwilling nobility. His ideas on taxation aroused suspicion of taxes and led to a drop in his popularity. James did, however, gain total control over his kingdom within 6 years of his coronation and was recognised by all of Scotland as the king. He had led an expedition to the north and suffered virtually no set-backs. James had the castle of Linlithgow rebuilt, not as a grim fortress but as a comfortable residence, demonstrating his power and perceived security. In 1430, James’ wife, Joan gave birth to twin sons, one survived and was named James. This left the kingdom with an heir in the event of the King’s death. In 1436, James’ eldest daughter, Margaret was married to the French Dauphin, further cementing the ‘Auld Alliance’. In October of that year, James fell out with his barons. This gave rise to a conspiracy which, on the 21^st of February 1437 had James assassinated in Perth.

  There is no doubt at all that James was a ruthless king, but was he a bad one? Though officially he was king from 1406, the first 18 years of his reign were spent in captivity. This meant that the nobles of Scotland were given 18 years of freedom and were none to keen to relinquish this which meant many were opposed to James. According to Brown:

For the first 30 years of his life James was very much a victim of circumstance”[2]

This is true since for much of this period he was a prisoner and could do very little independently. According to A.A.M Duncan:

“Much of James’ reputation for good or ill has rested on the acts of his parliaments”[3]

Since one of James’ most famous acts in parliament was to have Albany and his supporters arrested, and other parliaments failed to gain him the taxes he needed, James could be seen as a bad king. It would however seem apparent that James was simply unlucky.

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