James IV (
March 17 1473 –
September 9 1513) was
King of Scots from
1488 to his death.
Life and work
As the son of King
James III and
Margaret of Denmark, James IV was probably born in
Stirling Castle. After his father was killed at the
battle of Sauchieburn on
June 11,
1488, the fifteen-year-old James took the throne and was crowned at
Scone on
June 24. The rebels who had gathered at Sauchieburn had done so with James supposedly as their figurehead. When James realised the indirect role which he'd played in the death of his father, he decided to do penance for his sin. From that date on, he wore a heavy iron chain
cilice around his waist, next to the skin, each
Lent as penance.
James IV quickly proved to be an effective ruler. He defeated another rebellion in
1489, took a direct interest in the administration of justice and finally brought the
Lord of the Isles under control in
1493. James was well educated and it was claimed that he was fluent in
Scots,
English,
Scottish Gaelic,
Latin,
French,
German,
Italian,
Flemish,
Spanish and
Danish; he was the patron of the Scottish makar, or poet,
William Dunbar, who is known for his song "Lament of the Makaris," (which is often called after its refrain: "Timor Mortis conturbat me"-- Latin for "the fear of Death frightens/confounds me.") an 'Ubi sunt Qui ante Nos Fuerent' poem in which Dunbar laments past makars including Chaucer, and speaks of the general transitory nature of the "wald."
He was a true
Renaissance prince with an interest in practical and scientific matters. James granted the
Edinburgh College of Surgeons a royal charter in
1506, turned
Edinburgh Castle into one of Britain's foremost gun foundries, and welcomed the establishment of Scotland's first
printing press in
1505.
James also loved ships and saw the importance in Scotland having a large navy. He acquired 38 ships for the
Royal Scottish Navy and founded two new
dockyards. His finest creation was the
carrack Michael. Launched in
1511, she weighed 1,000 tons, was in length and was then the largest ship in Europe.
For a time, he supported the pretender to the English throne
Perkin Warbeck and carried out a brief invasion of England on his behalf. Despite this, James finally recognized that peace between Scotland and England was in the interest of both countries, and so signed the
Treaty of Perpetual Peace (1502) and married
Henry VII's daughter
Margaret Tudor, on
August 8,
1503, at
Holyrood Abbey,
Edinburgh.
When war broke out between England and
France as a result of the
Italian Wars, James found himself in a difficult position as his obligations under the
Auld Alliance with
France conflicted with the treaty made with
England in
1502. The new king of England,
Henry VIII, attempted to invade France in
1513, and James reacted by declaring war on England. Hoping to take advantage of Henry's absence, he led an invading army southward, only to be killed, with many of his nobles and common soldiers, at the disastrous
Battle of Flodden Field on
September 9, ending
Scotland's involvement in the
War of the League of Cambrai. A body, thought to be his, was recovered from the battlefield and taken to
London for burial. Because he was excommunicated, the embalmed body lay unburied for many years in the monastery of
Sheen in
Surrey, and was lost after the
Reformation. James' bloodstained coat was sent to
Henry VIII of England (then on campaign in France) by his queen
Catherine of Aragon.
Rumors persisted that James had survived and had gone into exile, but there's no evidence to support them.
Ancestors
Legacy
James's decision to invade England is often seen as ill-considered. However it has been argued that it can be criticised only if Scotland wasn't entitled to pursue an independent foreign policy, and the military force was adequate for the task, but the Battle of Flodden was lost through poor generalship. Undoubtedly his death ushered in a period of prolonged instability in Scotland.
However, James had granted the
Edinburgh College of Surgeons a royal charter in
1506, expanded
Edinburgh Castle into a major gun
foundry, and welcomed Scotland's first
printing press in
1505. He had expanded the
Royal Scottish Navy with 38 more ships, creating 2 new
dockyards.
James IV and
Margaret Tudor had six children, the last born posthumously:
(External Link
)
James also had seven illegitimate children by four different mistresses:
with Janet Kennedy:
- James
- two children who died in infancy
with Marion Boyd:
with Margaret Drummond:
with Isabel Buchan, daughter of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan:
James IV is also significant in Scottish history as the last King of Scots who is known to have spoken Scottish Gaelic.
External results
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