BIRTH OF JAMES V OF SCOTLAND

BIRTH OF JAMES V OF SCOTLAND

King James V was born at Linlithgow Palace on 10th April 1512.
James was the third son of King James IV and his wife Margaret Tudor.

Margaret was the eldest daughter of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York.

On 9th September 1513, when James was just 17 months old, his father was killed at The Battle Of Flodden.
12 days later, baby James was crowned in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on 21st September 1513.

Margaret Tudor was accepted as regent for her young son, in accordance with the terms of James IV’s will.

In August 1524, Parliament ended the regency, and 12-year-old King James was erected to full kingly powers.

According to legend, James was nicknamed “King of the Commons” as he would sometimes travel around Scotland disguised as a common man.

James was also a keen lute player, and at court, James maintained a band of Italian musicians, who adopted the name Drummond.

On 1st January 1537 James married Madeleine of Valois at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

After months of festivities and celebrations, the royal couple embarked for Scotland in May 1537, arriving at Leith on 19th May 1537.

Sadly, a month later, on 7th July 1537, Queen Madeleine died in her husband’s arms of tuberculosis.
The queen was interred in Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.

Following Madeleine’s death, James’ thoughts turned to a second French bride to further the interests of the Franco-Scottish alliance.

Marie de Guise, the daughter of Claude~Duke of Guise was selected as a future bride.
Marie had recently been widowed, and the marriage contract was finalised in January 1538.

The proxy wedding of James V and Marie de Guise, was held on 9th May 1538.
Some 2,000 Scottish lords and barons came from Scotland to attend.

On 16th June 1538, Marie arrived in Scotland.
James and Marie were married in person at St Andrew’s Cathedral on 18th June 1538.

James and Marie had two sons:
James Duke of Rothesay~born 22nd May 1540.
Robert, Duke of Albany~born on 12 April 1541.

However, both died from an illness, on 21st April 1541. James was almost a year old, and little Robert was just nine days old.

With the death of James’s mother Margaret Tudor in 1541, any incentive for peace with England was broken, and war broke out.

On 24th November James’ army suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss.
James returned to Linlithgow Palace, and spent a few days with Queen Marie, who was in the final stages of pregnancy.

On 6th December James travelled to Falkland Palace, where he took ill.
James was on his deathbed at Falkland, when news arrived from Linlithgow that the queen had given birth to a daughter.

On hearing of the birth of his daughter, the king said –

“It cam wi’ a lass, and it will gang wi’ a lass”
“It began with a girl and it will end with a girl”

King James was succeeded by his infant daughter, Mary Queen of Scots.

This could refer to the accession to the throne of the Stewart Dynasty, through Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert The Bruce.

The prophecy could have been intended to express his belief that his new-born daughter Mary would be the last of the Stewart monarchs.
In fact, the last Stewart monarch was Queen Anne in 1702.

James V died at Falkland Palace on 14th December 1542, aged thirty.
It is likely that James V died from cholera or dysentery.

James V was buried on 8th January at Holyrood Abbey, next to his first wife Madeleine, and his two sons.

King James was the last monarch to die in Scotland – until 8th September 2022 when Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, 480 years later.

Days later her body was carried through the streets of Edinburgh – the first time that a royal cortege had passed through the city since James V’s burial.

King James V of Scotland c.1536
Portrait by Corneille de Lyon.