James I (Scotland)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James I of Scotland,
not contemporary painting after 1578

James I (English James I ; * July 25, 1394 in Dunfermline Palace ; † February 21, 1437 in Perth ) was King of Scotland from 1406 until his death , but only nominally until 1424. He was the third son of Robert III. and his wife Annabella Drummond was born.

captivity

His older brother David Stewart ruled as governor for his ill health father, but was captured by his power-hungry uncle Robert Stewart in 1402 and starved to death in his cell at Falkland Palace . Robert III sent his only surviving son, Jakob, to France to be brought up to safety. On the way there, however, the English attacked the ship, took the young crown prince hostage to the English royal court and demanded a ransom . Robert III reportedly died of grief over the kidnapping of his son.

Jacob was the rightful king of Scotland from 1406, but was stuck at the court of the English king Henry IV . His uncle Robert Stewart, who after the death of Robert III. had been appointed governor took a long time to pay the ransom. He obtained the release of his son Murdoch Stewart , who was captured at the same time, but was not interested in the king's return.

For more than 18 years, Jakob remained a prisoner of the English king in Windsor Castle . As the prince's son, however, he was given a profound education and introduction to court life. This gave him a good political education and a lot of experience. In 1420 the £ 40,000 ransom was finally paid. On April 23, 1421, King Henry V made him Knight of the Bath .

Reign

In 1424 Jacob returned to Scotland, where he found his country in chaos. He brought with him his wife, Joan Beaufort , the granddaughter of the English Prince John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , a son of Edward III. and Counselor of Richard II of England.

Jacob was formally crowned at Scone on May 2 or 21, 1424 . He immediately proceeded to restore authority and control. He had the Albany family executed, which had opposed the royal family. Murdoch Stewart and two of his sons were executed on May 24, 1425 in Stirling . He also managed to keep the Douglas clan in the south and the lords of the Outer Hebrides in check.

He continued to rule Scotland with a strong hand and implemented numerous financial and legal reforms. He tried to redesign the Scottish Parliament on the English model, and in 1428 renewed the Auld Alliance with France, which was directed against England . On this occasion, he betrothed his daughter Margaret to the French Dauphin and was accepted as Count of Saintonge among the French pairs . Although his measures were effective, he made many enemies.

assassination

His grandfather, Robert II , had married twice, but the first marriage (from which Jacob was born) was considered illegal for thirteen years until the marriage was repeated. A conflict over the succession to the throne broke out between the descendants of the first marriage and those of the (undoubtedly legitimate) second marriage.

The situation escalated when, on February 21, 1437, Jacob was murdered by the Scottish nobles under Walter Stewart and Sir Robert Graham in the Dominican monastery in Perth . Jakob had tried to escape his assassins through the sewer system . But three days earlier, the exit that led to a Jeu de Paume square had been bricked up because balls had repeatedly been lost in the sewer system. He was up to his chest in the sewer for two days, then the captors found him.

A wave of executions followed in March 1437. Among the conspirators who were executed were Jacob's uncle Walter, Earl of Atholl, and his grandson Robert, Master of Atholl, both of whom were descended from Robert II's second marriage.

family

On February 2, 1424 he married Joan Beaufort . The marriage had eight children:

Others

It is said that James I led the hunt for Alexander “Sawney” Bean , a legendary murderer and ogre in the early 15th century.

Jacob I was known as a poet (he is credited with the love poem The Kingis Quair ), as a gifted musician (who played the lyre, organ, flute and drum) and as an athlete. In literary history he is counted among the Makar of the Scottish Renaissance.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England . Volume 1. Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 130.
predecessor Office successor
Robert III King of Scotland
1406–1437 		Jacob II
personal data
SURNAME Jacob I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES James I
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Scotland
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1394
PLACE OF BIRTH Dunfermline Palace
DATE OF DEATH February 21, 1437
Place of death Perth