1 NAME James /Stewart/
"After his capture, James I was held prisoner by Henry IV of England who,however, saw that he received an education appropriate to his royalbirth.
On the death of his father in 1406, he was the first of a series ofScottish kings who inherited the throne as minors, throughout thefifteenth century.
The Scottish Parliament declared James to be king, and his uncle, Robert,Duke of Albany was appointed Governor, to rule on his behalf. Albany madeno attempt to obtain James' release, and by the time he was 18, James wasenergetic, accomplished and impatient to return to his own country.
One day in 1423, looking from his window, he saw a beautiful young womanstrolling in the gardens beneath, and fell in love with her. She was LadyJoan Beaufort, a close relative of the English king, Henry VI.
It was probably through Joan Beaufort's influence that the Treaty ofLondon was agreed in December 1423, releasing James for a ransom of£40,000. The couple were married the following February and travellednorth, to be crowned at Scone.
A cultivated, intelligent monarch who wrote poetry (he wrote the poem"The King's Quair"), loved music and was a fine athlete, James was alsodetermined to restore law and order in his kingdom - he founded what wasto become the Court of Session.
In so doing, his energy and his ruthlessness antagonised many of hisnobles who had taken advantage of his absence to build up their ownpower.
The king was particularly determined to curb his rivals descended fromRobert II; he arrested some and executed others (including the new Dukeof Albany), and confiscated estates.
The result was that on 20 February 1437, at about midnight, he wasassassinated and his queen badly injured in the Dominican Friary in Perthby his own uncle, Walter, Earl of Atholl (a son of Robert II's secondmarriage) and a group of resentful fellow conspirators.
James was buried nearby in the Carthusian monastery which he had founded."
-- Royal Household
Copyright © 2001-2005, Tim Dowling
email: tdowling_53223@yahoo.com
