7 minute read
The unpopular king
LEFT:
James III by unknown artist, after 1578 RIGHT: A coin dating from 1484-88 depicts James III, King of Scotland 1460-88
Words by KIRSTEN HENTON
Considered a failure by many, could James III be credited at least with bringing Scotland into the Renaissance age?
History does not remember King James III fondly. A pious, recluse of a man who was often poorly counselled and cursed with his own similarly poor judgement, he provoked the nobility, fell out with his family, and exhibited an apparent disinterest in goings-on outside of Edinburgh and Stirling.
He was said to be, almost obsessively, engaged in foreign politics, especially yo-yoing relations with England. He held grand ideas of empire building in continental Europe along with a distasteful habit of aggrandizing himself.
Yet, some suggest that James III’s self-belief in his authority, interest in foreign affairs and patronage of artistic endeavours mark him out as Scotland’s rst Renaissance monarch. How valid is this argument? To answer, we need to understand the world in which James III sat on Scotland’s throne. ARISE, KING JAMES III
When James II was killed by a rogue exploding cannon during his siege of Roxburgh Castle on 3 August 1460, his eldest son James, aged just eight, was thrust from his life as a young prince into a coronation at Kelso Abbey within days.
James III’s rule started strongly. There was no immediate opposition and little diversion from his father’s policies, with many of the same people remaining in positions of state. His mother, Mary of Guelders, acted as a skilled regent until her death in 1463 when James fell victim to rival nobles clambering for in uence over the young king.
It wasn’t until 1469 that the 17-year-old King James III was able to shake off self-serving guardianships and take full control of his government and country.
James quickly gained a bit of an image problem,
The perception of James III as a tyrannical king was fuelled by rumours that he murdered one of his brothers and poisoned his wife
CLOCKWISE, however. He rarely travelled far from FROM TOP RIGHT: Edinburgh so was not a visible ruler
King James III’s wife, Margaret across Scotland. He doled out of Denmark; the sought-after positions within the nave of St Magnus government to his favourite
Cathedral in the Orkney Isles, an archipelago courtiers, much to the frustration of the nobles. annexed by the The perception of him as a king; James III tyrannical king was fuelled by with his son (later James IV) (unfounded) rumours that he not only had one of his two brothers murdered in prison, but later poisoned his own wife.
It’s been said he, at best, mismanaged, if not embezzled, the kingdom’s finances and neglected political and economic issues in favour of fanatically pursuing alliances with England. Many in Scotland came to disapprove of James’s rule and, even today, he is “generally viewed as an unsuccessful monarch in everything he did,” according to Dr Tom Turpie of the University of Stirling.
THE RENAISSANCE IN SCOTLAND
While James was busy offending his nobles, the Renaissance was sweeping Europe. A cultural rebirth, it was a conscious shift away from the darker period of the Middle Ages. Greek and Roman philosophies were revived, and education was encouraged.
The notion of humanism – putting man as opposed to God at the centre, spread through literature, art, and new ways of thinking. There was increased interaction between nations as exploration stimulated trade, as well as flourishing political, economic, and scientific ideas.
While the Renaissance proper began in Florence in the 14th century, Turpie points out that it was the slightly later Northern Renaissance in France and the Low Countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg that most affected Scotland.
He says, in Scotland “forms of art, literature and architecture” were “more directly impacted by the ‘Northern Renaissance’ than the Italian Renaissance for reasons of geography, trade and political connections.”
TRAITS OF A RENAISSANCE MONARCH
Every self-respecting Renaissance monarch indulged in the romantic side of the movement; the patronage of art, music, architecture, and literature by the royal court was a vital component. However, a true Renaissance monarch expressed interest in other traits of the trend as well.
These tended to include the swing towards an autocratic style of rule by centralising power, relying more on personal authority and less on parliament, while also centralising the judiciary and court system.
Renaissance monarchs typically pursued the latest developments in military technology, notably artillery and ships that could both defend and extend territory, necessary for any ambitious outward-looking ruler.
HOW RENAISSANCE WAS JAMES III?
At first glance, James could be credited with some of the above. As Turpie says, “James was certainly interested in new forms of art (he commissioned portraits and religious art), religious expression (he founded a new chapel at Restalrig) and architecture (in particular, at Linlithgow Palace).”
However, as Dr Norman Macdougall writes in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, these were “hardly lavish” by Renaissance standards and James did not establish a dazzlingly opulent Renaissance-style court.
The 16th-century Scottish chronicler Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie may have written that James “delyttit mair in singing and in playing upon instrumentis nor he did in defence of the bordouris or in the ministratioun of justice” but Macdougall argues that this source, which came years after James’s death, is more of a comment on the king’s tendency to isolate himself instead of dealing with matters of state.
James also enacted an unpopular policy to raise money, whereby he granted remissions for crimes for a price, undermining the entire justice system. What’s more, far from centralising the courts, as James rarely left Edinburgh, local issues in other parts of Scotland that should have been resolved at justice ayres – local courts typically presided over by the king – were left unsettled and, in some cases, created long running feuds. Neither of these actions could be considered particularly Renaissance-like.
Meanwhile, the addition of a crown to his personal coat of arms shows James stamping his authority. Historically, Scottish kings had recognised the religious authority of the Pope and (in theory) political authority of the Holy Roman Emperors, whereas this slight change, as Turpie states, “signalled that [James] considered himself the sole authority in his kingdom.”
© GRANGER HISTORICAL PICTURE ARCHIVE/CHRONICLE/ALAN MORRIS/ALAMY © SARAH HICKSON/KAY ROXBY/ALAMY
THIS IMAGE:
Both James III and James IV made significant additions to Linlithgow Palace, just west of Edinburgh
As far as satisfying his territorial ambitions, James III had both won and lost. He may have gained the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland through his marriage to Margaret of Denmark in 1469, but, along with many failed attempts at expanding Scotland’s borders, he was the king who lost Berwick-upon-Tweed for the final time to England in 1482.
Turpie concludes that while James III was “clearly interested in new forms of art, literature, architecture and the political potential” of Renaissance thinking, it’s “probably an exaggeration” to call him Scotland’s first Renaissance monarch.
In fact, it is probably fairer to say that his son, James IV, was the real titleholder. “James IV ticks all the boxes,” says Turpie. “He also behaved more like a ‘Renaissance king’ in terms of centralising power, the law and paying for new forms of military technology.”
A TEMPLATE ‘BAD’ KING’?
There are many reasons the image of James III as, what Turpie calls, a “template ‘bad king’, who showed all the negative traits of the Stewart dynasty – greed, cruelty and arrogance in foreign policy” persists.
But there are aspects of James’s character that deserve to be highlighted. He may not have been a radical Renaissance monarch, but he was a devout man, something that could pass as a motive for his inclination towards religious art, architecture, and practices. Indeed, if court gossip is believed, it was said he had no illegitimate children and only one possible mistress – positively restrained for a king of his day.
A POSITIVE SPIN
The Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488 was James’s final act. Yet another feud in a series of rebellions by enraged nobles, the king’s opposition was supported by his 15-year-old son and would-be-king, James, who had become the nobles’ figurehead. It was here that James III was fatally wounded and died, aged just 36 (or 37).
Perhaps a generous way of viewing James III’s contribution to the Renaissance is that, in death, he enabled his son, James IV, to accede to the throne trouble-free, which opened the flood gates to the first genuine wave of the Renaissance in Scotland. S
