James, Duke of Rothesay (born 1540)

James, Duke of Rothesay (22 May 1540 – 21 April 1541) was the first of the two sons and three children born to King James V of Scotland and his second wife, Mary of Guise. From the moment of his birth James was Duke of Rothesay and heir apparent to the Scottish throne.

James
Duke of Rothesay
Born22 May 1540
St Andrews, Fife
Died(1541-04-21)21 April 1541 (aged 10 months 30 days)
St Andrews, Fife
Burial
Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh
HouseHouse of Stewart
FatherJames V of Scotland
MotherMary of Guise

Life

James, Duke of Rothesay was born in St Andrews on 22nd May 1540.[1] As James V's first legitimate child and the heir to the throne, he automatically became Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland.

The baby prince was baptised in a lavish ceremony in St Andrews on 26th May. His godparents were the Queen Dowager Margaret Tudor (his paternal grandmother), Cardinal David Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews, and Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow.[2] Fifteen ells of white Genoese taffeta were used as serviettes to hold the torches at the baptism, the child was provided with a cradle carved by a French craftsman and a canopy for his bed of state, members of the nobility were summoned to attend, coats of arms were painted, and some of the king's silver plate was sent from Edinburgh for the occasion. James V also sent messengers to inform Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France of the birth.[3] It is possible that the birth was celebrated with a fireworks display as the munitions accounts of May 1540 reveal that some French gunners were paid for dealing with 'fyre werk schot devisit be the Kingis grace'.[4]

The king's former favourite James Hamilton of Finnart was executed in August 1540. His silver, for use in his chapel, was brought from Craignethan Castle to Edinburgh, where John Mosman engraved it with the heraldry of James, Duke of Rothesay. The re-purposed silverware was sent to Thomas Duddingston, master of the prince's household at St Andrews.[5]

James, Duke of Rothesay died at St Andrews on 21st April 1541, before he had reached his first birthday. He was buried in Holyrood Abbey.[6]

Early Scottish chronicle writers including John Knox and George Buchanan mention a story that James V had a dream at Linlithgow Palace which foretold the death of his sons. In the dream, James Hamilton of Finnart came to him and threatened to cut his arms off.[7]

References
  1. Thomas 2005, p. 206
  2. Thomas 2005, p. 205
  3. Scott 1833, p. 308
  4. Scott 1833, p. 357
  5. James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 397.
  6. Scott 1833, p. 442
  7. Antonia Fraser, Mary Queen of Scots (Panther, 1970), p. 29.

Sources
  • Scott, A.G. (1833). A Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents That Have Passed Within the Country of Scotland Since the Death of King James the Fourth Till the Year M.D.Lxxv. Edinburgh, Scotland.
  • Thomas, Andrea (2005). Princelie Majestie: The Court of James V of Scotland, 1528-1542. Edinburgh, Scotland: Tuckwell Press Ltd.


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