#james v

[preem-milk]

Other people get killed; not you.

It can happen to other people; but not to you.

[littlehistorian]

The rivalry among France, England and the Holy Roman Empire lent James V of Scotland unwonted diplomatic weight, and saw him secure two politically and financially advantageous French marriages, first to Madeleine of Valois and then to Mary of Guise.

[asterionides]

By 17 September 1514 those that had supported Margaret, the Bishops of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Galloway and the earls of Arran, Huntly and Home were considering whether she had the right to the tutrix of the young King. . . . The reason for the volte-face by her nobles was because she and Angus had been married in a secret ceremony in August 1514. Perry expresses the canonical view that ‘in one moment of womanly weakness and romantic folly, Margaret Tudor had effectively destroyed her own powerbase.’ While this move brought Scotland to the brink of civil war, her reasons may have been more hard-headed. She and her children were vulnerable in a country largely controlled by a fractious and factious nobility that had no love of her brother Henry VIII, her countrymen and no great affection for her. A marriage with one of Scotland’s greatest nobles was potentially a means of helping her to protect her sons. To marry outside of the realm would have meant leaving her two infant sons behind. It is likely that she knew of her mother’s brothers, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, the princes in the tower, who disappeared in the hands of their uncle the future Richard III. This would have weighed heavily on her mind. . . . From a queenship perspective, Margaret had, up to the point where she had remarried without consent of her council, acted as a noble and competent widow, mother and Regent. James IV had been secure enough in her abilities to trust her with the role in his will. Margaret had already demonstrated before his death that she was an able and trusted peacemaker having supported Scotland’s needs before those of her father or brother. She followed this practice as Regent. She had an excellent understanding of the domestic, religious and international affairs of Scotland, and had for the first year as Regent, managed with some success to secure the allegiance of the majority of the nobles. Her marriage to Angus was, however, a mistake.

Lorna G. Barrow, 'Queenship and the Challenge of a Widowed Queen: Margaret Tudor Regent of Scotland 1513–1514', Journal of the Sydney Society for Scottish History, 16

[brilliantsun]

Margaret Tudor and James V had the most twisted mother‑son relationship. They were equally decisive and conceited, arrogantly messing everything up together.

I love you, Mother—you’re the most trustworthy person in the world.

I don’t understand you, Mother. Your behavior is so strange.

I’m so annoyed with you, Mother.

Why won’t you fully support me?

That little baby in swaddling clothes, that little boy who always stood by you before your enemies, would grow into a cold, arrogant adult king.

He would not remember the love for your homeland you so often spoke of, nor understand your pain and inner turmoil.

I’m just screaming about how James refused to give his mother’s inheritance to his sister.

[tiny-librarian]

Royal Birthdays for today, April 10th:

Theodosius II, Emperor of Rome, 401

Margaret of York, English Princess, 1472

James V, King of Scotland, 1512

Sibylle Elisabeth of Württemberg, Duchess of Saxony, 1584

Hortense de Beauharnais, Queen of Holland, 1783

Amélie of Arenberg, Duchess in Bavaria, 1789

Maria Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, 1877

Princess Tatjana of Liechtenstein, Countess of Rietberg, 1973

Floris, Prince of Orange-Nassau, 1975

Ariane of the Netherlands, Dutch Princess, 2007

[dontdenymeshakespeare]

The Thistle and the Rose

As much as I pride myself on searching out the stories of unknown and lesser known women from history, Margaret Tudor is not a figure I knew much beyond the basics and the places where her life overlaps that of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. There’s always been a part of me that has had an itch to learn more about the mother and sisters of Henry VIII, so maybe this is the beginning of that…

The Thistle and the Rose

[royalty-nobility]

James V, 1512 - 1542. Father of Mary, Queen of Scots. Reigned 1513 - 1542

Artist: Unknown

Date: About 1579

Medium: Oil on panel

Collection: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

Description

James V, father of Mary, Queen of Scots, became king at seventeen months old when his own father, James IV, was killed at Flodden, fighting the English. Ignoring the urgings of his uncle, Henry VIII, who wished him to become a Protestant, James V strengthened Scotland's alliance with her traditional ally, France, by marrying the French king's daughter, Princess Madeleine. When she died, he took as his second wife Mary of Guise, another high-born French woman. James died at Falkland Palace in 1542, soon after his army's defeat by the English at Solway Moss. His six-day old daughter Mary succeeded to his throne.

[dreamconsumer]

Portrait of James V King of Scotland. By Sarah, Countess of Essex.