Throughout History there have been some monarch’s who’s remains have been treated terribly.
James IV of Scotland was left unburied for a number of centuries after Henry VIII had
asked to bury him in st Paul’s Cathedral. The remains of the influential Scottish monarch
are still lost today, but the treatment of Catherine of Valois’ remains following her
death in the 15th century were incredibly disturbing. Inside of Westminster Abbey her
coffin was simply left and was regularly opened with tourists flocking to catch a glimpse
and even kiss the medieval Queen of Henry V. But there was a rather controversial British
King who’s remains were also treated terribly and barbarically after his death. James II
is seen as a controversial monarch after he inherited the throne from his brother, and
his Catholic beliefs were greatly disliked across the country. He was then forced off
the throne following after he vacated the throne in favour of William of Orange and
his wife Mary II. But what is the story of James II’s body and remains?
As mentioned James II came onto the throne following Charles II and he was the second
surviving son of the executed Charles I and his wife Henrietta Maria. He was known from
birth as the Duke of York, and lived in Exile following the execution of his father at Whitehall.
Charles I was beheaded following his trial after being accused of causing the English
Civil War and of treason, but James went to live in France. He served in the Spanish army,
and following the restoration of the monarch when his brother was invited back to the throne,
he was the heir presumptive. But at the time it seemed unlikely that he would even become
King as the merry monarch Charles II it was believed would produce a legitimate heir,
but he never did this with his Queen. He had many illegitimate children, but James II remained
the heir throughout Charles’ reign. He married Anne Hyde the daughter of the King’s chief
minister, and no one at the time expected the prince to marry what was a commoner despite
the fact James had agreed to do so. But the couple married secretly, and had 6 children,
but the first died in infancy, and only two daughter survived, Mary and Anne. Samuel Pepys
wrote that James was fond of his children and being a father, and he played with them
like an ordinary father despite being a prince. James became Lord High Admiral., and he was
also made the Governor of the Royal Adventurers In Africa, or the Royal African Company. He
commanded the Royal Navy during the Second Anglo Dutch War, and remained Admiral of the
Fleet during the following conflict. He was given land in America by his father, and he
was then in September 1666 placed in charge of the firefighting operations of the Great
Fire of London.
It was said in particular with his actions in fighting the fire, ‘The Duke of York
hath won the hearts of the people with his continual tiresome pains day and night in
helping to quench the fire.’ But one of the main issues with James is that he was
a strong Catholic. He converted in secret, and at the time in England there was a large
fear of Catholics and their influence. James even refused to convert, and gave up his job
of Lord High Admiral. The King Charles II opposed his conversion, and he ordered his
daughters should be raised in the Church of England ways. James then married a 15 year
old Italian princess named Mary of Modena. Many British people saw her as a spy for the
pope, and James’ popularity continued to plummet. Many wanted him nowhere near the
throne, and there was an assassination plot to kill Charles II and James and to establish
a republic, and this was known as the Rye House Plot that resulted in many executions.
But following Charles II’s death, James II was instilled as King. He and his Queen
Mary were crowned on the 23rd April 1685. But James did face rebellions from his nephew
the Duke of Monmouth, and another in Scotland. These were both serious threats, and he increased
his army. James’ Catholicism continued to cause problems, and he did make further unpopular
changes to religion. But James II would be deposed in spectacular fashion. He learned
that William of Orange would land and invade England. His wife had given birth to a Catholic
son and heir named James, and this caused chaos that there could be a Catholic dynasty
imposed on the throne. William of Orange, the husband of James daughter Mary would invade
and was invited to come to England. James lost his nerve and decided to not attack,
and he was captured and despite escaping, he would be forced to abdicate and then William
III and Mary II ruled following the glorious revolution. He did attempt to regain his throne
briefly, but he would live out the rest of his life in comfort inside of France. James
wife and some of his supporters fled with him, and he lived in a royal chateau. He was
offered protection from his cousin, Louis XIV but when the French King had peace with
England established, he scaled down his help to James. In his final years he wrote saying
how Catholics should have greater influence in England, but on the 16th September 1701
James II died at the age of 67 from a brain haemorrhage. But what happened to his body
was a bizarre and crazy story that led to his remains being placed seemingly in different
parts of France.
Following his death, his heart was removed and then placed inside of a silver casket
and this was then given to a convent in Chaillot. His brain was then removed and was kept inside
of a lead casket which was then given to the Scots college in Paris. Also removed from
his body was his intestines which were then decanted and separated and were placed into
two gilt urns and these were then given to Paris church of Saint Germaine En Laye, and
the Jesuit College in St Omer. Also cut from his remains and body was some skin from his
right arm, which was then gifted to the English Augustinian nuns of Paris. So with all of
his organs and certain parts of his body removed, there wasn’t much left of James II. The
remains were then placed inside of a lead lined coffin and sarcophagus and these were
transported to the Chapel of St Edmund in the Church of the English Benedictines in
the Rue de St Jacues in Paris. Inside of this chapel, his body was not buried and the coffin
was placed on a stand which was surrounded by candles which were constantly lit. It was
hoped that his body would at some point be sent back to England where it would be buried
inside of Westminster Abbey with many other former King’s and Queens. But this would
never occur.
During the French Revolution, shockingly James II’s coffin was raided and ransacked, and
the rebels stole the lead inside of the coffin and defaced it. They did this to make lead
bullets. One account was written that tells us what happened to James body. It was written
by an Irish gentleman who was 80 when he recorded it, and he had taught English and French at
a school, and had left England as a monk. He said, ‘“I was a prisoner in Paris,
in the convent of the English Benedictines in the Rue St. Jacques, during part of the
Revolution. In the year 1793 or 1794, the body of King James II. of England (died 1701)
was in one of the chapels there, where it had been deposited some time, under the expectation
that it would one day be sent to England for interment in Westminster Abbey. It had never
been buried. The body was in a wooden coffin, inclosed in a leaden one; and that again inclosed
in a second wooden one, covered with black velvet. While I was a prisoner the sans-culottes broke
open the coffins to get at the lead to cast into bullets. The body lay exposed nearly
a whole day. It was swaddled like a mummy, bound tight with garters.
The sans-culottes took out the body, which had been embalmed. There was a strong smell
of vinegar and camphor. The corpse was beautiful and perfect. The hands and nails were very
fine. I moved and bent every finger. I never saw so fine a set of teeth in my life. A young
lady, a fellow prisoner, wished much to have a tooth; I tried to get one out for her, but
could not, they were so firmly fixed. The feet also were very beautiful. The face and
cheeks were just as if he were alive. I rolled his eyes; the eye-balls were perfectly firm
under my finger. The French and English prisoners gave money to the sans-culottes for showing
the body. The trouserless crowd said he was a good sans-culotte, and they were going
to put him into a hole in the public churchyard like other sans-culottes; and he was carried
away, but where the body was thrown I never heard. King George IV. tried all in his power
to get tidings of the body, but could not.”
So James II was a controversial English monarch and King, however he was forced off the throne
in shocking circumstances. What was shocking was the treatment of his body and remains
after his death, and that his organs were placed in many different parts of France.
His remains would never be repatriated to the Kingdom he ruled over for roughly 3 years,
and he died in exile having left his country. But today he is considered the unburied King
that was cut into pieces.
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