James the Fourth of Scotland, is probably one of the most under acclaimed Scottish
Kings. He did more to unify highland and
lowland, to raise Scotland's profile in Europe,
and to improve education and to forward technology
than probably just about any other Scottish King.
Yet where are the monuments? At the Battle of Flodden
he was also the last Scottish King to die in battle,
or was he? If you're interested in the people,
places and events in Scottish history, then you can click on the subscribe
button in the bottom right hand corner of the screen at any time during
this video, oh and also don't forget you'll get
additional information, and ways to support the channel in the
description below. In the meantime, let me tell you a story.
This is Linlithgow Palace, and behind me is Queen Margaret's Tower now Covid's
restricted the numbers that can go into the palace right now,
otherwise I would have taken you up to that tower
to look east towards Edinburgh as Queen Margaret
did in 1513. Every day she watched and waited for her husband
James, who'd crossed the border to do battle with the forces of her brother
Henry the Eighth. James never returned from that battle
but neither did his body.
Now next door to Linlithgow Palace is St Michael's Chapel,
and shortly before he headed south to invade England, James
had been here in the chapel at prayer, seeking
God's blessing and protection, and at the chapel door
appeared a long-haired old man with a beard
down to his waist, and a staff in his hand and a sapphire blue robe.
He moved amongst the nobles gathered, then approached James
wailing saying: "My mother sent me asking me to tell you
not to pass to where you go. Your journey will not fare well for you
or those who accompany you", and then before the King could respond,
the wisp-like figure had disappeared. So why was he going in the first place?
Here's a quick summary of what we know: Scotland had been allies with France
since the time of William Wallace. James had sought to build bridges with
England as well, that's why he'd married Margaret Tudor, the sister of Henry the Eighth.
You can find out more in my video 'The Marriage of The Thistle
and The Rose', but since 1502 there had been a Treaty of Perpetual Peace
with England, and an old alliance with France.
The problem was, Henry the Eighth had invaded France.
Awkward! So what side are you on? Let's spice the game up a bit with
some raised stakes! Imagine that you're a devout Catholic
like James, and the Papacy is in a dispute with France.
So the Pope says, that if you invade England, as required by your 200 year old treaty,
you'll be excommunicated. It's the devil and the deep blue English
Channel isn't it?
Now we all know that James invades. We all know
that it culminates in what's known as The Battle of Flodden, the worst
military disaster in Scotland's history. James had famously told a Spanish
Ambassador that "his subjects serve him with their
persons and goods, in just and unjust quarrels exactly as
he likes, and therefore he does not think that he
has the right to begin any warlike undertaking without himself
being the first in danger". Just like American Presidents then, eh?
So instead of marshalling his forces from the rear of the battle,
he's in the front line with his troops. He's dismounted and he's fighting
shoulder to shoulder with his men in a way that his rival
Henry the Eighth would never do. In the thick of battle, some of his nobles want him to
protect himself, maybe even to flee for safety, but if
you've watched my video about how James came to the
throne, then you'll know that James became King because he'd
allowed himself to be figurehead of a rebellion against his father James the Third
and his dad had been ignominiously killed fleeing The Battle of Sauchiburn.
If you're gonna die you might as well die with your boots on.
Actually, because it was so muddy downhill, some of the Scots apparently
took their boots off! That's another day. The point is that James the Third had been
killed fleeing from the forces of James the Fourth,
and that's why all his life from that point James the Fourth wore a heavy iron chain
around his waist as a penance for the sin of patricidal
regicide. You can watch my playlist on James the Fourth
at the end of this video. Come on!
Let me tell you about another two characters.
Lord Home was a Scottish border nobleman. Lord Dacre was his equivalent on the
English side of the border. The two forces were directly opposite
each other at the battle. Now borderers of either side
had a reputation for fighting bitterly against each other week to week,
but going easy on each other whenever there was a battle between Scotland and
England. It's like when somebody insults your
annoying cousin. That tosspot's family isn't he?
In the midst of battle the Earl of Huntley shouts to Home: "The King's in trouble,
let's go and help". Home says: "I'll take care of me, he can
take care of him". It turns out that Home was one of the
only Scottish nobles that survived that battle. Hmm!
Not only that, Dacre his English counterpart was accused of the same lack
of commitment on the English side too. Double hmm I think!
After a crushing defeat for the Scots, there was
some initial confusion about the fate of James the Fourth.
As the English went through the battlefield robbing the dead, reports were sent to
Henry in france to say that James was alive,
others that he was dead. After the battle, it was said that James had been seen
walking hail and hearty near Kelso. James was seen crossing the River Tweed
on the evening in the battle, but was then murdered by Home.
Four horsemen were seen crossing the battlefield carrying spears
with a wisp at the point. They headed to where James was lifted him to horse and
galloped off towards Scotland.
The next day Dacre, the dodgy English borderer,
who was under a bit of PR pressure after his performance,
turned up at Berwick with James's body. Two Scots under Dacre's control identified it
as the body of James. Now other items were found as well like
his dagger, his banner, his riding harness, and so the body was embalmed, cased in
lead and taken to York. Now why across land rather than
a much easier sea route from Berwick to London?
I don't know. From York, it was taken to the monastery at Sheen,
Richmond in Surrey, but then there was a problem;
what do you do with a body? You see James had been excommunicated the moment they
invaded England. He couldn't be buried on holy ground so,
Henry the Eighth wrote to the Pope asking permission to
have his brother-in-law interred at St Paul's Cathedral
Now the Pope lifts the excommunication, it was political in the first place,
on the basis that he probably made a deathbed repentance.
What! The four horsemen of the apocalypse came and collected him personally?
We thought it was you that sent them! Anyway there's a wee bit of plague in
London because that's how karma works. So James's body gets forgotten about. It
lies there in Richmond and the next time that we hear about it
is 40 years later. The property had been owned by the Earl
of Hertford, but he'd been executed and a guy came to look over the
property and he found a coffin in the wood pile, minus the head that
some workmen had lopped off to play football.
Now, you might reasonably be asking, "is that
the way to treat the mortal remains of a monarch?"
The question I'm asking is, "where's the iron belt?"
This body of James was examined by two Scots, whose future depended on keeping
Lord Dacre of English Marches happy remember?
They confirmed that the body was that of James, a man who since the age of 15,
had worn an iron belt around his waist as penance.
Where was the belt? There was no belt. Oh, maybe the battlefield corpse robbers
took the belt? Maybe they did, maybe they took an iron
belt, but left an ornate royal dagger, a royal
banner and a royal riding harness of a King, who dismounted and left his
horse to fight on foot. Was this really the corpse of James the Fourth?
If it wasn't, then where was he? Was he killed in the battlefield? Was he
seen in Kelso hail and hearty? Was he taken and murdered by Home who
wanted to avoid retribution for leaving his King,
or was he lifted and taken into the distance by four
ethereal horsemen? Is he still in his spirit world waiting like a latter day
King Arthur for Scotland to call in our time of need? I think I'll go up
to the tower and see if he's coming eh? Whilst I do that can you give this
video a thumbs up and share it? Tha mi an dochas bum bith lath math leibh
Tiorridh an drasda
you