SCOTTISH HISTORY: ADDITIONAL LEARNING RESOURCES
JAMES V:KATHERINE HISTORIAN DR AMY BLAKEWAY
Question 1
What was Scotland like during the reign of James V?
The 1530s were a time of relative stability in Scotland, sandwiched between two disrupted decades. James had come to the throne as a child in 1513, and until 1528 Scotland had been ruled by others on his behalf – whilst his cousin, the Duke of Albany did bring some stability as Governor from 1515-1524, the brief regency of James’s mother, Margaret, from 1513 to 1515 and the regime headed by her ex-husband, Archibald Douglas earl of Angus, from 1524-8, were volatile. Meanwhile, both England and France had tried to exert greater control in Scotland. Similarly, after James’s untimely death in 1542 Scotland was plunged into a large-scale conflict with England which would rip the country apart.
James’s personal rule, the time he ruled on his own behalf, as an adult, was therefore comparatively stable. Aside from a brief war with England in 1532-3 which remained small-scale, James avoided international conflict. Relations with his English Uncle Henry VIII were skilfully managed, and his diplomacy with France was so successful that following a personal visit by James to that country in 1536 he married Madeline de Valois, the daughter of the King, Francis I. Following her death he remarried the intelligent and shrewd French noblewoman, Marie de Guise, who was the mother of his heir, Mary, Queen of Scots.
James presided over a glamourous court which regularly enjoyed plays and sharing new poetry – some of this gives us details about the royal pets, such as parrots and a dog with a tendency to jump up onto beds. He had a knack for spotting talent, and surrounded himself with intelligent lawyers who oversaw significant developments in how the Court of Session functioned. James travelled regularly and personally attended the criminal courts known as Justice Ayres which moved around the country.
For the Scottish people, the lack of warfare and the fact that the inflation which would cause such problems after 1540 had not taken off meant that this was probably a time of relative security and plenty. The burghs in particular were wealthy, trading with not only France but Scandinavia and the Low Countries. This meant people at home could enjoy imported wine, velvet and fine glassware. They also had a choice of printed books – either in Scots, produced on Scotland’s first printing press, or in French, Latin, English or other languages and imported.
Question 2
Why was religion such a tense subject in Scotland during the 1530s? Why were people being burned alive for heresy?
In a nutshell, people were being burned alive because the people who were burning them – the Scottish crown and Catholic Church – believed that their ideas would condemn them to an eternity in hell, and the risk that they would share these ideas with others and condemn them too to eternal pain and absence from God was too great.
However, burning was never the first resort – and despite how dramatic it was it needs to be put in this broader context. During the 1520s and 1530s serious challenges were being issued to the authority of the Catholic Church, which remained the official religion of Scotland and most of Europe throughout this period. Beginning in Germany with Martin Luther, people – many of them Catholic clergy or monks – voiced concerns about the beliefs and religious teachings of the Church (theology) and how the Church was managed and governed, such as the behaviour of priests and how Church resources were managed. These ideas were spread through direct contacts, such as through students studying abroad or trading partnerships, but many people encountered them through printed books. Scotland passed an act banning the import of ‘heretical’ books in 1525, this was the first in a series of parliamentary acts designed to suppress the new ideas, and to stop behaviour associated with them.
During the 1530s, Henry VIII’s need to marry a woman who would give birth to a son prompted him to leave the Catholic Church. He tried consistently to persuade James to convert Scotland to the new religion he had imposed on England – whilst James resisted, books in English were easy for Scots speakers to read and so English books helped Henry’s ideas spread north of the border.
Whilst it is tempting to think about two clear groups the members of which all shared the same ideas, one being the established church and the other the reformers, this is too simplistic. Many in the Catholic church shared some of the concerns of the reformers – in particular, there was common ground over the need for better education for priests and higher standards, including higher morals, amongst the clergy. Equally, the reformers were not a cohesive group – individuals had different ideas or saw differing things as important, and although many were connected to each other through personal contacts this was not an organised group. The beliefs of both groups would continue to develop during the sixteenth century, with different strands amongst the reformers. Because of this, it is not accurate to describe people in the 1530s as ‘Protestant’ or to characterise the religious division as ‘Protestant vs Catholic’. This over-simplifies matters – besides which, ‘Protestant’ as a word was not used until much later in the century.
Question 3
What do we know about Katherine Hamilton, her family and religious beliefs?
We know very little about Katherine. Her family had land, her male relatives had important local responsibilities as Sheriffs, and they were well connected. Her brother, Patrick, had originally been intended to have a career in the Catholic Church and was even given the job of Abbott of Fearn. Whilst it is not clear when Patrick’s religious ideas changed, his periods of study in Paris and at St Andrews would have given him opportunities to read and discuss new ideas. By 1527 he was summoned to an enquiry into his thought led by the Archbishop of St Andrews, James Beaton, but escaped and went to the newly-founded Lutheran University at Marberg. When he returned in 1528 and stood trial for his beliefs Patrick was convicted of heresy and sentenced to be burned alive. This is a measure of how afraid the Catholic Church was that he would convert others and condemn them to hell. His courage as he died, however, meant that his death could be exploited as propaganda by his supporters and his status as Scotland’s first ‘Protestant’ martyrs ensured him fame. It seems likely that his siblings, Katherine and James, shared his beliefs.
The fact Patrick’s death was useful to his supporters and widely discussed and described is one reason why we know more about him than his sister. But, this reflects a wider trend - fewer sources were produced by or about women. Women of Katherine’s status in this period could often read and write, although they could not attend a formal educational institution, and we have many letters surviving in their handwriting as well as contracts or other business documents which they signed. Whilst the most highly educated were fluent in Latin, a working knowledge of French or another European language would be useful for many. Later in the century, the famous (but misogynist) reformer John Knox corresponded regularly with women who shared his faith and it is clear they had deep understanding of the issues and played important roles in keeping the religious community together. Other women in this century were poets (such as Mary, Queen of Scots or Marie Maitland) or calligraphers (such as Esther Inglis). Women ran businesses, and offered loans (such as the Edinburgh money-lender Janet Fockart). They played roles in national defence, running castles during sieges and managing communications networks (Isobel, Lady Borthwick, Annas Keith, countess of Moray and Argyll, and Katherine Ruthven, Lady Glenorchy, are three examples from a long list).
These are the types of things which Katherine Hamilton may have done. However, the only description of her trial in 1534 dates from the seventeenth-century. Whether it was based on a now-lost primary source, a rumour or something else, however, the account of Katherine as an educated woman who was able to hold her own in public debate is entirely plausible for a woman of her time and background.
Question 4
What do we know about James V’s religious beliefs?
As a monarch ruling at a time of religious change, James’s faith has been much discussed. He was certainly interested in reforming the Catholic Church, enjoying plays and poems which criticised the behaviour of his Bishops, and giving a speech to parliament ordering the clergy present to improve their behaviour. He was also willing to employ people who were interested in religious reform – as long as they were good at their jobs!
However, the evidence is overwhelming that whilst James wanted to see improvements in the Church, he remained a Catholic. He continued to donate money to monasteries, supported the Church in trying those it considered to be heretics, rejected Henry VIII’s attempts to convert him, and when he heard that another of his fellow-monarchs, Christian III of Denmark, had converted, wrote him a passionate letter imploring him to return to the Catholic faith. His most senior governmental official, the Chancellor, was the Archbishop of Glasgow, and James’s parliaments passed legislation to support the church- including a law banning even former ‘heretics’ who had renounced their beliefs from holding public office, such as being a sherrif or judge, or sitting in his council, which advised him and helped him run the country.
This desire for reform but commitment to the Church means that although James V was one man, his personal beliefs can help us understand the dilemmas facing many of his subjects and the range of approaches people took to these questions.
Question 5
What are some of the challenges uncovering histories of people who often lacked power (like women) or who were subject to legal persecution (such as gay, lesbian or other LGBTQ+ folk)?
Whilst we have many exciting primary sources from sixteenth-century Scotland, sadly, these cannot tell us all the things we would like to know and they reflect the priorities of those who wrote them.
Our source material for women’s lives is varied and, once you start looking and noticing, lots of evidence emerges. This includes women’s letters or literature they wrote, legal cases which record their lives, business and marriage contracts which they signed, and what men commented about them in their letters or books. This leaves some gaps – notably the lives of poorer women (as do poorer men) leave fewer records than their richer counterparts, and sometimes we need to be aware a source tells us more about the prejudices of an author than the people who it purports to record – lots of the material about women is tinged with misogynist prejudice.
Finding LGBTQ+ histories is trickier, but it is not impossible. Because any sex which was not between a man and a woman who were married to each other was a sin in the eyes of the Church, and could carry legal penalties if it were discovered, couples were forced to maintain secrecy for their own safety. The execution of the couple John Swan and John Litser – they were hanged to death then their bodies were burned on 1st September 1570 – shows how real this threat was. Even the brief record of the trial tells us something – the two men were smiths by trade, and worked for the same boss. They may have met at work, and like many servants and apprentices at this time may have lived with him - but the fact they were caught away from their master’s house, at the foot of Cranston’s close suggests they were trying to hide from those who knew them. At the other end of the spectrum, the letters between James VI and his lover, George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, speak to an intensely emotional relationship. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
In uncovering a wider range of lived experiences, it is especially important to get back to the primary sources. Catalogues, summaries of sources and even modern publications of sources all reflect the perspectives and priorities of their authors, and leave out materials about groups they consider unimportant or marginal. By going back to the original materials we have the opportunity to understand a wider range of historical experiences.
Find out more about Patrick Hamilton and the early reformers in Scotland here: Hamilton’s Early Life – Talking Law (st-andrews.ac.uk)
For another introductory essay on the Reformation, covering a longer period, and a short bibliography, see: https://scottishhistorysociety.com/the-scottish-reformation-c-1525-1560/
You can search for parliamentary legislation from this period here: www.rps.ac.uk