Biography of King James I of Scotland 1394-1437

Around 1367 [his father] King Robert III of Scotland (age 30) and [his mother] Anabella Drummond Queen Consort Scotland (age 17) were married. He the son of [his grandfather] King Robert II of Scotland (age 50) and [his grandmother] Elizabeth Mure Queen Consort Scotland. He a great x 4 grandson of King John of England.

In Jul 1394 King James I of Scotland was born to King Robert III of Scotland (age 57) and Anabella Drummond Queen Consort Scotland (age 44) at Dunfermline Abbey, Dunfermline.

                    Letters. 01 Aug 1394. Letter XXVI. [his mother] Annabella Queen of Scotland (age 44) to King Richard II (age 27).
                
                    To the most high and mighty prince Richard, by the grace of God king of England, our very dear cousin, Annabella, by the selfsame grace queen of Scotland sends health and greeting.
                
                    We give you hearty and entire thanks for your loving letters presented to as by oar well-beloved Donglas, herald-at-arms, from which we have learned to our great pleasure and comfort your good health and estate. And, dearest cousin, as touching the marriage-treaty to be made between some nearly allied to you by blood and some children of the king my lord and of us, be pleased to know that it is agreeable to the [his father] king (age 57) my said lord and to us, as he has signified to you by these letters. And in especial, that, although the said treaty could not be held on the third day of July last past for certain and reasonable causes contained in your letters sent to the king my aforesaid lord, you consented that the treaty should in like manner take place another day, namely, the first day of October next coming, which is agreeable to the king my aforesaid lord and to us; and we thank you heartily aud with good will, and affectionately pray you that you will continue the said treaty, and have the said day kept, for it is the will of my said lord the king and of us that as far as in us lies the said day should be kept without fail. And, dearest cousin, we affectionately require and entreat you that your highness will not be displeased that we have not sooner written to you; for we were lying in childbed of a male infant named James, of whom we are now well and graciously delivered, thanks to God and our Lady. And also, because, at the coming of your letters, the king my said lord was far away in the isles of his kingdom, we did not receive these letters sent to us on this matter till the last day of July last past. Most high and puissant prince, may the Holy Ghost ever keep you! Given under our signet, at the abbey of Dumfermline [Map], the first day of August.

In Oct 1401 [his mother] Anabella Drummond Queen Consort Scotland (age 51) died at Scone Palace.

On 04 Apr 1406 [his father] King Robert III of Scotland (age 69) died at Rothesay Castle, Isle of Bute. His son King James I of Scotland (age 11) succeeded I King Scotland.

On 23 Feb 1421 Catherine of Valois (age 19) was crowned Queen Consort England at Westminster Abbey [Map]. Robert Willoughby 6th Baron Willoughby (age 36) was appointed Chief Butler of England. James I (age 26) attended, and was honoured by sitting immediately on the queen's left at the coronation banquet.

Gesta Henrici Quinti Chapter 13. [07 Nov 1422]. Having completed all that was appropriate to be performed in the city of Rouen, the Dukes of Bedford and Burgundy remained in that city to govern France and Normandy. The Queen (age 21), the King of the Scots (age 28), the Duke of Exeter (age 45), and other counts, barons, and noble knights took the royal body back to England. And the painful lamentation and mournful grief of the English, hardly enduring the intensity of sorrow, weep for the dead king as their royal king and magnificent protector, husband of the widow, brother of the sister, and mother of the son. After many indeed tearful solemnities and mournful celebrations, the royal body was brought to Westminster, where, after masses, funerals, and many other most devout observances, it was entrusted to honorable burial among the tombs of kings. May his soul rejoice to be numbered among the citizens and companions of the heavenly city.

Peractis itaque quibusque quæ in urbe Rothomagensi perfici decuit, duces Bedfordiæ et Burgundiæ deputati ad regimen Franciæ et Normanniæ in ipsâ civitate remanserunt. Regina et rex Scotorum, dux Exoniæ, et alii comites et barones et nobiles milites corpus regium in Angliam deduxerunt. Quodque dolorosus planctus et planctuosi dolores Anglos mœroris vehementiam vix sustinentes &^co>. (sic) Plangit enim Anglia mortuum, ut regio regem et magnificum protectorem, maritum vidua, soror fratrem, et mater filium. Post multas quidem lachrymosas solemnitates et celebritates lugubres, corpus regium usque ad Westmonasterium adductum est, ibidemque post missas, exequias, et alias plures observantias devotissimas, inter regum sepulchra traditur honorificæ sepulturæ. Cujus anima concivis et cohæres supernorum civium fieri lætetur.

In 1423 Malise Graham 3rd Earl Strathearn 1st Earl Menteith (age 16) was sent to Durham, County Durham [Map] as one of the hostages for the safe return of King James I of Scotland (age 28).

On 12 Feb 1424 King James I of Scotland (age 29) and Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 20) were married at Southwark Cathedral [Map]. She by marriage Queen Consort Scotland. She the daughter of John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset and Margaret Holland Duchess Clarence (age 39). He the son of King Robert III of Scotland and Anabella Drummond Queen Consort Scotland. He a great x 5 grandson of King John of England. She a great granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

On 28 Mar 1424 King James I of Scotland (age 29) signed his release agreement, in which he promised to pay a ransom of 60,000 marks, at Durham, County Durham [Map]. He and his wife [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 20), married for seven weeks, travelled to Melrose Abbey [Map] arriving on 05 Apr 1424

On 21 May 1424 King James I of Scotland (age 29) was crowned I King Scotland at Scone Abbey [Map]. [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 20) was crowned Queen Consort Scotland.

Alexander Lindsay 2nd Earl Crawford and William Crichton 1st Lord Crichton were knighted.

On 25 Dec 1424 [his daughter] Margaret Stewart Dauphine of France was born to King James I of Scotland (age 30) and [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 20) at Perth [Map]. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

Following the Battle of Verneuil at which John Stewart 2nd Earl Buchan, brother of Murdoch Stewart 2nd Duke Albany (age 63) and key ally of the Albany Stewarts, was killed, King James I of Scotland (age 30) felt able to take action against the Albany Stewarts for their protracted regency whilst James was hostage in England.

On 18 May 1425 Murdoch Stewart 2nd Duke Albany (age 63), his two sons Walter Stewart (age 25) and Alexander Stewart, and Duncan Lennox 8th Earl Lennox (age 80) were tried at Stirling Castle [Map] in the presence of King James I of Scotland (age 30).

The jury which condemned them was composed of 21 knights and peers, including Albany's half-uncle [his uncle] Walter Stewart 1st Earl Atholl 3rd Earl Caithness (age 65), first cousin Alexander Stewart 1st Earl Mar (age 50), first cousins once-removed Archibald Douglas 2nd Duke Touraine (age 35), and Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles.

In 1426 [his daughter] Isabella Stewart Duchess Brittany was born to King James I of Scotland (age 31) and [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 22). She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

In 1427 Malise Graham 3rd Earl Strathearn 1st Earl Menteith (age 20) was imprisoned at Pontefract Castle [Map] as a hostage for King James I of Scotland (age 32). He wasn't released until 1453.

In 1428 [his daughter] Joan Stewart Countess Morton was born to King James I of Scotland (age 33) and [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 24). She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

On 16 Oct 1430 [his son] King James II of Scotland was born to King James I of Scotland (age 36) and [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 26). He a great x 2 grandson of King Edward III of England.

In or before 1432 [his brother-in-law] Edmund Beaufort 1st or 2nd Duke of Somerset (age 25) and Eleanor Beauchamp Duchess Somerset (age 23) were married. She the daughter of Richard Beauchamp 13th Earl Warwick (age 49) and Elizabeth Berkeley Countess Warwick. He the son of John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset and [his mother-in-law] Margaret Holland Duchess Clarence (age 46). They were half fourth cousins. He a great grandson of King Edward III of England. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

In 1433 [his daughter] Eleanor Stewart Duchess Austria was born to King James I of Scotland (age 38) and [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 29). She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

In 1434 [his daughter] Mary Stewart was born to King James I of Scotland (age 39) and [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 30). She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

In 1436 [his daughter] Anabella Stewart was born to King James I of Scotland (age 41) and [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 32). She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

On 25 Jun 1436 [his son-in-law] King Louis XI of France (age 12) and [his daughter] Margaret Stewart Dauphine of France (age 11) were married at Tours Castle. They had met the day before. She by marriage Dauphine . She the daughter of King James I of Scotland (age 41) and [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 32). He the son of Charles "Victorious" VII King France (age 33) and Marie Valois Anjou Queen Consort France (age 31). She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

A Brief Latin Chronicle. Aug 1436. In the same year, within the next month after the aforementioned Duke of Burgundy had besieged the town of Calais and then fled by the grace of God, James, King of the Scots (age 42) and perjurer, laid siege with his army to the Castle of Roxburgh in Northumbria, reportedly with a force of 300 men and more; there he achieved nothing. For the very noble knight, Ralph Grey (age 30), with eighty valiant men, strongly held the said castle and valiantly resisted the said King of Scots and his army. Hearing that the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Durham, and the Earl of Northumberland with a great force from the north were planning to confront them soon, the aforementioned king and his army, terrified and confused, immediately fled.

Anno eodem, infra mensem proximo sequentem quo prefatus dux Burgundie villam Calisie taliter obsedisset et inde gratia Dei profugatus fuisset, Jacobus rex Scottorum perjurus Castro de Rokesburgh in Northumbria cum suo exercitu, ut fertur, ad numerum c ml et ultra, obsidionem opposuit; ubi nichil profecit. Nam prenobilis ille miles Radulphus Greye, cum lxxx viris strenuis, dictum castrum fortiter custodivit et dicto regi Scottorum et exercitui suo viriliter restitit. Audito autem quod Archiepiscopus Eboracensis, episcopus Dunelmensis ac Comes Northumbrie cum maxima potestate borealium eisdem obviare infra breve proponebant, rex prefatus et suns exercitus territi et confusi protinus aufugerunt.

On 21 Feb 1437 King James I of Scotland (age 42) was assassinated at Blackfriars. He was buried at Carthusian Charterhouse, Perth. His son [his son] King James II of Scotland (age 6) succeeded II King Scotland. His wife, [his wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 33), managed to escape.

On 26 Mar 1437 [his uncle] Walter Stewart 1st Earl Atholl 3rd Earl Caithness (age 77) was hanged, drawn and quartered at Edinburgh Castle [Map] for having conspired to assassinate King James I of Scotland (deceased). He had unbarred the doors to the royal apartments, permitting assassins to enter the King's lodging. Earl Atholl and Earl Caithness forfeit by attainder.

Chronicle of Gregory 1437. Ande the same year the King of Schottys was trayturly slayne in his owne londe, of a false squyr and the squyer is sone, of the same londe, that was namyd Robert Grahams. The whyche squyer and his son were take anon aftyr, and there they were playnely put to dethe, as welle worthy was, to be traye any King or prynce.

Before 21 Sep 1439 James "Black Knight of Lorn" Stewart (age 44) and [his former wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 35) were married. She the daughter of John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset and [his former mother-in-law] Margaret Holland Duchess Clarence (age 54). She a great granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

On 15 Jul 1445 [his former wife] Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland (age 41) died at Dunbar Castle, Dunbar. She was buried at Perth Charterhouse.

In 1619 Oliver St John 1st Earl Bolingbroke (age 39) entertained King James I of Scotland at his house.

In May 1622 James Home 2nd Earl of Home (age 15) and Catherine Carey Countess Home (age 13) were married at Whitehall Palace [Map] with King James I of Scotland present. She by marriage Countess of Home. He the son of Alexander Home 1st Earl of Home and Mary Dudley Countess Home (age 36).

On 28 Dec 1624 Oliver St John 1st Earl Bolingbroke (age 44) was created 1st Earl Bolingbroke by King James I of Scotland. Elizabeth Paulet Countess Bolingbroke by marriage Countess Bolingbroke.

John Evelyn's Diary. 06 Feb 1686. Being the day on wcb his Ma* (age 52) began his reign, by order of Council it was to be solemniz'd with a particular Office and Sermon, which the Bp. of Ely (age 48) preach'd at Whitehall [Map] on 11 Numb. 12; a Court oration upon the Regal office. It was much wonder'd at that this day, weh was that of his late Ma*'s death, should be kept as a festival, and not [instead of] the day of the present King's coronation. It is said to have ben formerly ye costom, tho' not till now since ye reigne of King James I.

[his son] Alexander Stewart was born to King James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland. He a great x 2 grandson of King Edward III of England.

King James I of Scotland 1394-1437 appears on the following Descendants Family Trees:

Royal Ancestors of King James I of Scotland 1394-1437

Royal Descendants of King James I of Scotland 1394-1437

Ancestors of King James I of Scotland 1394-1437