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59-488: In 1450, King James II sent a company of 24 noble Scots under the command of Patrick de Spens, son of his custodian. This company took the name of archiers du corps or gardes de la manche . On 31 August 1490, this company, these of Patry Folcart, Thomas Haliday, and a part of the company of Robin Petitloch, became the first company of archiers de la garde du roi under the command of Guillaume Stuier (Stuart). At

118-496: A conspicuous vermilion birthmark on his face, which appears to have been deemed by contemporaries an outward sign of a fiery temper. James was a politic and singularly successful king. He was popular with the commoners, with whom, like most of the Stewarts , he socialised often, in times of peace and war. His legislation has a markedly popular character. He does not appear to have inherited his father's taste for literature, which

177-409: A dangerous axis of power of independently minded men, forming a major rival to royal authority. When Douglas refused to break the bond with Ross, James broke into a fit of temper, stabbed Douglas 26 times and threw his body out of a window. His court officials (many of whom would rise to great influence in later years, often in former Douglas lands) then joined in the bloodbath, one allegedly striking out

236-692: A daughter of King Charles V of France , who was only a child at the time. Before his accession to become the Duke of Burgundy , John was one of the principal leaders of the French forces sent to aid King Sigismund of Hungary in his war against Sultan Bayezid I of the Ottoman Empire. John fought in the Battle of Nicopolis of 25 September 1396 against the Ottomans with such enthusiasm and bravery that he

295-521: A detachment of them accompanied the French King wherever he went, posted guards on his sleeping place and even escorted his food from kitchen to table. During the reign of Francis I the garde were held up by blizzards near the Simplon Pass after a defeat at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Some of the men reputedly settled there and their descendants became known as the "Lost Clan ". From

354-752: A diplomatic meeting. He was, however, assassinated by the Dauphin's companions. He was later buried in Dijon . Following this, his son and successor Philip the Good formed an alliance with the English, which would prolong the Hundred Years' War for decades and cause incalculable damage to France and its subjects. John and his wife Margaret, who were married in 1385, had the following children: John and his mistress Agnes de Croy, daughter of Jean I de Croÿ , had

413-592: A few skirmishes against the Orléans party, John managed to recover the king's favour. In the treaty of Chartres , signed on 9 March 1409, the king absolved the Duke of Burgundy of the crime, and he and Louis' son Charles pledged a reconciliation. A later edict renewed John's guardianship of the Dauphin. He moved further closer to securing the Regency for himself when he had Jean de Montagu , Grand Master of France and

472-464: A formal agreement to put James in the custody of the Livingstons, agreeing to the queen's relinquishment of her dowry for his maintenance, and confessing that Livingston had acted through zeal for the king's safety. In 1440, in the king's name, an invitation is said to have been sent to the 16-year-old William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas , and his younger brother, twelve-year-old David, to visit

531-709: A general lack of prominent earls in Scotland due to deaths, forfeiture or youth, political power became shared uneasily among William Crichton, 1st Lord Crichton , Lord Chancellor of Scotland (sometimes in co-operation with the Earl of Avondale ), and Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar , who had possession of the young king as the warden of the stronghold of Stirling Castle . Taking advantage of these events, Livingston placed Queen Joan and her new husband, Sir James Stewart , under "house arrest" at Stirling Castle on 3 August 1439. They were released on 4 September only by making

590-529: A graphic account of the ceremony and the feasts which followed. Many Flemings in Mary's suite remained in Scotland, and the relations between Scotland and Flanders , already friendly under James I, consequently became closer. In Scotland, the king's marriage led to his emancipation from tutelage, and to the downfall of the Livingstons. In the autumn Sir Alexander and other members of the family were arrested. At

649-673: A heavily embroidered white and gold cassock which they wore over the blue and red and silver uniform of the Body Guard. All four companies of the Body Guard were formally disbanded in 1791, although the aristocratic personnel of the regiment had dispersed following the closure of Versailles as a royal palace in October 1789. They were re-established at the time of the First Bourbon Restoration under an ordinance dated 25 May 1814. Until their final dissolution in 1830,

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708-484: A large number of cannons imported from Flanders . On 3 August, he was standing near one of these cannons when it exploded and killed him. Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie stated in his history of James's reign that "as the King stood near a piece of artillery, his thigh bone was dug in two with a piece of misframed gun that brake in shooting, by which he was stricken to the ground and died hastily." The Scots carried on with

767-478: A parliament in Edinburgh on 19 January 1450, Alexander Livingston, a son of Sir Alexander, and Robert Livingston of Linlithgow were tried and executed on Castle Hill. Sir Alexander and his kinsmen were confined in different and distant castles. A single member of the family escaped the general proscription — James, the eldest son of Sir Alexander, who, after arrest and escape to the highlands, was restored in 1454 to

826-478: A reign characterised by struggles to maintain control of his kingdom, he was killed by an exploding cannon at Roxburgh Castle in 1460. James was born in Holyrood Abbey . He was the son of King James I and Joan Beaufort . By his first birthday, his only brother, his older twin, Alexander , had died, thus leaving James as heir apparent with the title Duke of Rothesay . On 21 February 1437, James I

885-570: Is the first Scots monarch for whom a contemporary likeness has survived, in the form of a woodcut showing his birthmark on the face. Negotiations for a marriage to Mary of Guelders began in July 1447, when a Burgundian envoy came to Scotland and was concluded by an embassy under Crichton the chancellor in September 1448. Her great-uncle, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy , settled sixty thousand crowns on his kinswoman, and her dower of ten thousand

944-629: The Battle of Brechin , and in May 1455, James struck a decisive blow against the Douglases, and they were finally defeated at the Battle of Arkinholm. In the months that followed, the Parliament of Scotland declared the extensive Douglas lands forfeit and permanently annexed them to the crown, along with many other lands, finances and castles. The earl fled into a long English exile. James finally had

1003-630: The Garde Écossaise name, although referring to the Regiment de Douglas . By the reign of Louis XV , the Scottish Company numbered 21 officers and 330 men in a mounted unit which last saw active service when they escorted Louis at the Battle of Lauffeld on 1 July 1747. On this and other occasions the Scottish Company carried claymores with steel basket guards instead of the swords of the other French heavy cavalry. They were distinguished from

1062-617: The Hundred Years' War against Kingdom of England . A rash, ruthless and unscrupulous politician, John murdered Charles's brother, the Duke of Orléans , in an attempt to gain control of the government, which led to the eruption of the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War in France and in turn culminated in his own assassination in 1419. The involvement of Charles , the heir to the French throne, in his assassination prompted John's son and successor Philip to seek an alliance with

1121-514: The Isle of Man nonetheless did not succeed. The king traveled the country and has been argued to have originated the practice of raising money by giving remissions for serious crimes. It has also been argued that some of the unpopular policies of James III actually originated in the late 1450s. In 1458, an Act of Parliament commanded the king to modify his behaviour, but one cannot say how his reign would have developed had he lived longer. James II

1180-824: The 16th century onwards, recruitment of the unit was primarily from Frenchmen and the Scottish element gradually died out. The name was retained as were certain words of command which had originated in Scots . In 1632, the Earl of Enzie began to rebuild a Scottish regiment in France. There is sometimes confusion as to which unit actually held the title of Garde Écossaise , with several regiments in service often being conflated, especially those commanded by Sir John Hepburn , James Campbell, 1st Earl of Irvine (later commanded by Sir Robert Moray ) and Colonel James Douglas . As an example some works recording Scots in action have simply applied

1239-477: The Armagnacs. Although he talked of helping his sovereign, his troops took no part in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, although two of his brothers, Antoine, Duke of Brabant , and Philip II, Count of Nevers , died fighting for France during the battle. Two years later, with the rivalry between Burgundians and Armagnacs at an all-time high because of the shattering defeat at Agincourt, John's troops set about

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1298-600: The Black Knight of Lorne , after obtaining a papal dispensation for both consanguinity and affinity . His oldest sister, Margaret , had left Scotland for France in 1436 to marry the Dauphin Louis (later King Louis XI of France ). From 1437 to 1439, the king's first cousin Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas , headed the government as lieutenant-general of the realm. After his death, and with

1357-643: The Burgundians. With peace between the factions solemnly sworn in 1410, John returned to Burgundy and Bernard remained in Paris, where he reportedly shared the Queen's bed. The Armagnac party was not content with its level of political power, and after a series of riots and attacks against the citizens, John was recalled to the capital, then sent back to Burgundy in 1413. At this time, King Henry V of England invaded French territory and threatened to attack Paris. During

1416-405: The Dauphin and the king's children. This did not improve relations between John and the Duke of Orléans. Soon the two rivals descended into making open threats. Their uncle, John, Duke of Berry , secured a vow of solemn reconciliation on 20 November 1407, but only three days later, on 23 November 1407, Louis was brutally assassinated in the streets of Paris. The order, no one doubted, had come from

1475-468: The Dauphin assigned the Scottish contingent throughout his armies and garrisons and picked a number, roughly one hundred of the best warriors, to be his personal body guard. The Scotsmen fought with distinction throughout France with a notable win at the Battle of Baugé in 1421, where the Duke of Clarence was said to have been felled by Buchan's Mace. The Scots faced a calamity at the Battle of Verneuil in 1424, when they lost 6000 men. Although saddened by

1534-404: The Dauphin tried to bring about a reconciliation with John. They met in July and swore peace on the bridge of Pouilly-le-Fort, near Melun . On the grounds that peace was not sufficiently assured by the meeting at Pouilly, a fresh interview was proposed by the Dauphin to take place on 10 September 1419 on the bridge at Montereau . John of Burgundy was present with his escort for what he considered

1593-444: The Duke of Burgundy, who shortly admitted to the deed and declared it to be a justifiable act of " tyrannicide ". According to Thomas Walsingham , Orléans had simply received his just deserts as he had been "taking his pleasure with whores, harlots, incest" and had committed adultery with the wife of an unnamed knight who had taken his revenge by killing him under the protection of the Duke of Burgundy. After an escape from Paris and

1652-573: The English, thereby bringing the Hundred Years' War to its final phase . John, like his father Philip before him, played an important role in the development of gunpowder artillery in European warfare, making extensive and successful use of it in his military campaigns. John was born in Dijon on 28 May 1371 to Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy and Countess Margaret III of Flanders . On

1711-543: The Fearless John I ( French : Jean sans Peur   ; Dutch : Jan zonder Vrees ; 28 May 1371 – 10 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State from 1404 until his assassination in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs during the early 15th century, particularly in his struggle to remove the mentally ill King Charles VI and during

1770-527: The Scots and the Castilians . In 1418, Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany , appointed his son, John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan , Chamberlain of Scotland , to command the Scottish expeditionary force, the largest army that medieval Scotland had ever sent abroad. 7000-8000 men arrived at La Rochelle in October 1419 and made their way to Tours to greet the Dauphin. The first thing the future Charles VII did

1829-614: The Senior Company retained the title of les fiers Ecossais ('the proud Scots'). James II of Scotland James II (16 October 1430 – 3 August 1460) was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460. The eldest surviving son of James I of Scotland , he succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of six, following the assassination of his father. The first Scottish monarch not to be crowned at Scone , James II's coronation took place at Holyrood Abbey in March 1437. After

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1888-539: The agreements that would become known as the Auld Alliance , there is documentary evidence of French soldiery in Scotland or Scottish soldiery in France. From the outset of the Hundred Years War , there were Scottish companies officially fighting for Philip VI of France . At the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, the 1st Earl of Douglas and the future 3rd Earl of Douglas fought for John II of France ;

1947-422: The assassination of his young Douglas cousins, in which Livingston was complicit. Douglas and Crichton continued to dominate political power and the king continued to struggle to throw off their rule. Between 1451 and 1455, he struggled to free himself from the power of the Douglases. Attempts to curb it took place in 1451, during the absence of William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas from Scotland, and culminated with

2006-418: The beginning la compagnie écossaise des gardes du corps du roi included 100 gardes du corps (25 bodyguards and 75 archiers ). Each bodyguard had four men-at-arms under his command, (a squire, an archer, a cranequinier and a servant), one of them acquired the name of premier homme d'armes du royaume de France . They were finally disbanded in 1830 at the abdication of Charles X . After 1295, and

2065-721: The death of his maternal grandfather Count Louis II of Flanders in 1384, he received the County of Nevers . In 1385, a double wedding for the Burgundian family took place in Cambrai . John married Margaret , daughter of Count Albert I of Holland , while at the same time his sister Margaret married Albert's son William in order to consolidate John's position in the Low Countries . The marriage took place after John cancelled his engagement to his first cousin, Catherine ,

2124-465: The earl's brain with an axe. This murder did not end the power of the Douglases but rather created a state of intermittent civil war between 1452 and 1455. The main engagements were at Brodick , on the Isle of Arran ; Inverkip in Renfrew ; and the Battle of Arkinholm . James attempted to seize Douglas's lands, but his opponents repeatedly forced him into humiliating climbdowns, whereby he returned

2183-588: The freedom to govern as he wished, and one can argue that his successors as kings of Scots never faced such a powerful challenge to their authority again. Along with the forfeiture of the Albany Stewarts in the reign of James I, the destruction of the Black Douglases saw royal power in Scotland take a major step forward. Between 1455 and 1460, James II proved to be an active and interventionist king. Ambitious plans to take Orkney , Shetland and

2242-534: The future 3rd Earl was captured along with many Scottish knights, as was the French king himself. In the 1360s, Scotsmen were to be found in the army of Bertrand du Guesclin . In the early 15th century France was split into Armagnac - Burgundian civil strife following Charles VI 's descent into madness. Henry V of England saw his opportunity, allied himself with John the Fearless , and invaded France. The Dauphin despairingly sought allies, and found them amongst

2301-593: The importance of the middle class of merchants and tradesmen or the University of Paris . Louis tried to gain the favour of the wife of Charles VI, Queen Isabeau of France, and may have become her lover. After his son-in-law, the Dauphin Louis , was successively kidnapped and recovered by both parties, the Duke of Burgundy managed to gain appointment by royal decree—during one of the king's "absent" periods when mental illness manifested itself—as guardian of

2360-628: The king at Edinburgh Castle in November 1440. They came and were entertained at the royal table, where James, still a little boy, was charmed by them. However, while they ate, a black bull's head, a symbol of death, was brought in and placed before the Earl. They were treacherously hurried to their doom, which took place by beheading in the castle yard of Edinburgh on 24 November, with the 10-year-old king pleading for their lives. Three days later Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld , their chief adherent, shared

2419-580: The king's long standing favorite and administrator aligned with the Orleanists, arrested during another one of Charles' manic episodes, and after an expedited summary trial carried out by the Burgundian-aligned politicians, Montagu was beheaded at the Gibbet of Montfaucon on 17 October 1409. Even with the Orléans dispute resolved in his favour, John did not lead a tranquil life. Charles ,

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2478-410: The lands to James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas , and a brief and uneasy peace ensued. Military campaigns ended indecisively, and some have argued that James stood in serious danger of being overthrown, or of having to flee the country. But James's patronage of lands, titles and office to allies of the Douglases saw their erstwhile allies begin to change sides, most importantly the Earl of Crawford after

2537-537: The loss of so many of his loyal Scotsmen, Charles VII continued to honour the survivors. The Scots had a further setback at the Battle of the Herrings in 1429. The Scottish Army in France fragmented into free companies (a headache for the French state), and also into Compagnies d'ordonnance within the French Army. The King kept about him his Garde Écossaise . The Scottish Guards had likely protected him during

2596-568: The murder of John the Fearless at the bridge of Montereau , and rescued him from a fire in Gascony in 1442. Scottish Guards fell at the Battle of Montlhéry defending their king, Louis XI of France , in 1465. The Garde Écossaise survived until the end of the Bourbon monarchy as the senior or Scottish Company of the Gardes du Corps (Body Guards). There were four companies of Body Guards and

2655-557: The murder of Douglas at Stirling Castle on 22 February 1452. The main account of Douglas's murder comes from the Auchinleck Chronicle , a near-contemporary but fragmentary source. According to its account, the king accused the Earl (probably with justification) of forging links with John Macdonald, 11th Earl of Ross (also Lord of the Isles ) and Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford . This bond, if it existed, created

2714-462: The office of chamberlain to which he had been appointed in the summer of 1449. James II enthusiastically promoted modern artillery , which he used with some success against the Black Douglases. His ambitions to increase Scotland's standing saw him besiege Roxburgh Castle in 1460, one of the last Scottish castles still held by the English after the Wars of Independence . For this siege, James took

2773-529: The other companies of the Body Guards by wearing white bandoleers garnished with silver lace. The Scottish Company provided a special detachment of 24 Gardes de la Manche (literally 'Guards of the Sleeve') who stood in close attendance to the king during court ceremonies. The name indicated that they stood so close to the monarch as to be brushed by his sleeve. The Gardes de la Manche were distinguished by

2832-442: The peace negotiations with the Armagnacs, Henry was also in contact with John, who was keen to wrest control of France away from King Charles VI. Despite this, he continued to be wary of forming an alliance with the English for fear of destroying his immense popularity with the common people of France. When Henry demanded Burgundy's support for his claim to be the rightful King of France, John backed away and decided to ally himself with

2891-517: The same fate. The king, being a small child, had nothing to do with this. This infamous incident took the name of "the Black Dinner ". In 1449, James II reached adulthood, but he had to struggle to gain control of his kingdom. The Douglases, probably with his cooperation, used his coming of age as a way to throw the Livingstons out of the shared government, as the young king took revenge for the arrest of his mother that had taken place in 1439, and

2950-564: The siege, led by George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus , and the castle fell a few days later. Once the castle was captured, James's widow, Mary of Guelders , ordered its destruction . James's son became king as James III and Mary acted as regent until her own death three years later. James married Mary of Guelders at Holyrood Abbey , Edinburgh, on 3 July 1449. They had seven children: By his unknown mistress, James also left one illegitimate son: James II has been depicted in plays, historical novels and short stories. They include: John

3009-463: The son and heir of the murdered Duke of Orleans, was only 14 at the time of his father's death and was forced to depend heavily on allies to support his claims for the property that had been confiscated from him by the Duke of Burgundy. Chief among these allies was his father-in-law Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac . Because of this alliance, their faction became known as the Armagnacs in opposition to

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3068-416: The task of capturing Paris. On 30 May 1418, he did capture the city, but not before the new Dauphin , the future Charles VII of France , had escaped. John then installed himself in Paris and made himself protector of the king. Although not an open ally of the English, John did nothing to prevent the surrender of Rouen in 1419. With the whole of northern France in English hands and Paris occupied by Burgundy,

3127-520: The younger brother of the increasingly disturbed King Charles VI of France . Both men attempted to fill the power vacuum left by the demented king. John played a game of marriages by exchanging his daughter Margaret of Burgundy for Michelle of Valois , who would marry his heir, Philip the Good . For her part, Margaret was married to Louis, Duke of Guyenne , the heir to the French throne from 1401 until his death in 1415. For all his concentration on aristocratic politics, John nonetheless did not overlook

3186-512: Was assassinated , and the six-year-old James immediately succeeded him as James II. He was crowned in Holyrood Abbey by Abbot Patrick on 23 March 1437. On 3 July 1449, the eighteen-year-old James married the fifteen-year-old Mary of Guelders , daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders , and Catherine of Cleves at Holyrood Abbey. They had seven children, six of whom survived into adulthood. Subsequently, relations between Flanders and Scotland improved. James's nickname, Fiery Face , referred to

3245-444: Was to shower munificence upon the Scottish nobles. Buchan received Châtillon-sur-Indre , the Earl of Wigtoun received Dun-le-Roi , Sir John Stewart of Darnley received Concressault , and Aubigny , and Thomas Seton the castle of Langeais . The Scottish leaders were persuaded to return to Scotland to recruit more troops. The Scottish leadership returned in 1420 with another 4000-5000 reinforcements. While their leaders were at home

3304-673: Was assassinated on 21 February 1437 at Blackfriars monastery in Perth . His mother, Queen Joan , although hurt, managed to get to her six-year-old son, who was now king. On 25 March 1437, he was formally crowned King of Scots at Holyrood Abbey . The Parliament of Scotland revoked alienations of crown property and prohibited them, without the consent of the Estates, that is, until James II's eighteenth birthday. He lived along with his mother and five of his six sisters at Dunbar Castle until 1439. In July 1439, his mother married James Stewart,

3363-550: Was given the cognomen Fearless ( Sans-Peur ). Despite his personal bravery, his impetuous leadership ended in disaster for the European expedition. He was captured and did not recover his liberty until the next year after an enormous ransom was paid. John inherited the Duchy of Burgundy in 1404 upon the death of his father and the counties of Burgundy , Flanders and Artois on his mother's death in 1405. He almost immediately entered into open conflict with Duke Louis I of Orléans ,

3422-559: Was secured on lands in Strathearn , Atholl , Methven and Linlithgow . A tournament took place before James at Stirling, on 25 February 1449, between James, master of Douglas, another James, brother to the Laird of Lochleven, and two knights of Burgundy, one of whom, Jacques de Lalaing was the most celebrated knight-errant of the time. The marriage was celebrated at Holyrood on 3 July 1449. A French chronicler, Mathieu d'Escouchy gives

3481-427: Was shared by at least two of his sisters; but the foundation of the University of Glasgow during his reign by Bishop Turnbull shows that he encouraged learning; there are also traces of his endowments to St. Salvator's , the new college of Archbishop Kennedy at St Andrews . He possessed much of his father's restless energy. However, his murder of the earl of Douglas leaves a stain on his reign. James's father

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