Posted on July 17, 2013 by Amanda Moffet
Flodden was fought just after Henry VIII came to the throne, a long time before he became the chubby, wife murdering tyrant so loved by novelists. It's a battle that people tend to know very little about, but it's a battle that changed - well world history.
In 1513 Henry was suprisingly - young, h...
Posted on March 2, 2013 by Lynn McAlister
On the 8th of July 1587, the Scottish Parliament meeting in Edinburgh enacted a General Band (or Bond) For the quieting and keping in obedience of the disorderit subjectis, inhabitantis of the bordouris, hielandis and ilis. This legislation was the first attempt by James VI as an adult to bring thes...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by Donald
In 1581, Esmé Stewart was created Earl of Lennox.
He was in support of Queen Mary and acknowledged Catholic concerns at a time when the Reformation was well established in Scotland. The Presbyterians believed Lennox to be an agent for the Counter-Reformation and a Catholic spy.
Although both the ...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by Donald
Queen Mary’s reign was in tatters when she escaped from Loch Leven Castle on 2 May 1568. A week later she had gathered six thousand men willing to fight for her as she headed for the safety of her strong Dumbarton Castle, which Lord Fleming was holding for her.
Lord James Stewart, her half-brothe...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by Donald
The most influential person of the Scottish Reformation, John Knox, was first ordained as a Catholic priest.
Knox spent time in the company of George Wishart before he was arrested and burned for heresy in March 1546 by Cardinal Beaton. Knox joined the Reformers, who murdered Cardinal Beaton the...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by Donald
A covenant is a contract between God and the people.
In 1557 a group of Protestant nobles opposed to Mary marrying the Roman Catholic Dauphin of France, signed a covenant to state that they would promote the ‘blessed work of God and his Congregation against the Congregation of Satan’, the former...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by Donald
The Battle of Pinkie, on the banks of the River Esk on 10 September 1547, was another catastrophic waste of life encouraged by lack of discipline and weak command.
The Duke of Somerset brought his troops, cavalry and guns to the area, with naval support for his sixteen thousand men having to make...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by Donald
Born on 8 December 1542, Mary’s life was complicated from the first week when her father, James V, died and made her Queen when she was six days old.
With James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, as Governor, Scotland was achieving closer ties with England. Queen Mary was betrothed, in 1543, to Edward,...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by Donald
Following the success against the English at Haddon Rig in the August, James V gathered an army of ten thousand and sent them, under the command of Oliver Sinclair of Pitcairns, to push as far into England as they could.
Their advance was met at Solway Moss by Sir Thomas Wharton and his three tho...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by Donald
Flodden was a disastrous and unnecessary confrontation for Scotland. James IV of Scotland was married to the sister of England’s King Henry VIII and a treaty of friendship existed between their countries.
The auld alliance between Scotland and France had been recently renewed. There had been Englis...