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Chivalry,Britishsovereigntyand dynasticpolitics:

undercurrentsofantagonisminTudor-Stewart relations,c.1490-c.1513

KatieStevenson

UniversityofSt. Andrews

Abstract

Thisarticle investigatesthedeliberateuse andmanipulationofchivalriccultur eand iconographybyJamesIVofScotlandtoposition theStewartdynasty's claimsto theEnglish throneincontestwiththe concurrent consolidationofTudor dynasticsecur ity.This resulted inadialo guedev elopingbetweenthetwo kingdomsconcerningtherelationshipbetween sovereignty,dynastyandchivalry.Thisarticlearguesfor anew approachtothestudyofchivalry, byconsideringitas ameaningfullanguageinpolitical communication.It findsthatchi valry had astrong currencyindiplomaticdiscour seandwasusedtotransactpoliticalissues ofso vereignty anddynasty. InAugust!"#$JamesIVofScotlandmar riedMargar etTudor ,theeldest daughterof HenryVIIofEngland.Extensi ve negotiationshadtak enplacedur ingtheprevious yearsandthemarriagew asagr eedin!"#%aspart oftheTreatyof Perpetual Peace betweenthetwo kingdoms.Thismar italunionwassomethingof acoupforHenry VII:Henry wasakingwho hadusurpedthethrone ,was subjecttoser iouschallenge frompretenders,and hadsufferedvariousmisfortunes withhisoffspr ing;James IVhad astable throneandcamefr omoneofthelongestdynastic linesinEur ope. 1 The Stewartshadruledcontinuouslysince!$&!,having inheritedthethroneleg itimately throughthenaturaldemiseof theBruce line.Although there were longperiods of absenteemonarchs andminorities,assassinationsandr ebellions,theSte warts'inherent righttothecro wnhadnot beenchallengedand thedynastyhadendured.Amarr iage intothispr ominentro yalfamily,which hadbeencontractingmarriageswiththe foremostEuropeanhousesfor decades,wasafurther stepto wards stabilityforthe Tudorsandonewhichbroughta rangeofbenefits forHenry VII. 2

Nevertheless,itwas

alsoa very shrewdpoliticalunionforJamesIV .Therewasevery possibilitythat, asheir presumptivethroughMargaret,Jamesor hisheirsmightoneda yinherittheEnglish 1 Forinterpretationsof HenryVII'smotivationsforamar riage alliancewiththekingofScots, see,e .g., J.Wormald,'Thor nsintheflesh:EnglishkingsanduncooperativeScottishrulers, !'(#-!"')',inAuthorityand ConsentinT udorEngland:EssaysPresentedtoC.S .L. Davies,ed.G .W. BernardandS.J.Gunn(Aldershot,%##%), pp.(!-&*;N. Macdougall,JamesIV(EastLinton,!))&),pp. %'*ff. 2 Ontheextensi ve networkofScottishmarriagesintoEur opeanhouses,see,e.g., F.Do wnie,SheisBut a Woman:QueenshipinScotland,!"#"-$%(Edinburgh,%##();F. Downie,'"Lavoiequelle menacetenir":Annabella Stewart,Scotland,andtheEuropeanmarr iagemarket, !'''-"(',ScottishHist. Rev.,lxxviii( !)))),!&#-)!; F.Downie,'And theylivedhappily ever after?Medievalqueenshipand marriageinScotland,!'%'-')',in

GenderingScottishHistory: anInternational Approach,ed.T .Brother stone,D.SimontonandO .Walsh(Glasgow,

!)))),pp. !%)-'!. bs_bs_banner

©2013The Author.

HistoricalResearch publishedbyJohnWiley& SonsLtd.on behalfof InstituteofHistorical Research.

DOI:10.1111/1468-2281.12017

Thisisan openaccessarticle undertheterms oftheCr eativeCommons AttributionLicense,which permitsuse,distribution andrepr oductionin

anymedium,pr ovidedtheoriginal workisproperlycited.brought to you by COREView metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.ukprovided by St Andrews Research Repository

throneandthismust have beenaf actorinthesuccessof themarriagenegotiations. 3 Naturally,thisbroughtto thefore notionsofBritishsov ereignty ,adynastic unionof theAnglo-Scottishcr ownsthat vestedlordshipoverboth kingdomsina single'British' monarch.Therealizationthatsuchclaimsmight becomearealityacted asapo werful aphrodisiacforJamesIV ,whor uledakingdomstillscarr edbytheW arsof IndependenceandEdw ardI's declarationsofoverlordship. Whiler elationsbetweenJamesIV andHenryVIIwer efairlycordial, therew asa distinctelementof competitionintheir relationship, centred roundthe thorny issueof dynasticsecurity andstabilityand,ultimately,Br itishsov ereignty .Thisw asasubstantial undercurrentintheirdealingswithoneanotherandbr oughtwithit anantagonistic dialogue.Whilethereisaconsiderab lehistorio graphydealingwithAnglo-Scottish diplomaticr elations,ofwhichriv aldynasticclaims were acentralcomponent,farless attentionhasbeen paidtothe languageandicono graphy bywhich thisdialo guewas transacted.Chiv alryprovidedakeymodeofcomm unicationinthisdiscourse,which drewuponthehistoricalnarrati vesutilized bythe Englishcrown(chiefly theArthurian tradition),the chivalr iciconographyusedbythefirstT udorking,andthewidespread chivalricculturalpracticesofcontemporaryEuropeanr oyal courts. Chivalr ywasa universallanguagefortheelitesofEurope:it hadcrucial applicationsin politicallife, internationalrelationsanddiplomacy .Moreover, thev aluesystemsofHenryVII and JamesIVwere inseparablefr omthatofthewiderchivalric eliteandtheyw ere expectedtopractise theirkingshipwithin thecodesof thissociety. Thisar ticleisanexplorationofthe ways inwhichchi valr ywas usedtoframe some atthetur nofthe sixteenthcentury.Fir st,itr eviews thenature oftheTudor-Stewart relationshipatthistimeand identifieske ymomentswhen thelanguage andpracticeof chivalrymighthavebeenexpectedtocar ryextra significance.Second,itexaminesriv al appealstoAr thurianher itage,anditsassociationwithBritish sovereignty,andfocuses inparticular ontheincreasinglypoliticaluse ofScottishclaims toAr thur.Finally, itexaminesthe morepr ovocati veattemptsby JamesIVtomobilizethelanguageof chivalrytoappropriateEnglishroy aliconog raphy.Athemethatruns throughoutis the relativestrengthofJamesIV'sdynasticposition vis-à-vistheearlyTudors andthe opportunitiesthatthisaffor dedhimto engageinpr ovocativegestur esthrough chiv alric practices.Whilethisarticledoes notseekto proposethatchiv alryw asanenor mously effectivepoliticalcurrency-the blood-soaked fieldofFloddenwouldseemto prohibitanysuchsuggestion -itdoessuggestthatexamining Anglo-Scottishdynastic politicsfrom thisfreshangleaffords newinsights intotheassumptionsandaspirations thatunderpinned it. 4 3 Scholarshave tendedtoarguethatJamesIVwas muchmor efocusedon Europe andhadno interestinhis

positioninr elationtothe Englishthrone(see,e .g.,Macdougall, JamesIV,pp. %"#-!;J. Wormald,'Politics and

governmentofScotland',inACompanionto Tudor Britain,ed.R. TittlerandN .L.J ones(Oxford, %##'), pp.!"!-((,at p.!"$).Inlight ofthearguments forwarded here, thisauthorw ouldpr oposethatthiswasnotthe case. 4 FormoreonFlodden andcontemporarycriticismsof therole ofchiv alry inthebattle,seeN .Gutierrez andM.Erler, 'Printinto manuscript: aFloddenFieldnews pamplet(B.L.AdditionalMS#&'($)',inStudiesin MedievalandRenaissanceHistory VIII,ed.J .A.S .EvansandR.W .Unger(Ne wYork,%##(),pp. !*&-%$#;

J.Scattergood,'Adefiningmoment: thebattleofFloddenandEnglish poetry', inVernacularLiteratureandCurrent

Affairsinthe Early !$thCentury: France,EnglandandScotland ,ed.J .Britnell andR.Britnell(Aldershot, %###),

(%-&);Macdougall, JamesIV,ch.!!;K.Ste vensonand G.Pentland,'ThebattleofFloddenand its commemoration,!"!$-%#!$',inEnglandand ScotlandatW ar,c .!#&$-c.!'!%,ed.A. Kingand D.Simpkin (Leiden, %#!%),pp .$""-*#.

2Chivalry, Britishsovereigntyanddynasticpolitics, c.1490-c.1513

HistoricalResearch publishedbyJohnWiley &SonsLtd. onbehalfof InstituteofHistorical Research. JamesIVhadlongr ecognizedthe potentialinstabilityof HenryVII's throne-itwas, afterall,the singlemostimpor tantfactor driving Tudor policies. 5

Inthemid fourteen-

nineties,influencedb yEmper orMaximilianI,Ferdinand andIsabellaofSpain,and ArchdukePhilipandMargaretofBurgundy ,theScottish kinghedgedhis betsand madean alliancewithP erkinWarbeck, acredib lepretendertotheEnglish throne. 6 Forseveraly ears,Warbeckhadoffereda realthreattothethroneofHenryVIIand thecrisis wasoneofthedefining eventsofhisr eign,fr omwhichthe kingemerged afar moredeterminedandr obustmonarch. 7

Warbeckclaimedtobe Richard

Plantagenet,duke ofYork,andthe supporthe wasgiven byman yEur opeanprinces promotedarangeofdefensi veand offensive tacticsfrom HenryVII.Forexample,he putinplace anextensiv enetwork ofspies,including someattheScottishcourt,who wereissuedwithinstructionstokidnap orassassinateW arbeck. 8

Ofcourse ,thiswas,

insome ways, anaturalcourseofaction.Interferencein successionhadlong beena partofAnglo-Scottishr elations:asr ecentlyas!'*%EdwardIVhadsupported AlexanderSte wart,dukeofAlbany,inhisr ebellionagainsthisbrotherJ amesIII, and hehadaccepted Albany'shomage asrightful lordofScotland.J amesIIIhimself had supportedHenryTudor's bidforthethroneand providedScottishtroops tofight at thebattleof Boswor thin!'*". 9

Moreover,in!')"Henryhadsoughttodistract

fromthepotentialof Scottishbackingfor Warbeckb ydirectly challengingJ ames IV'skingshipthr oughencourag ingaScottishpretender, JohnStewart, thesonof Alexander,dukeof Albany,thebrother ofJames III.Intheend,thisplotrecei vedno support. 10 Ithasbeen recognized byhistor iansthatJames'ssupportforWarbeck wasshrewd, evenifallavailable evidencesuggests thattheScottish kingwasnotconvincedthatthe pretenderwasgenuine .However ,whatisoftenglossedover isthemarriagethatJames IVarranged betweenWarbeckandJ ames'sdistantcousin,LadyKatherine Gordon. Scholarshave beenmoreinterestedintheweb ofScottish,Spanish andEnglish diplomacythataccompanied Warbeck'sr esidencyinScotlandandtheensuinginv asion 5 Forthemostrecent assessmentsofHenr yVII'scharacter ,concernsandambitions, seethespecial edition ofHistoricalResearchinAug.%##)devotedtothe"##thanniv ersaryofhisdeath,esp.S.J.Gunn,'Politic history,newmonarchyand stateformation:HenryVII inEuropeanperspectives',Hist.Research ,lxxxii( %##)), $*#-)%;D. Grummit,'Household,politicsandpolitical moralityinthereignof Henry VII',Hist.Research , lxxxii(%##)),$)$-'!!;M.R. Horowitz, 'Policyand prosecutioninthereignofHenry VII',Hist.Research , lxxxii( %##)),'!%-"*;S. Cunningham,'Loyaltyandthe usurper: recognizances,thecouncilandallegiance underHenry VII',Hist.Research ,lxxxii (%##)),'")-*!.Seealso therecent worksS .Cunningham,HenryVII (%##&);D. Grummitt,HenryVII,!"')-!'(&,theFirst TudorKing: Monarch yattheEndofthe MiddleAges (Oxford,%##)). 6 FormoreonP erkinWarbeckandJ amesIV, seeD.Dunlop,'The"mask edcomedian":PerkinW arbeck'squotesdbs_dbs4.pdfusesText_7

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