Today is the birthday, in 1512, of James V of Scotland, born to James IV, and Margaret Tudor, making him the nephew of Henry VIII. He is the only child of James and Margaret to survive childhood, and he became king at just a little over a year old when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden. James married Marie of Guise, his second wife, in June of 1538, and while they had several children, only their daughter Mary survived. It was this little girl who became Mary, Queen of Scots. History repeated itself, and she became queen herself as a newborn, when her father died when she was less than a week old.
Of course it was this line that would unite the thrones of England and Scotland when James V’s grandson, James VI became James I of England after Elizabeth died.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 085: Tudor Times on Mary Queen of Scots
Episode 49: Tudor Times talks about James I of England
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.