Latest / The Story of Scotland: Clans, Crowns, and the Fight for Identity — Fexingo History / The Assassination of James I: Scotland's King in the Sewer
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we've talked a lot about Scotland's big dramatic moments — the wars of independence, the Jacobites, the clearances. But there's one story that's almost like a Shakespearean tragedy, and it involves a king getting stuck in a sewer. Luna: A sewer? That's not a dignified end for a monarch. Lucas: Not at all. I'm talking about James I of Scotland. Not to be confused with James VI who became James I of England. This James ruled from 1406 to 1437, and he's one of those kings who tried really hard to centralise power — and made a lot of enemies in the process. Lucas: James had spent 18 years as a hostage in England, so when he finally came back to Scotland, he was determined to be a strong king. He went after the Highland clans, tried to curb the power of the nobles, and imposed heavy taxes to fund his building projects. Luna: I imagine that didn't make him popular. Lucas: Exactly. One of his targets was the Albany Stewarts — a branch of the royal family that had become very powerful. James executed the Duke of Albany and his son in 1425, and that created a blood feud. The remaining Albany loyalists started plotting. Lucas: The ringleader was Sir Robert Graham, a nobleman who had been imprisoned by James and had a serious grudge. He gathered a group of conspirators, including Walter Stewart, the Earl of Atholl — who was actually James's own uncle. Luna: His uncle? That's brutal. Lucas: Family ties didn't count for much in the power struggles of medieval Scotland. So, in February 1437, the king was staying at the Blackfriars monastery in Perth — a Dominican priory. The conspirators decided that was their moment. Lucas: On the night of February 20th, they burst into the priory. James was in his chambers with the queen, Joan Beaufort, and her ladies-in-waiting. He heard the noise and realised what was happening. One of the ladies, Catherine Douglas, tried to bar the door with her arm — but it broke. Luna: She used her arm? That's incredible. Lucas: She became known as 'Kate Barlass' because she used a bar, but it didn't hold. James knew he had to hide. He remembered that there was a sewer tunnel that led from the chamber — it was used for drainage and had a grating at the end. He lifted the grate and jumped in. Lucas: But here's the tragedy: the sewer had been blocked off just a few days before because the king had lost some tennis balls down there. The tennis court was nearby, and he'd ordered the tunnel sealed. So when the assassins searched the room, they didn't find him at first. Luna: Wait — tennis balls? That's such a bizarre detail. Lucas: It is. But the assassins were thorough. One of them noticed that the grating was loose, and they saw the king's footprints in the dirt. They forced the grate open and found James cowering in the tunnel. Lucas: There was a brief struggle. James managed to overpower one of them, but then Sir Robert Graham arrived and ran him through with a sword. The king was stabbed multiple times and died there, in that sewer, at the age of 43. Luna: And what happened to the queen? Lucas: Joan Beaufort was wounded in the attack — she was trying to protect James. But she survived, and she played a crucial role in the aftermath. She managed to rally the loyal nobles and get word to the royal forces in Edinburgh. The conspirators thought they could seize power, but they miscalculated. Lucas: Within a month, the main conspirators were captured. Sir Robert Graham and Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, were executed in a particularly gruesome way — they were hanged, drawn, and quartered. James's six-year-old son was crowned as James II, and the Albany Stewarts were essentially wiped out. Luna: So did the assassination actually backfire? It seems like it strengthened the crown. Lucas: In a way, yes. The murder of a king shocked the nobility and galvanised support for the monarchy. James II grew up to be a strong king, and the incident became a cautionary tale about the dangers of overreaching — or of underestimating the crown's ability to strike back. Lucas: But there's a lingering mystery: was the assassination part of a larger English plot? Some historians note that the English king, Henry VI, had reasons to want James dead. James had been supporting the French against the English in the Hundred Years' War. But there's no direct evidence. Luna: Hmm. It's interesting how often Scotland's troubles are tangled up with England. Lucas: That's the thread running through so much of this history. James I's story shows how personal politics could be — a king who survived captivity only to be killed by his own uncle over a sewer grate. It's a reminder that even the most powerful rulers were vulnerable. Lucas: And I think it also says something about the nature of Scottish kingship. James was trying to impose order, but the clans and the nobles resisted. That tension would continue for centuries. Luna: So what's left of James I's legacy? Anything we can see today? Lucas: A few things. He was a patron of the arts and wrote poetry — he's even claimed as the author of 'The Kingis Quair', a beautiful poem about his captivity and love for Joan Beaufort. He also founded the first college at the University of St Andrews, which is still there. And of course, the Blackfriars site in Perth is marked by a plaque. Lucas: But mostly, his legacy is that cautionary tale: a king who tried to do too much, too fast, and paid the ultimate price. It's a story that makes you think about the cost of power. Luna: And the danger of blocking sewer tunnels. Lucas: Yes. Never block a sewer tunnel. Lesson learned.