The King’s Banquet

by Derek Gorman

  To this day, a bald Agnes after being stripped and tortured is said to roam Holyroodhouse.

  King James Daemonologie included details of the North Berwick Witch trials and his fears of witchcraft, but it went much further. It also covered the methods that demons used to bother troubled men, covered werewolves and vampires, and was also political as it sought to inform the good Christian population that it was ok to persecute a witch under religious law. His book was written in a dialogue style to make it more accessible. The main plot being that Philomathes hears news of witchcraft in the kingdom, which he is fascinated by but couldn’t find anyone knowledgeable on it until he bumps into a philosopher named Epistemon. It also covered: Astrology; The devil’s contract with man; Differences between sorcery and witchcraft; and the illusions of Satan and the many forms he appears in.

  Daemonologie had a significant cultural impact and led to the increased persecution of women as witches until the early 17th century.

  It also really made a significant impact on William Shakespeare who took many of the concepts from the trials and the book as a basis for his masterpiece, Macbeth.

  The conversation that the King had with Lord Sinclair on the divine right of Kings titled True Law of Free Monarchies was written in 1598 by King James. Essentially it is the belief that the King has been pre-selected before his birth and that the population hand over the choice of that King to the Gods. As the King has been entrusted with this responsibility, he is therefore not responsible to any earthly being. Anyone who disagreed with King James therefore disagreed with God.

  Whilst King James pioneered the idea in Northern Europe, it wasn’t anything radical. There had been many cases of King’s previously holding that belief, King James only articulated it better than most. Even in the Bible, The Prophet Samuel anoints Saul and then David as King of Israel. When Saul wanted revenge and to Kill David. David wouldn’t raise his hand because Saul had been anointed by God.

  The book is accompanied by another titled Basilikon Doron, published a year later. It was more of a manual for future Kings. It was originally written as a private letter for Prince Harry, who was next in line. However, when he was struck down with Typhoid Fever at 18, it was later handed to Charles, his other son. The book was published in its thousands in London. At the banquet, the King’s discussion with Mark captured the key content of this book.

  Finally, King James hated tobacco as he frequently mentioned at the banquet and everybody knew this. The King really was a visionary in this aspect, he wrote the first anti-tobacco publication and warned about passive smoking and the dangers to the lungs hundreds of years before scientists reached the same conclusion. He also introduced one of the world’s first taxes on tobacco in 1604 levying a tax of £1 for 3 pounds (nearly 1.5kg) of tobacco, which meant that the average worker would need to work for an entire week just to pay the tax on a daily tobacco habit. The tax didn’t really succeed as it impinged on the New World colonies and did nothing to stop demand. The King therefore in 1624 revoked the Virginia Company’s charter and took control of the colony & all the tobacco himself. One quote from the book was:

  “Have you not reason then to bee ashamed, and to forbeare this filthie noveltie, so basely grounded, so foolishly received and so grossely mistaken in the right use thereof? In your abuse thereof sinning against God, harming your selves both in persons and goods, and raking also thereby the markes and notes of vanitie upon you: by the custome thereof making your selves to be wondered at by all forraine civil Nations, and by all strangers that come among you, to be scorned and contemned. A custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the Nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the Lungs, and in the blacke stinking fume thereof, neerest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomelesse.”

  - King James[1]

  The most famous book that King James is associated with is the Bible. He commissioned an alternative version of it in 1603. The most commonly used Bible at the time was the Geneva Bible, which was the first mechanically produced widely available Bible. The problem with it was that King James didn’t like the translation, which he thought was sloppy. He didn’t like the style of it - too many annotations that distracted the reader, and too many references to the monarchy as tyrants. He therefore commissioned a new Bible. The Protestants preferred the Geneva version and King James’s Bible sold poorly when launched in 1611. It was only when he banned printing of extra copies of the Geneva Version that his version gained in popularity. However, it didn’t stop the Protestants. They continued to print copies of the Geneva version but dated them 1599 to get around the rule and that was the copy they took as they migrated to what would become the United States.

  The King James Bible took off because it was mass produced cheaply and had a poetic language to it making it easy on the ear. Unsurprising given the King’s love of the arts. Today over half of the Bibles in the world are the King James version.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  King James’s Legacy

  The Extravagances

  King James was famous for spending more than he had. His household frequently went on strike, as shown at the banquet. The King overspent whilst on the throne in Scotland and despite also ascending to the wealthier English throne; he did the same there. He viewed the English crown as the promised land after years in the wilderness. The English Royal finances were in good health under Queen Elizabeth, as she was never married and didn’t have any children.

  However, King James was different with his children, wife, and male admirers to look after frequently paying off their debts for them. Prince Harry had £25,000 a year put aside for expenditure only for him, which is the average wage in the UK in the 2010s. The King spent £36,000 a year on royal clothing alone. This caused problems with the Parliament, who were not impressed at his lavish spending. He promised the days of heavy spending were over in 1610 and apologised for his extravagance blaming his previous humble surroundings in Scotland. Whilst he curbed his spending slightly, it really didn’t change that much.

  The King’s favourite pastime was holding masques - the theatrical form of entertainment that took place at the banquet. The masque described at the banquet closely resembled what happened a few years later at Prince Harry’s baptism.

  A famous account of a masque in 1606 by Sir John Harrington described how the entertainers moved forwards whilst the Royal Court members fell backwards. A nod to the heavy drinking of the Court and of King James in particular. Masques had a story, such as the Queen of Sheba, as described by Sir John. The purpose of which was to bring the King gifts with the Spirits of Hope, Faith, Victory, Charity, and Peace all visiting the King.

  However, it didn’t go smoothly. The actress playing Queen Sheba tripped over the steps of the throne and sent her gifts flying. The actresses playing Hope and Faith were too drunk to speak a word, while Peace was annoyed that she couldn’t make her way to the throne so struck anyone in her path with olive branches.

  King James’s enjoyment of masques led to the building of a Banqueting House. There was a temporary structure in place but the King wanted a permanent home so commissioned the famous Architect Robert Stickells to design one. The result was an ornate building, but it had a forest of columns that blocked much of the audience's view so when it burnt down because of a fire in 1619; the King was not sorry at all and got around to hiring Inigo Jones to design a masterpiece.

  The building of the new Banqueting House finished in 1622 and ended up being a nod to what the King referred to whilst praising Lord Sinclair’s banquet. Banqueting House is a marvel that still stands today open in London to visitors from across the world. The ceiling has breath-taking Rubens paintings that pay homage to the divine right of Kings, amongst other things. Built in the Italian Renaissance style, it astonished all those who surveyed it and still does today. Rubens managed to get paid for his work, albeit late, also receiving a gold chain for his services.

  The magnificent hall was also home to ‘The King�
�s Evil’. A belief that the King had the power to heal, or at least prevent, a nasty skin disorder that became known as the King’s Evil. Sufferers could be cured by the touch of the monarch. This annual ritual used to take place in the opulent surroundings of the Banqueting House.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  The Earl of Bothwell

  The troubled visitor in the night desperate to see Lord Sinclair was already on the run for plotting against the King, but what followed the banquet was a turn for the worse. He lived on the run for two years but was eventually captured in 1591 and was arrested with fresh charges of witchcraft after being named by some witches in the North Berwick Witch trials. He was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, close to the King and his armed forces.

  As he always seemed to have a knack of doing, he escaped a few months later whilst the King and most of his armed forces were away for a wedding. He was seething as he was convinced that Lord Maitland was behind the accusation. Within 3 days, he was named an outlaw. The King’s forces searched high and low for him including interrogating his household staff but the Earl was bold and stayed hidden until he broke into Holyroodhouse attempting to reconcile with the King, according to him, whilst others felt he wanted to assassinate the King. The Earl was driven away in a bloody battle.

  1592 came and there were reports that the Earl was hiding at his mother’s house. The King and his armed forces raced to the house, but during the journey, the King’s horse threw him into a pool of water so the chase had to be abandoned.

  The Earl didn’t enjoy being an outlaw and wrote a letter to the Clergy fiercely denying the charges of witchcraft. In April 1592, there were reports of the Earl holed up near Dundee, so the King and his armed forces raced to the scene only to end up empty handed again. The Earl had been tipped off by traitors from within the King’s inner circle.

  In June 1592, the Scottish Parliament sat for the first time in five years and the first item of business was to strip the Earl of his titles and land. The Earl didn’t take too kindly to this, so along with 300 of his men stormed the King’s castle to capture the King. This time the King was the one who was tipped off so his castle and men were waiting and able to defend the fortress.

  The King’s strategy changed and all of the Earl’s supporters and known accomplices were arrested and imprisoned. This continued throughout 1592 and by the early part of 1593, the Earl was in the North of England and was seen as the anti-King James which was propping up his support and enabled him to evade capture for so long.

  In the Summer of 1593, The Earl smuggled himself into the King’s bedroom within Holyroodhouse, much like he had done on the night of the banquet - although this time it was deliberate! The Earl didn’t want to harm the King, but wanted to protest his innocence and promise his loyalty to the King. The King accepted this - it was better to have the Earl on his side than a rival. He was formally acquitted in a trial shortly afterwards.

  The King however took council from those against the Earl and changed his mind. Whilst the Earl would be pardoned, he was to be exiled and would have to leave Scotland. The Earl didn’t comply and again built a rebellion against the King.

  This continued into 1594 with bloody battles between the King’s and the Earl’s armed forces. In May, Anne of Denmark’s jewels were stolen, and the Earl found the culprit and recovered some jewels, hoping to use this as a bargaining chip. The King’s men refused the Earl’s offer to bring the culprit back to Scotland. The English Ambassador also refused to help the Earl.

  This lack of support continued, and the Earl was seen as weak and yesterday’s man. In the autumn of 1594, further charges were brought against him for being a Protestant.

  The Earl continued to hide and lurk in the shadows into 1595, but was living in poverty. He was rumoured to have been hiding out on the island of Orkney, part of Scotland.

  He then made his way to France, but when the King heard about this, he asked France to banish him, but they refused. Bothwell didn’t feel welcomed and moved on after several months to Spain.

  He was rumoured to have visited London during 1598, but the King didn’t believe it.

  Eventually, the Earl moved to Naples in Italy, where he passed away in 1612. He died shortly after the Prince of Wales, King James’s heir to the throne. This crushed the Earl’s spirits because he believed that the Prince would have restored his titles and land had he ascended to the throne. While he died penniless, he had a grand funeral paid for by the Spanish who ruled Naples.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Lord Sinclair and Knockhall Castle

  Lord Sinclair was not a young man when the banquet took place, being aged 62 years old, but he was far from finished. He ended up being a judge in the trial of the Earl of Bothwell when he was formally acquitted and continued to have an influence despite his advancing years. It is documented that he attended a reception for the Dutch Ambassador in 1594.

  The King didn’t like to have the Scottish Parliament open too often, as he didn’t welcome too much of a democratic debate. Instead, he held Conventions of Estate, which was like Parliament but would be called by the King only for raising taxes. Lord Sinclair was present at the Conventions of Dunfermline in 1596, Holyrood 1597, and Dundee 1597.

  He did eventually pass away in 1601, aged c.85 years old. An incredible feat for a man born in the 16th Century.

  Lady Sinclair outlived him passing away in 1607, aged 61.

  In terms of the impressive Knockhall Castle, it stayed in the Sinclair family until 1634 when it was purchased by the Udny family. They were the barons of the Udny region in Aberdeenshire, and this Castle was perfectly located for them. The Castle didn’t seem to fare well under the Udny reign. After only five years, the Castle was severely damaged when it was loaned out to the Covenanters, an offshoot of the Protestants.

  The Covenanters were so called because of the bond between God and the Israelites in the Old Testament. They started in the mid 1550s and grew in strength, which culminated in a period of turmoil shortly after the Udny family loaned the Castle to them. King Charles and the Archbishop of Canterbury were pressuring the Scots to accept a different way of practising religion that was not something that the Covenanters were prepared to do. This led to bloody armed battles for several years, with Knockhall Castle being one casualty. By the late 17th Century, they had more or less been crushed with their beliefs subsumed into other religious offshoots.

  As for Knockhall Castle, it was returned to the Udny family after the Covenanters had been driven out of Aberdeenshire and the family worked hard to restore the castle. They lived there happily until 1734 when a fire gutted the entire Castle, just leaving the bare structure in place. The Castle has remained a ruin ever since and can still be visited. In 2019, the Castle was put on sale for £130,000 or around $150,000. Not much to own such a historic castle. However, it is a protected site meaning that any work to it would need to maintain its ruins so the cost of restoring the Castle to its former glories would be a considerable amount. Along with the slow process of gaining planning permission each step of the way. It remains empty to this day.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The Maitlands

  Lord Maitland was a powerful man at the time of the banquet with a beautiful wife that was the envy of many. A few months after the banquet, Lord Maitland joined King James on his journey to collect Anne of Denmark. He did more than just accompany the King, as he was also responsible for the financing and accounting for the journey. Anne’s mother also asked him to help set up Anne’s household in Scotland.

  Lord Maitland picked up more titles from the King in recognition of his service, becoming a Lord of Parliament with the title Lord Maitland of Thirlestane in 1590.

  It is also documented that Lord Maitland came to the rescue of the King in 1591 during a household strike when all the kitchen staff left their posts, much like they did during the banquet. Lord Maitland used all of his negotiating skills to bring them back to work.

  All of this power, infl
uence, and recognition meant that Anne resented him. She also blamed him in 1593 for starting rumours that she had an affair and was supporting the Earl of Bothwell. Anne was furious and demanded that King James take the lands of Musselburgh and Inveresk away from Lord Maitland, as she believed she was entitled to it. He did as he was asked and transferred these to her.

  The situation had become so toxic that in 1594, King James appealed to Anne’s brother for her to give Maitland another chance articulating that Lord Maitland was helpful and loyal. Sadly, the tension continued, and he passed away in 1595, aged 58. King James wrote the epitaph. He was a loss to the entire country.

  As for Lady Maitland, upon her husband’s death she quickly became a rich widow. It didn’t take her long to remarry the Earl of Cassilis who was some 22 years younger than her, which caused quite a stir.

  Anne forgave her for the rumours, and they were wonderful friends by 1595. Her wealth meant that she kept influence in the Scottish court despite the scandal of her marriage.

  In 1600, Lady Maitland (or the Countess of Cassilis as she was now known) along with her husband hosted the King for a banquet at Thirlestane Castle, one can only wonder whether it was as eventful or impactful on history as the banquet that Lord Sinclair hosted for the King.

  She was referred to as a ‘lady without all religion’ in 1602 for her lifestyle. More scandal was to erupt in 1604 when her husband was twice imprisoned for violence against her. The first time was when he dragged her from court in front of countless witnesses. King James was always loyal to those who were loyal to him and even though it was nearly 10 years after Lord Maitland’s death, he ensured that her finances were protected from any power grab by the Earl.