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Tuesday, December 15, 2020

The Grand Ceremony of the Baptism of Prince James of Scotland (later James VI).

James, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, was born on June 19, 1566. Among the first actions taken that same day by her husband, Henry Darnley, was to write to the Cardinal de Guise[1] asking the French King to stand as sponsor at the baptism of the new-born prince. The sacrament was intended to be a grand European event, an opportunity to strengthen existing and win over new political alliances.

Invitations went out later to members of the English Queen Elizabeth’s court as well.  It was requested through more than one channel, in August, that Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, who had supported Darnley’s marriage to Mary, be the court’s representative at the affair. Mary personally wrote Elizabeth’s principal secretary, William Cecil, in early October, to invite him to attend even though she knew full well that he was her staunch opponent at court.

On November 3, the Venetian ambassador to France, Marc' Antonio Barbaro, reported that

Sad news has arrived from Scotland to the effect that the Queen has been seized with acute internal pain and high fever, which have rendered her insensible for such a length of time, that there is very little hope of her life, and this calamity is aggravated by a suspicion that her death may be violent, and procured by poison.[2]

The crisis had occurred on the 17th of the previous month and had passed by the time of Barbaro’s letter. The infant James was also reported, in the English court, as having been gravely ill.

Darnley was elsewhere.  He had made no haste to ride to his wife’s side, and there would seem to be some question as to what the matter was actually about. He is reported to have departed the next day.[3]

Barbaro reported that the crisis had passed in a letter to his Venetian masters of November 26. In the same letter he reported that

the Scottish Parliament have determined that the Prince is to be baptized according to the Roman rite, and this solemnity is only delayed until the arrival of an Ambassador from the Duke of Savoy, to represent his Excellency.[4]

Surely they had not saved their debates until the last minute but they may have held off announcing their decision until then in order to limit time available for the country’s staunch majority Protestant faction to organize a reaction.

The sacrament of baptism finally occurred at Stirling on December 17 (presumably at the Church of the Holy Rude). The English court had directed its emissaries not to give Darnley the honors due a king as he had not been given permission from Elizabeth, his Queen, to marry the Scottish Queen. Rather than bear what he undoubtedly viewed as an insult he chose not to attend the ceremony.

At about the time of the baptism, Giovanni Correr relieved Barbaro as the Venetian ambassador to the court of France. His January 23 report about the ceremony follows:

The Count de Brienne has returned from Scotland, whither he went to hold the Prince, the son of the Queen, at his baptism; he reports that her Majesty awaited little less than two months Mons. de Moretta, who was to represent the Duke of Savoy, but as he failed to arrive, she substituted for him the Ambassador in ordinary of his French Majesty.

The baptism was performed on the 17th of last month, when all the rites of the Roman Church were observed, very much to the satisfaction of the Catholics, who for the last seven years have never seen any bishop in pontifical habits.

The Ambassador from England would not enter the church [it being Catholic], but prayed the Countess of Argyle (Aghilar), known as the Bastard of Holland, to go thither in his stead, and presented her for her trouble with a ruby worth five hundred crowns.

The Count de Brienne presented the Queen of Scotland, in the name of the King of France, with a necklace of pearls and rubies, and two most beautiful ear-rings.

Much greater was the present from England, as it was a font of massive gold, of sufficient proportions to immerse the infant Prince, and of exquisite workmanship, with many precious stones, so designed that the whole effect combined elegance with value. Mons. de Moretta, Ambassador from the Duke of Savoy, on his passage through this place, told me that he had with him as a present a fan of large size with jewelled feathers, of the value of four thousand crowns.

The King of France believes that the marriage of Queen Elizabeth with the Archduke Charles will be speedily concluded, very much to his Majesty's regret.[5]

None of the English noblemen invited by Mary had attended. The ambassador who did attend refused to enter a Catholic church. The gift he brought from the English Queen, however, outshone all others.



[1] Strickland, Elizabeth. Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots, and documents (1842). 21. “King Henry Darnley to Monsieur the Cardinal de Guise. From the Castle of Edinburgh, this 19th day of June, 1566.”

[2] Calendar of State Papers and Documents… Venice, Volume 7 (1890). 383 (original in Italian).

[3] Strickland, 27.  

[4] Venice, Volume 7, 385 (original in Italian).

[5] Venice, Volume 7, 386-7 (original in Italian).


Also at Virtual Grub Street:

  • Gossip as History: The Murder of Amy Robsart. February 17, 2020. "The first sudden death Leicester was rumored to have caused was that of his wife, Amy Robsart, in 1560. In that year, it was still not clear whether the Queen would marry. But certainly not her beloved Leicester if he were married."
  • A Most Curious Account of the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth I: April 28, 1603.  April 28, 2019.  “Once it was clear that James I would face no serious challenges, Cecil and the others could begin to give attention to the matter of the Queen’s funeral.”
  • Queen Elizabeth I’s Heart and the French Ambassador.  April 3, 2019.  “…the Queen of England, with the permission of her physicians, has been able to come out of her private chamber, she has permitted me… to see her…”
  • Account of a Performance of Macbeth: April 20, 1611. September 30, 2018. “One detail of this account, in particular, promises to go a long way toward understanding the date of composition and a key detail as to the state of the text in 1611.”
  • Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
  • Check out the English Renaissance Letter Index for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.


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