IT was during this week 600 years ago that one of the first treaties between the King of England and the Kingdom of Scotland was agreed upon.

The Treaty of London was sealed on December 4, 1423, and without it, all the subsequent royals of the kingdoms of Scotland, England and the United Kingdom, including the present royal family, might never have existed, at least not as royals.

For the Treaty of London that restored James I, King of Scots, to his throne in Edinburgh after 18 years of captivity in England allowed the unbroken Stewart line to continue as the monarchy of Scotland which made James and his wife Joan of Beaufort the ancestors of all modern kings and queens on the island of Great Britain and in several other countries down to the present day.

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James I’s story involves great passion and terrible tragedy, and it started with a father’s desire for his youngest son to succeed him as King of Scots. Robert III was a weak king who was terrorised, frankly, by his brother the Duke of Albany who probably murdered Robert’s heir, David, the Duke of Rothesay, when James was about seven. James also lost his mother Annabella Drummond at that time and his other brother had also died leaving James as heir to the throne.

Albany wanted the throne for himself, and with Robert III deteriorating, it looked bad for young James, who was sent to France for safety at the age of 11.

The prince’s ship was captured by an English privateer who handed him over to King Henry IV of England. On hearing of his son’s capture, Robert III got sick and died weeks later at Rothesay Castle on April 4, 1406.

Albany was appointed sole governor and regent by the Scottish Parliament and was expected to begin negotiations for the release of James. Except that Albany was enjoying his power and cared nothing for his nephew.

So began 18 years of gilded captivity, for Henry IV was determined that James would receive a good education and learn the ways of the English court.

As a result, James grew up muscular but also harboured a love for literature. He also kept in touch with family and friends in Scotland, but negotiations for his release were non-existent.

When Henry IV died in 1413, James was temporarily imprisoned in the Tower of London but he fought for Henry V against the French and by all accounts was brave and courageous.

In 1422, when Henry died of dysentery in France, the King of Scots was part of the elite guard that brought Henry’s body home.

His time in England continued while Albany’s successor, his son Murdoch, argued with other leading nobles about getting the king back which the council acting as regents for young Henry VI was willing to consider.

It also brought about one of the great love stories of Scottish royalty. While at court and looking down into a garden, James spotted the beautiful Joan of Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Somerset.

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The story of how he saw Joan and fell instantly in love with her is told in verses 40 to 45 of his epic semi-biographical poem the Kingis Quair. Here they are as written in the 2005 version of The Kingis Quair…

And therwith kest I doun myn eye ageyne,
Quhare as I sawe, walking under the tour,
Full secretly new cummyn hir to pleyne,
The fairest or the freschest yong floure,
That ever I sawe, me thoght, before that houre;
For quhich sodayn abate anon astert
The blude of all my body to my hert.
And though I stude abaisit tho a lyte
No wonder was, forquhy my wittis all
Were so overcom with plesance and delyte,
Onely throu latting of myn eyen fall,
That sudaynly my hert became hir thrall
Forever, of free wyll; for of manace
There was no takyn in hir suete face.
And in my hede I drewe ryght hastily
And eft sones I lent it forth ageyne
And sawe hir walk, that verray womanly,
With no wight mo, bot onely wommen tueyne.
Than gan I studye in myself and seyne,
“A, suete, ar ye a warldly creature
Or hevinly thing in liknesse of nature?
“Or ar ye god Cupidis owin princesse
And cummyn ar to louse me out of band?
“Or ar ye verray Nature the goddesse
That have depaynted with your hevinly hand
“This gardyn full of flouris, as they stand?
Quhat sall I think? Allace, quhat reverence
Sall I minster to your excellence?”

Meantime, Albany and the Scottish nobility came to an agreement with the English regency council for the release of James. It was all about money – England needed funds and the Scots argued for a staggered payment.

For the sum of 60,000 marks, less 10,000 for Joan’s dowry, the Treaty of London saw James freed in April 1424.

The current royal website tells what happened when James I returned home: “He was determined to restore law and order in his kingdom – he founded what was to become the Court of Session.

“In so doing, his energy and his ruthlessness antagonised many of his nobles who had taken advantage of his absence to build up their own power.

“The king was particularly determined to curb his rivals descended from Robert II; he arrested some and executed others (including the new Duke of Albany), and confiscated estates.

“The result was that on 20 February, 1437, at about midnight, he was assassinated and his queen badly injured in the Dominican Friary in Perth by his own uncle, Walter, Earl of Atholl (a son of Robert II’s second marriage) and a group of resentful fellow conspirators.”

A tragic end for James I but his Stewart/Stuart descendants would last as monarchs until 1714.