The Treaty of Perpetual Peace was signed by
James IV of Scotland and
Henry VII of England
Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.
Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...
in 1502. It agreed to end the intermittent warfare between
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
which had been waged over the previous two hundred years, and, although it failed in this respect, as hostilities continued intermittently throughout the 16th century, it led to the
Union of the Crowns
The Union of the Crowns ( gd, Aonadh nan Crùintean; sco, Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas dip ...
101 years later.
Negotiations
As part of the treaty, a marriage was agreed upon between James IV and
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and successfully fought to extend her regency. Ma ...
, the daughter of Henry VII.
Andrew Forman
Andrew Forman (11 March 1521) was a Scottish people, Scottish diplomat and prelate who became Bishop of Moray in 1501, Archbishop of Bourges in France, in 1513, Archbishop of St Andrews in 1514 as well as being Commendator of several monasteries ...
and the poet
William Dunbar
William Dunbar (born 1459 or 1460 – died by 1530) was a Scottish makar, or court poet, active in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He was closely associated with the court of King James IV and produced a large body of work i ...
were members of the Scottish embassy who negotiated the treaty in London. Peace between England and Scotland had already been established by the
Treaty of Ayton, brokered by Pedro de Ayala in 1497. Apart from the marriage, the treaty sought to outline various rules and processes for administering the English and Scottish borders and prevent local cross-border conflicts from escalating to war. The treaty was signed at
Richmond Palace
Richmond Palace was a royal residence on the River Thames in England which stood in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Situated in what was then rural Surrey, it lay upstream and on the opposite bank from the Palace of Westminster, which ...
on 24 January 1502 by
Robert Blackadder
Robert Blackadder was a medieval Scottish cleric, diplomat and politician, who was abbot of Melrose, bishop-elect of Aberdeen and bishop of Glasgow; when the last was elevated to archiepiscopal status in 1492, he became the first ever archbisho ...
,
Archbishop of Glasgow
The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of ...
,
Patrick Hepburn,
Earl of Bothwell and Andrew Forman.
Ratification
James IV gave his oath on 10 December 1502 at the right hand of the high altar of
Glasgow Cathedral
Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbisho ...
to keep to the terms of the treaty. The ceremony had to be repeated as the word "France" had been accidentally inserted into the text of the King's oath instead of "England". The English witnesses at Glasgow were
Sir Thomas Darcy, Captain of
Berwick, Sir Richard Hastyng, and Dr. Henry Babington, a professor of theology. The two attempts were recorded by the English cleric John Deyce and the Scottish notary Archibald Layng.
The Kings then exchanged illuminated copies of the ratifications. Two of the Scottish manuscripts were painted and gilded by Sir Thomas Galbraith, a clerk of the Chapel Royal in
Stirling Castle, who was given 59 shillings for materials and time. A few days later James IV gave Thomas a present of 18 shillings on New Year's Day.
In April 1503, Henry VII sent the Bishops of
Hereford and
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
to Rome for the Pope's ratification. (Adrian Castellesi,
Bishop of Hereford, had originally been sent from Italy to make peace between
James III of Scotland
James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburgh ...
and his son's supporters.)
Terms
* There be "good, real and sincere, true, sound, and firm peace, friendship, league and confederation, to last all time coming" between England and Scotland;
* Neither king or their successors shall make war against the other
* If either king broke the treaty the
pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
would excommunicate them
Consequences
The treaty was broken in 1513 when James declared war on England in support of the French who had lately been attacked by the English. James was acting according to Scotland's obligations to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
under an older mutual defence treaty, the
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance ( Scots for "Old Alliance"; ; ) is an alliance made in 1295 between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England. The Scots word ''auld'', meaning ''old'', has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting a ...
. James was excommunicated by
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521.
Born into the prominent political an ...
and the English
Cardinal Bainbridge for breaking his sworn treaty with England. The subsequent invasion by the Scots met defeat when James was killed on 9 September 1513 at the
Battle of Flodden
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...
in
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
.
Despite this abrogation, the Treaty of Perpetual Peace had a long-lasting effect because of the marriage between James Stewart and Margaret Tudor: their great-grandson King
James VI of Scotland was able to succeed to the English throne in 1603 at the
Union of the Crowns
The Union of the Crowns ( gd, Aonadh nan Crùintean; sco, Union o the Crouns) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas dip ...
.
Treaty of Perpetual Peace
Scottish Government website
See also
*List of treaties
This list of treaties contains known agreements, pacts, peaces, and major contracts between states, armies, governments, and tribal groups.
Before 1200 CE
1200–1299
1300–1399
1400–1499
1500–1599
1600–1699
1700–1799
...
References
{{Reflist
Sources
Bain, Joseph, ed., ''Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland'', 1357-1509, vol. 4, HM Register House, Edinburgh (1888)
* Rymer, Thomas, ed., ''Foedera'', vol. 12, (1740) p. 793, 797, Text of treaty etc., standard edition.
Rymer, Thomas, ed, ''Foedera, conventiones, literae,... inter Reges Angliae et alios'', vol. 5 part 1 & 2, Johannes Neaulm, Hague, (1741); (Latin) relevant material as in vol. 12 in English editions; part 2, pp. 182-202, includes the Glasgow Cathedral oath in English, part 2, p. 182
External links
1502 in England
1502 in Scotland
Early Modern period
Perpetual Peace (1502)
Treaty of Perpetual Peace
The Treaty of Perpetual Peace was signed by James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England in 1502. It agreed to end the intermittent warfare between Scotland and England which had been waged over the previous two hundred years, and, although it ...
1502 treaties
England–Scotland relations