Katherine Bellenden (1497 – c. 1568) was a courtier working in the wardrobe of

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and du ...

. Her niece of the same name was similarly employed.

A family at court

Katherine was the daughter of Patrick Bellenden a servant of

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 ...

and Mariota Douglas, who was the nurse of James V. Her older brother was the Justice Clerk

Thomas Bellenden of Auchnoule Thomas Bellenden or Bannatyne of Auchnoule (c. 1485 – c. 1547), courtier of James V of Scotland, Judge from 1535, Director of Chancery from 1538, Lord Justice Clerk from 1539, member of the royal council, ambassador to England, and Protestant sy ...

, another brother was the priest, poet, and translator

John Bellenden John Bellenden or Ballantyne ( 1533–1587?) of Moray (why Moray, a lowland family) was a Scottish writer of the 16th century. Life He was born towards the close of the 15th century, and educated at St. Andrews and Paris. At the request of ...

.Van Heijnsbergen, Theo, 'Literature in Queen Mary's Edinburgh: the Bannatyne Manuscript', in, ''The Renaissance in Scotland'' (Brill, 1994), p. 218. Her grandson was the mathematician and poet

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioan ...

, who invented

logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number to the base is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 of ...

s. Katherine married Adam Hopper (d. 1529) in 1527 receiving a royal gift of £300 as a dowry or "tochter" in thanks for her mother's service, then

Francis Bothwell Francis Bothwell of Edinburgh, Lord of Session, was a Scottish merchant, landowner, judge and politician. As a university graduate, he was called ''Master Francis Bothwell'', or "Dominus" in Latin documents; however, this has been misunderstood ...

, who were both merchants and

Provosts of Edinburgh Provost may refer to: People * Provost (name), a surname Officials Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent of a mayor in Scotland * Lord provost, the equivalent of a lord mayor in Scotland Milita ...

. In 1529 Adam and Francis were business partners exporting fish to England. Her third husband was

Oliver Sinclair Sir Oliver Sinclair of Pitcairnis (died 1576?) was a favourite courtier of James V of Scotland. A contemporary story tells that James V gave him the battle standard and command at the Battle of Solway Moss. Another story tells how at the end of h ...

, the King's favourite, who was reputed to have caused the Scottish defeat at the battle of Solway Moss. In

early modern Scotland Scotland in the early modern period refers, for the purposes of this article, to Scotland between the death of James IV in 1513 and the end of the Jacobite risings in the mid-eighteenth century. It roughly corresponds to the early modern perio ...

married

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

did not usually adopt their husband's surnames.

Sewing for the Stewarts

While Katherine worked in the royal wardrobe she bought cambric cloth, Holland cloth, and other materials for making the King's shirts, which she and her colleague Janet Douglas, the King's seamstress, embroidered with gold and silver thread. She sold cloth to the King's tailor, Thomas Arthur, and kept accounts of the King's purse. Janet Douglas, like Katherine, married a prominent courtier, David Lindsay of the Mount a diplomat and poet. In July 1537 Katherine, described as "Master Francis Bothuilis wyfe" delivered 10 ells of purple velvet for use at the funeral of the Queen,

Madeleine of Valois Madeleine of France or Madeleine of Valois (10 August 1520 – 7 July 1537) was a French princess who briefly became Queen of Scotland in 1537 as the first wife of King James V. The marriage was arranged in accordance with the Treaty of Rouen ...

. Amongst the many payments to "Katherine Bellenden" in the Scottish treasurer's accounts one entry notes Katherine as the spouse of Robert Craig, a servant of the tailor Thomas Arthur. This was Katherine's namesake niece, daughter of Thomas Bellenden of Auchnoule, married to Robert Craig, later an Edinburgh merchant, and their children included John Craig the physician and the lawyer Sir Thomas Craig. It seems that both Katherines were employed in the royal wardrobe and dealt in luxury fabrics. In the 1590s, Elizabeth Gibb, a lady in waiting, had a similar role sewing and embroidering shirts and ruffs and making hats for

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...

and

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

Family finances

James V paid Katherine £666-13s-4d Scots in April 1538, this was for 1000

merks The merk is a long-obsolete Scottish silver coin. Originally the same word as a money mark of silver, the merk was in circulation at the end of the 16th century and in the 17th century. It was originally valued at 13 shillings 4 pence (exactly ...

which she had lent to the King's mother,

. In 1541, Oliver and Katherine with their kinsfolk and their royal wardrobe colleagues, John Tennent and his wife the royal laundress, Mause Acheson, made a contract "mortifyng" property, including the rents of part of a property on Edinburgh's

Netherbow There have been several town walls around Edinburgh, Scotland, since the 12th century. Some form of wall probably existed from the foundation of the royal burgh in around 1125, though the first building is recorded in the mid-15th century, whe ...

to the west of

Moubray House Moubray House, 51 and 53 High Street, is one of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile, and one of the oldest occupied residential buildings in Edinburgh, Scotland. The façade dates from the early 17th century, built on foundations laid . The t ...

for priests to say Mass for their souls in St Giles, Edinburgh. In November 1543, Katherine wrote to the Queen Dowager of Scotland, Mary of Guise, regarding her and her husband's debts. A ship they had invested in had been impounded by Guise's lawyer

Thomas McCalzean Thomas McCalzean, Lord Cliftonhall (pronounced and sometimes spelled McCalyeane, Macalzean or Macallyean) (c. 1520 – 1581) was a 16th-century Scottish judge, rising to be a Senator of the College of Justice and a local politician who was bri ...

for sums of money they owed for lands in Orkney and Shetland. Mary of Guise was giving their Orkney lands to George Gordon,

Earl of Huntly Marquess of Huntly (traditionally spelled Marquis in Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: ''Coileach Strath Bhalgaidh'') is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existin ...

. In Orkney, Oliver Sinclair held the castle of

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

as his ancestors had done, and Katherine wrote, 'we think great lack to go from our native rooms which my husband and his surname have held these three or four hundred years.'

Children

Katherine and Adam Hopper had a son, Richard, who was eldest and heir to Adam Hopper after he died in 1530. Francis Bothwell was the father of Adam Bothwell,

Bishop of Orkney The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics of Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. Th ...

, though it is unclear if Katherine was his mother. Katherine had two daughters with Oliver Sinclair. Isobel Sinclair married James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh who assassinated

Regent Moray James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (c. 1531 – 23 January 1570) was a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland. A supporter of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, he was the regent of Scotland for hi ...

in 1570. Alison Sinclair married David Hamilton of Monktonmains, brother of Bothwellhaugh. The persons of Isobel Sinclair and her supposed cousin Anne Bothwell are conflated in the Scottish ballad, ''Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament''. Anne Bothwell was the daughter of Adam Bothwell the bishop, and perhaps granddaughter of Katherine Bellenden. The ballad relates to her seduction and abandonment by Alexander Erskine (d.1640), a son of the

Earl of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. T ...

Maidment, James, ed., ''Scottish ballads and songs, historical and traditionary'', vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1868), pp. 39, 41-2, 327.

External links

* As part of the restoration of the Palace at Stirling Castle,

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...

has dramatised Katherine's role in the royal wardrobe
Historic Scotland - Katherine Bellenden

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellenden, Katherine Court of James V of Scotland 16th-century Scottish people Scottish ladies-in-waiting 1497 births Date of death unknown 1568 deaths