Thomas (Robert) Cochrane

Last updated

Thomas Cochrane
Robert Cochrane and the Earl of Angus.jpg
A 1906 illustration depicting Robert Cochrane (right) being arrested by the Earl of Angus in 1482
Born
Died1482
Scotland
Cause of deathExecution
Other namesRobert Cochrane
Known forSupposed royal servant and familiar of James III of Scotland

Thomas Cochrane (said to have been executed and forfeited 1482), also referred to as "Robert Cochrane" in sixteenth-century chronicle accounts, was a royal servant and alleged "familiar" or favourite of King James III of Scotland. Chronicle accounts allege that his influence over the king incurred the wrath of the old aristocracy, culminating in a coup at Lauder in which James III was arrested and Cochrane was executed.

Contents

There exists uncertainty about even the most basic facts of Cochrane's life. Even his correct first name has been disputed, which is given as both Thomas and Robert by different 16th century chroniclers. Contemporary sources however only mention a Thomas Cochrane as an officer of the king in the late 1470s and early 1480s. Despite his limited presence in the contemporary record, Cochrane's career as a royal favourite and man who encouraged the king's interest in unmanly pursuits not deemed appropriate for a monarch has dominated accounts of James III's reign until the present day. [1]

Life and Legend

Sixteenth-century accounts such as those provided by Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, John Lesley and George Buchanan portray James III as a weak king and a dilettante who surrounded himself with a group of talented but low-born "familiars" or favourites. Cochrane was the most important of these favourites. He was alleged by Pitscottie to have been first a stone-mason who became involved in the king's building projects. [2] The later writer William Drummond of Hawthornden in his History of the 5 Jameses increased the status of Cochrane to that of an architect. [1] Legend made him the designer of the Great Hall at Stirling Castle (built in the subsequent reign), and a hall at Falkland. [3]

The chronicles relate that he advised the king to debase the coinage in order to raise cash. He was opposed by the king's younger brothers, Alexander Stewart, 3rd Duke of Albany and John Stewart, Earl of Mar. The Earl of Mar was arrested and imprisoned, and died soon after. Albany escaped and gathered support in England. [3] Although the king was alleged in chronicle accounts to have given Cochrane the title of Earl of Mar after his brother's death, no contemporary record of such a grant survives. Yet we do know that a Thomas Cochrane was an usher of the king's chamber door and one Thomas Cochrane was made constable of Kildrummy Castle, in the earldom of Mar around March 1482. [4] [1]

Arrest and Death

The chronicles relate that Cochrane's downfall came during an invasion by an English army led by the king's younger brother, Alexander, 3rd duke of Albany, and Richard, duke of Gloucester, the future King Richard III of England. Albany had promised to give up part of Scotland to England in exchange for being placed on the throne under the Treaty of Fotheringhay. A cabal of aristocrats sympathetic to Albany's objectives, including Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus, took the opportunity afforded by a gathering of the Scottish host at Lauder Bridge intended to launch a counterattack to the English invasion to arrest James III and execute Cochrane and other alleged favourites.

The chronicle written 100 years later by Pitscottie supplies and probably invents material. Cochrane, said to be dressed in lavish costume, knocked on the door of the church where the courtiers of the old aristocracy were assembled, saying, "It is I the Earle of Mar". They tore his gold tipped hunting horn and chain of office from him, and hanged him from the bridge with his accomplices, [5] including the tailor James Hommyll. [6]

Angus was much later reported to have been given the nickname "Bell the Cat" by David Hume of Godscroft, reflecting an account of him stepping forward to put the execution of the James III's favourites into effect. [3] [7]

Doubts about the story

Many aspects of the chronicle accounts can be questioned in comparison with surviving contemporary records. Some historians have been more sympathetic to James III, seeing him as a cultured man among the Scottish nobility at that time, and defended his kingship against later criticisms. Norman Macdougall published a biography of James III in which he argues that, far from being a weak king, he fully exercised regal power. Macdougall dismissed the story of his court being dominated by "favourites of low birth" as the invention of chroniclers writing in the next century. Macdougall found two records of a Thomas Cochrane; one reference suggests that Cochrane was an usher of the king's chamber door, and the other that a Thomas Cochrane had forfeited the lands of Cousland near Dalkeith. Cochrane of Cousland, Macdougall concludes, may have been the usher and met his end at Lauder Bridge. [8] Macdougall also follows the development of the story in later writers and points particularly to William Drummond of Hawthornden's History of the 5 Jameses for setting the final elaboration of the story. Macdougall argues that Hawthornden increased the status of Cochrane to that of an architect in order to rescue the king's reputation. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James V</span> King of Scotland from 1513 to 1542

James V 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, daughter of Henry VII of England. During his childhood Scotland was governed by regents, firstly by his mother until she remarried, and then by his first cousin once removed, John Stewart, Duke of Albany. James's personal rule began in 1528 when he finally escaped the custody of his stepfather, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. His first action was to exile Angus and confiscate the lands of the Douglases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James IV of Scotland</span> King of Scotland from 1488 to 1513

James IV was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchieburn, following a rebellion in which the younger James was the figurehead of the rebels. James IV is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stuart monarchs. He was responsible for a major expansion of the Scottish royal navy, which included the founding of two royal dockyards and the acquisition or construction of 38 ships, including the Michael, the largest warship of its time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James III of Scotland</span> King of Scots from 1460 to 1488

James III 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 Castle. James III's reign began with a minority that lasted almost a decade, during which Scotland was governed by a series of regents and factions who struggled for possession of the young king before his personal rule began in 1469.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Flodden</span> 1513 battle between England and Scotland

The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and resulted in an English victory. The battle was fought near Branxton, in the county of Northumberland, in northern England, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey. In terms of troop numbers, it was the largest battle ever fought between the two kingdoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany</span> 15th-century Scottish prince

Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, was a Scottish prince and the second surviving son of King James II of Scotland. He fell out with his older brother, King James III, and fled to France, where he unsuccessfully sought help. In 1482 he invaded Scotland with the army of King Edward IV of England and assumed control of the country. Scottish lords turned against him in 1483 and he fled after King Edward died. The second invasion, in 1484, was not supported by the new English king, King Richard III, and failed. He died in a duel with Louis XII of France, Duke of Orléans, by a splinter from Louis's lance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus</span> Scottish nobleman

Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus was a Scottish nobleman, peer, politician, and magnate. Tradition has accorded him the nickname Archibald 'Bell-the-Cat' due to his association with the 1482 rebellion against James III of Scotland. He became one of the most powerful nobleman in Scotland through his influential position on the Scottish Marches, and a willingness to be involved in multiple rebellions in the reigns of James III and James IV of Scotland.

<i>Great Michael</i> Carrack or great ship of the Royal Scottish Navy

Michael, popularly known as Great Michael, was a carrack or great ship of the Royal Scottish Navy. She was the largest ship built by King James IV of Scotland as part of his policy of building a strong Scottish navy.

Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie was a Scottish chronicler, author of The Historie and Chronicles of Scotland, 1436–1565, the first history of Scotland to be composed in Scots rather than Latin.

The Battle of Sauchieburn was fought on 11 June 1488, at the side of Sauchie Burn, a stream about two miles (3 km) south of Stirling, Scotland. The battle was fought between the followers of King James III of Scotland and a large group of rebellious Scottish nobles including the future Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home, who were nominally led by the king's 15-year-old son, James, Duke of Rothesay. James III was killed in the battle, and his son succeeded him as James IV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hamilton of Finnart</span> Scottish nobleman and architect

Sir James Hamilton of Finnart was a Scottish nobleman and architect, the illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran, and Marion Boyd of Bonshaw. Although legitimated in 1512 while still a minor, he continued to be known as the "Bastard of Arran". As a key member of the Hamilton family, and second cousin of James V, King of Scotland, he became a prominent member of Scottish society.

William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, 2nd Earl of Avondale was a late Medieval Scottish nobleman, Lord of Galloway, and Lord of the Regality of Lauderdale, and the most powerful magnate in Southern Scotland. He was killed by James II of Scotland.

William Scheves was the second Archbishop of St. Andrews. His parentage is obscure, but he was probably the illegitimate son of a royal clerk, John Scheves. Sixteenth-century accounts claim he spent several years abroad and studied at the University of Louvain. He spent several years at the University of St Andrews as an administrator. In his earlier ecclesiastical career, he had been clericus regiae and master of the hospital of Brechin. In 1474 he was provided unsuccessfully to the Archdeaconry of Dunblane, but by the beginning of 1477 he was Archdeacon of St Andrews and coadjutor (successor) and vicar-general of the archdiocese. After the deposition of Archbishop Patrick Graham in 1478, he succeeded to the archbishopric, apparently receiving the papal pall while in the presence of King James III and many of the nobility at Holyrood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Cochrane</span> Lowland Scottish clan

Clan Cochrane is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Westminster (1462)</span> Treaty between England and the Lord of the Isles

The Treaty of Westminster was signed on 13 February 1462 between Edward IV of England of the House of York and the Scottish John of Islay, Earl of Ross, Lord of the Isles. The agreement proposed that if Scotland was conquered by England, the lands north of the Scottish sea would be divided between the Lord of the Isles and the Earl of Douglas to be held from the crown of England, while the Earl of Douglas would hold Scotland south of the Firth.

George Lauder. was a Scottish prelate and Bishop of Argyll.

In July 1482 an English army invaded Scotland during the Anglo-Scottish Wars. The town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and its castle were captured and the English army briefly occupied Edinburgh. These events followed the signing of the Treaty of Fotheringhay, 11 June 1482, in which Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, the brother of James III of Scotland declared himself King of Scotland and swore loyalty to Edward IV of England. The follow-up invasion of Scotland under the command of Edward's brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester failed to install Albany on the throne, but Berwick has remained English ever since the castle surrendered on 24 August. The English army left Edinburgh with a promise for the repayment of the dowry paid for the marriage of Princess Cecily of England to the Scottish Prince.

The Battle of Lochmaben Fair was an engagement in Lochmaben, Scotland, on 22 July 1484 between Scottish loyalists to James III of Scotland and the rebels Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany and James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, leading cavalry from England. Both exiles from Scotland, Albany and Douglas invaded with permission but not support of Richard III of England, hoping to encourage rebellion against James. Instead, they were met with armed resistance. The loyalists took the day. Douglas was captured and Albany forced to retreat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antoine d'Arces</span> French nobleman

Antoine d'Arcy, sieur de la Bastie-sur-Meylan and of Lissieu, was a French nobleman involved in the government of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of York (1464)</span> 1464 treaty between England and Scotland

The Treaty of York (1464) was made between England and Scotland on 1 June 1464 at York and was intended to establish 15 years of peace. Previously Scotland had supported the defeated House of Lancaster in the English civil War of the Roses.

Patrick Lindsay, 4th Lord Lindsay of the Byres was a reputed advisor of James IV of Scotland, and counsellor to Margaret Tudor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Macdougall, Norman (2009). James III (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: John Donald. pp. 150–2. ISBN   9781904607878.
  2. Aeneas James George Mackay, Historie and cronicles of Scotland, vol. 1 (STS: Edinburgh, 1899), p. 173
  3. 1 2 3 Fiona Somerset Fry & Peter Somerset Fry, The History of Scotland, Routledge, London, 1992, p. 111.
  4. N. A. T. Macdougall, ‘“It is I, the earle of Mar”: in search of Thomas Cochrane’, R. Mason and N. A. T. Macdougall (eds.), People and Power in Scotland: Essays in Honour of T. C. Smout (Edinburgh, 1992), 28–49, 42–3.
  5. Aeneas James George Mackay, Historie and cronicles of Scotland, vol. 1 (STS: Edinburgh, 1899), pp. 174-5
  6. Norman Macdougall, James III (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 251.
  7. Macdougall, Norman (2009). James III. John Donald. pp. 150–2.
  8. Macdougall, James III (John Donald, 1982), pp. 163-165.
  9. Macdougall, James III (1982), pp. 288-290.

Further reading