King James VI in Mortal Danger: The Gowrie Conspiracy

this video is sponsored by Squarespace hello and welcome back to the channel if you're new here hi you are very welcome this is reading the past and I'm Dr Cat King James the sixth of Scots and first of England fac many threats possibly the most famous plot at least where I'm from was one that was hatched and then ultimately foiled in November 1605 this plot was the attempt by a cohort of disaffect Roman Catholics to assassinate King James his wife Queen Anne their eldest son Prince Henry the king's ministers and members of his Parliament all by blowing up the opening of that Parliament by 1605 however James was more than accustomed to people plotting against his life and Rule many of these plots are I would argue today less well known and perhaps that's understandable because the 1605 plot is after all the only one that we choose to remember and memorialize through annual fireworks and I am aware of the irony of celebrating the foiling of a planned explosion by making a whole bunch of other explosions but there we are in any case today's video is going to look at an earlier alleged plot one that occurred a few years before James even came to England but before we jump into today's topic I want to say an absolutely massive thank you to Squarespace for sponsoring another video on this channel when it comes to building updating and managing my website Squarespace has really made all the difference squarespace's blueprint website design tool offers me a massive variety of website templates all of which are super easy to customize in every way and that is due to their fluid engine website design system with this it's simply a case of dragging and dropping for even more convenience you can edit your website not only through your desktop but also on your phone I can also keep track of my website traffic through a whole bunch of useful analytics tools above all it's been really helpful to keep an eye on my mailing list emails it helps me make sure that they've all reached their intended destination but also lets me see if or indeed when they've been opened and what links are being clicked in them so if you have signed up to receive emails from me but you haven't seen any of them yet please do have a little check to make sure they haven't been caught up in your spam filter to build launch and manage your own website go to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com reading theast to save 10% off of your first purchase of a website or domain thanks again to Squarespace for sponsoring this video but now it's time to take a look at the G [Music] conspiracy the G conspiracy or perhaps that should more properly be alleged conspiracy which we're going to explore today takes its name from both the location and the people involved the ears of Gary at Gary house in Perth while the event we're looking at today occurred on the 5th of August 1600 if we're going to get a deeper context we need to travel back the better part of two decades to August 1582 at that point a 16-year-old James I 6 of Scots a young man eager to assert his rights place and Authority as King was seized by what Jenny worold describes as quote a group of hard Presbyterian Nobles under William Riven first Earl of Gary this group intended to assert their influence and control over their young king who they had come to fear was being led astray by a pro- French pro- Catholic faction at court that was being headed up by the king's cousin who had recently been created Duke of Lennox as a side note but a relevant one in terms of the relationships between the rivens and the Scottish Crown William's father Patrick had been a leading participant in the murder of Mary Queen of Scot's favorite David Rito that murder had occurred in front of her while she was heavily pregnant with James in the aftermath Patrick fled into England and so he was tried for his crimes in absentia his titles and properties were subject to forfeiture for treason and for his failure to attend court from the August of 1582 King James was being held by Patrick's son William and his so-called Riven Raiders for 10 months before the king finally managed to escape which he did in the June of 1583 immediately after his escape the king asserted that he desired to rule for all people that he would give no favor to any particular faction there was it seems to now be a middle way in governance for Scotland however that did not prevent the execution of the ear of g at the start of May 1584 fast forward to August 1600 King James I 6th of Scots was now 34 years old married a father of three surviving children and on top of this was widely recognized as being the most likely claimant for the throne of England if or rather when Queen Elizabeth the first died nevertheless it is suggested by some that the legacy of that 1582 Riven raid was still being felt that King James continued to distrust the rivens of Gary house while they it would be alleged felt they had a score to settle regarding the execution of their patriarch they may also potentially have wished to see their father's hopes for the soul of their Nation come to fruition after all the Riven Raiders had the future of the Presbyterian Kirk in mind when they set about their business back in 1582 was it possible that at least some of the Riven Sons had found themselves feeling increasingly dismayed at their King's apparent antagonism towards their Kirk or at least towards the seemingly uncompromising presbyterianism that was arguably favored by their father John Riven who was the third Earl of Gary after the execution of his father William and the death of his elder brother James who had previously been the second Earl also happened to be a creditor of the king indeed King James owed this family a substantial amount I have seen different sums mentioned from £48,000 all the way up to £80,000 in either case these amounts represent millions in modern money on the 5th of August 1600 King James was at Forkland Palace early in the morning a visitor arrived it was Alexander Riven the younger brother of John third Earl of Gary Alexander had come to inform his King apparently of the discovery of a mysterious man who was in possession of a horde of treasure that had subsequently been seized and secured at G house in Perth the king's interest was seemingly peaked he was determined to investigate this matter himself the king reported that he was suspicious that the man found with this gold was in fact a j it carrying funds that might have been brought in to attempt to disrupt the Kirk and Crown in Scotland accompanied by a sizable courtly retinue King James thus set off for Gary house once he arrived the King was presented with a meal that he ate in private with his hosts the rest of the company being cared for elsewhere after this meal the king then accompanied Alexander Riven and the household Chamberlain Andrew Henderson upstairs according to the accounts of both King James and the Chamberlain Henderson once this small Party of Three came into an upper room Alexander almost at once turned on his King he locked the door to the room and Drew a dagger he accosted King James speaking of his desire to exact retribution for the execution of his father then apparently and perhaps slightly oddly Alexander went in search of his brother the Earl he left the king in the keeping of Henderson there are differing accounts as to what happened next some say that Alexander returned and that he and James scuffled others meanwhile make no mention of him returning the sources do agree that the King was able to access an open window and through that window to alert his Entourage of the danger he faced he screamed of treason and of murder as courters in Serv rushed up to their King's Aid violence erupted Alexander was reportedly stabbed by James's page of Honor John Ramsey before being pushed back down the stairs possibly by King James himself Alexander was soon found bleeding on the stairs by one of the king's trusted friends Sir Thomas kkin and it was he who gave Alexander his final blow it is said that this young man's last words were quote alas I had no wit when blame of it Amy L Jala points out that quote it was said later that neither sword nor dagger could be found near riven's body which was subsequently dismembered as that of a traitor only a Rapier rusted to Virtual immobility in the Scabbard Alexander's brother the Earl who in spite of having the king in his house had apparently wandered off into town raced back when he heard news of the up uproar he would discover his brother dead on the stairs and then he would rush up them seemingly intending to exact his Vengeance on those he found above he would not reach his King instead he too was killed although dead the Earl and his brother were transported to Edinburgh and tried for treason they were convicted their lands and goods thus became the property of the crown their bodies were punished as traitors hanged drawn and quarted and for a while the 5th of August was observed as a day of Celebration and Thanksgiving there are some very murky Corners to this event it was and continues to be variously alleged that one the Earl of Gary had been in receipt of letters from both King James and Queen Anne inviting him to join the Royal Hunting Party at Forkland two that these letters were found on the Earl after his death and were for some reason destroyed three that Alexander had been the one to win the favor of Queen Anne there were apparently even I think far-fetched rumors that she had taken him for a lover and that the king suspecting Alexander with his wife wished to confront him or Worse four that Alexander had actually taken the king's fancy that jam had propositioned him on the 5th of August 1600 and had been violently rebuffed that this is what started the struggle that would lead to the eventual Bloodshed and death five that King James had in fact planned the whole thing himself in the hopes that it might allow him to be rid of some popular young Nobles who came from a family that he distrusted and also happened to owe an extortionate amount of money to or six perhaps James's account is is the correct one the inhabitants of Gary house had created a ruse to lure their King into a trap where they could exact their avenge for the execution of their father so what do you think of the G conspiracy of its true causes and motivations do you think it was one or maybe some of the things that I've just mentioned or do you think perhaps that something else was really going on what do you think of the fact that James is preservation from this alleged plot is something that would be celebrated in Scotland and then in England at least for a time after all this was not the first nor as we know would it be the last time that James's escape from danger would become a day of national Thanksgiving I wonder how do you think this process serve to support his kingship in both Scotland and England as always I'm looking forward to reading your conversations in the comments section under underneath this video I'd also love it if you could pop an emoji or a social glyph in the comments too because that will boost the engagement and we are told the more engaged video gets the more YouTube shares it out and that should help us to grow our community I am slightly concerned as to what emoji to suggest because at a point I'm thinking let's do something that's plotty or assassination without annoying the YouTube algorithm overlords so see what you can get away with putting in the comment section I look forward to seeing what you choose you can find me Elsewhere on social media I will leave links to the other place you can find me on the internet in my description box please do follow me over on some of all of those so we can continue this conversation and start some others I do hope you enjoyed this video and found it useful if you did please do share it with 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