Edinburgh Castle (Great Britain, Scotland)

Since 1437 the Keeper of the Castle of Edinburgh was Sir William Crichton. In an effort to seize power over the country he killed two Earls of Douglas of the most influential Scottish family of that time. 16-year old William Douglas and his brother David were invited for a dinner to the Castle of Edinburgh where, while they were eating they were both captured and beheaded under a false accusation. The execution took place in the presence of a ten year old King James II and was later called the “Black Dinner”. Douglas’ supporters announced revenge to the King and besieged the Castle, but to no avail.

In 1479 Alexander Stewart, the second son of Jacob II and Mary of Gueldres was confined in the Tower of David under the false accusation of sorcery. Yet he was able to escape after he got his guards drunk and descended out of the window of his cell on a rope to the ground. Alexander fled to France where he was warmly welcomed at the court of Louis XI. Having taken advantage of an upsurge of Scottish barons against the King in 1482, which caused James III to be kept arrested in the Castle of Edinburgh, Alexander Stewart came back to Scotland counting on support of the English army of Richard III.

In XV century, the Castle of Edinburgh was used as an arsenal and a war weapons factory, while the royal family preferred Hollyrood Abbey as their residence. In the end of XV century, King James IV built the Castle of Holyrood near the Abbey, and the significance of the Castle as the royal residence was practically brought to naught.
But construction on the Castle Rock continued – in 1511 James IV built a Great Hall which has remained intact to these days.

On September 9 of 1513, at the Battle at Flodden James was killed by the English. The news about the King’s death reached Edinburgh on the next day and filled the hearts of people with grief and uneasy premonitions. Since there was a danger of an invasion of the English troops in very short time new walls were built around Edinburgh and the Castle was strengthened. Under a French man Antoine d’Arces, Sieur de la Bastie in 1514 a new plan of location of artillery on the Castle’s walls was designed. The King’s death resulted in a long political crisis in Scotland while James V was under age. Three years after the defeat at Flodden five-year-old King James V was sent to the Castle of Edinburgh for security reasons.

After James V’s death Mary Stewart who was famous for her tragic destiny ascended to the throne of Scotland. During her reign big changes were made in the Castle including construction of the Eastern Bastion – one of the first bastions in England.
On June 19 of 1566 in a small room of the Castle of Edinburgh Mary gave birth to a son – would-be King James I of England. This is what she wrote about this time in her diary:
“I have never especially loved it, but this Castle is the heart of the Scottish nation, and he who controls Edinburgh, controls the whole Scotland.

Four months later I withdrew to this room; I have never thought I would give birth to a king in such a place, but my main goal was to carry this child and not expose him to any danger.”
Several months after James’ birth, his father was killed under suspicious circumstances. Public opinion attributed this crime to Mary Stewart and her lover Earl of Bothwell. An uprising kindled against the Queen, and on July 24 of 1567 Mary Stuart was impelled to sign her giving up of the Scottish throne in favor of her son who was a little over a year old by then. On July 29 of 1567, in Stirling James was crowned the King of Scotland, while Mary was confined in the Castle of Loch Leven. But she was able to flee to England where she continued to influence the situation in Scotland.

In April of 1571, the city and the Castle were taken by Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange. Even during Mary Stewart’s reign he was the Keeper of the Castle and after she was ousted he refused to side with James. The following siege of the Castle and the city lasted for two years. The first clashes with Kirkcaldy soldiers took place as soon as in May of 1571; the next active military operations – in October. All this time the Castle was in a blockade but Kirkcaldy had enough resources and he even continued to strengthen the Castle.

The king’s supporters even asked Elisabeth I of England, “the Virgin Queen”, for assistance because those undertaking a siege were short of powerful guns to break through the Castle’s walls. Through intermediation of the English Queen in July of 1572 a truce was signed and the siege seized. The city was surrendered to the royal troops, while the Castle remained to be in Kirkcaldy’s hands.

The term of the truce expired on January 1 of 1573, and Kirkcaldy began to bombard the city. But the powder and shells were coming to an end, and although there were 40 guns in the Castle, only seven gunners were alive at that moment. The royal troops also did not waste their time – they dug a big number of trenches around the Castle and poisoned the well. By February, there were problems with water in the Castle but the garrison continued to desperately resist and bombard the city.

In April of 1573, Elizabeth I’s aid arrived: Sir William Drury came to Edinburgh with a unit of 1000 soldiers and 27 guns, including one from the Castle of Edinburgh – it was captured from the Scots in the Battle at Flodden.

Drury immediately began to build batteries around the Castle. By May 17, everything was ready and intensive bombarding began. During the next twelve days three thousand shells were shot at the Castle. By May 22 the Southern wall of the Tower of David was destroyed, and on the next day the Tower of Constable was also destroyed. Stones blocked the entrance to the Castle as well as the dried up by then well Fore Well. On May 26, the English captured Spur, the outer fortifications of the Castle cut off from the main forces after the destruction of the Tower.
The next day Kirkcaldy called for a ceasefire and start of negotiations. But it was evident that he would not attain freedom even if he surrendered the Castle, that’s why he continued to fight. But in the Castle’s garrison a rebellion was about to start, so, on May 28, Kirkcaldy let William Drury’s soldiers into the Castle preferring to surrender to an Englishman rather than to the Regent of young King James.

The entire garrison of the Castle was released, while Kirkcaldy, his brother and two jewelers who made coins with the name of Mary Stewart were hanged on the market square on August 3 of 1573.

In the next coming years the Castle of Edinburgh was largely rebuilt, including Spur, the outer fortifications, and Half Moon Battery as well as Portcullis Gate were built, but the central palace remained intact although some interior work was still done.
James held meetings of his court in a renewed palace of the Castle but at night he preferred the Holyrood Palace more and more frequently.

James I of England’s successor King Charles I visited the Castle of Edinburgh only once. He spent a night there before his coronation as King of Scotland in 1633. His visitation was the last case when a ruling monarch used the Castle as his residence.
In 1630s Charles I’s attempt to reform the Church of Scotland and introduce Anglican rituals into Presbyterian service resulted in a civil war between royal troops and Covenanters, defenders of the Presbyterian Church.

In 1639 the Covenanters led by Alexander Leslie, first Count of Liven, were able to capture the Castle of Edinburgh without loosing a single soldier.

The success of the Scots forced Charles I to sign the peace Treaty of Berwick and stop the bloodshed in June of the same year. But the truce was not long, and in the next year the Covenanters once again captured the Castle of Edinburgh, this time after a three-month exhausting siege when the garrison had run out of all the munitions. The Spur (the outer fortifications) was seriously damaged and eventually destroyed.

1640s were marked with a Civil War in England between supporters of Charles I and the Parliament. The war ended on January 30, 1649, when Charles I was beheaded in Whitehall. Oliver Cromwell’s actions very much assisted the Parliament’s success.

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