December 4th was the 600th anniversary of the Treaty of London between England and Scotland which released King James I to return to his realm after his capture when he was a boy at sea on the way to France by the English in 1406. Having arrived in England as a boy he now returned as a strong-minded ruler modelling himself upon King Henry V as well as being an accomplished poet and accompanied on his return by a new Queen in the person of his new wife Joan Beaufort.
The story of the treaty is set out in an article in The National which can be seen at The history behind treaty that secured the release of a Scottish king
The article has a reproduction of the standard latr sixteenth century of King James I. A much more credible portrait of him appears to exist in the manuscript collection known as the Receuil d’ Arras The online image of it which I only came across recently was very reluctant to download to a mere blogger. However the French edition of Wikipedia has a catalogue of all the portrait drawings which can be accessed at Recueil d'Arras
King James I of Scots
It has been suggested that the drawing is of his son and successor King James II, but there is no suggestion of the prominent facial birthmark, shown on the Ehingen illumination, and which earned the King the Nick-name of ‘James of the Fiery Face’
Image: A Trip Through English History - Receuil d’Arras
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