St. Andrews Castle

Back on the castle trail today. It was so nice a day in fact that I managed to provide you with colour blip!

;- )

Sorry for being so late in blipping, but in time honoured tradition, I fell asleep in front of the telly after tea!

They don't call me Sleepyhead for nothing. Hahahaha!

St Andrews was once Scotland's premier cathedral city. Throughout the Middle Ages, it was the centre of the Scottish Church. The relationship between the burgh and it's cathedral meant that the town's fall from grace after the reformation of 1560 was dramatic.

St Andrews Castle was the chief residence of the bishops, and later the archbishops of St Andrews. They were Scotland's leading churchmen, and lived in a manner reflecting this exalted status. They also had to defend themselves and the property of the Church, hence the strong castle. During its 450-year history, St Andrews served as an Episcopal palace, fortress and state prison.

The castle stands on a headland projecting into St Andrews Bay. Steep cliffs protect its northern and eastern elevations while a deep ditch cut through the bedrock define the defensive perimeter to the south and west. Little of the original 12th and 13th century castle survives. Much of what we see today dates from the 16th century.

There was probably a bishop's castle from the outset in the 12th century. Not much is known about this but there is archaeological evidence that it may have been built for Bishop Robert. The presence of masonry from the late 12th century suggests that Bishop Roger de Beaumont as carrying out additional construction. Unfortunately this castle was devastated during the Wars of Independence and was largely rebuilt by Bishop Walter Traill from around 1385.

Like any medieval lord, the bishop's of St Andrews were expected to administer law and order. While the majority of prisoners were local miscreants, the castle was also used as a state prison, and numerous important figures were held there. David, Duke of Rothesay, eldest son and heir of Robert III s imprisoned in 1402, on the orders of his uncle, the Duke of Albany. Albany's own son, Duke Murdoch was sbsequently imprisoned at St Andrews in 1425 before his execution at Stirling Castle.

The disaster at Flodden in 1513 robbed Scotland of it's king and many of her nobles, including the young archbishop of St Andrews, Alexander Stewart, but it wasn't until 1521 when James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow and lord chancellor of Scotland succeeded to the see that a significant building programme began to reinforce the castle defences. Beaton was a powerful political figure in the court of James V and a staunch opponent of the Protestant Reformers whose ideas were circulating in Scotland. He actively participated in their persecution, most notoriously responsible for the trial and execution by burning at the stake, of the Protestant preacher Patrick Hamilton in 1528.

In 1537, Beaton arranged for his nephew David to be appointed as hiss successor, which he did in 1538, in addition to becoming a cardinal of the Church, a position not held by a Scot for 150 years. For the following decade, he was a dominant figure in Scottish politics but he also made powerful enemies both sides of the border. In March 1546 he had prominent Protestant preacher George Wishart burned at the stake in front of the castle walls. This proved to be the perfect opportunity for Beaton's enemies to move against him, taking advantage of the increasing polarity of religious beliefs in Scotland. Disguised as stonemason's a group of Fife lairds gained access to the castle in May of that year, seized and killed the Cardinal and hung his body from the walls.

In an effort to remove the intruders who were backed by the English, the castle was besieged on the orders of Regent Arran. In an attempt to take the castle with as little bloodshed as possible (Arran's son was held captive inside the castle) the besieging forces attempted to undermine the wall. The defender's successfully dug a counter-mine and defeated their plans. In April 1547, during a truce, John Knox, the future leader of the Protestant Reformers entered the castle and spoke first-hand with Beaton's murderers. The truce was broken when a French fleet arrived to support Regent Arran and began a devastating bombardment from the sea. The castle was soon rendered indefensible.

After the dramatic events of the siege, the new Archbishop John Hamilton set about repairing the damage to the castle. However, the Reformation proved to be an irresistible tide that almost eradicated Catholicism from Scotland. In spite of his attempts to reform the Catholic Church from within, his efforts were in vain. In 1560 the Reformation Parliament finally repudiated the Pope's authority in Scotland and the Catholic Mass was abolished as the main form of worship.