James VI was crowned King of Scotland at the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling on the 29th July in 1567: James (born 19th June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle), the only child of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was just over 13 months old. His mother had been forced to abdicate on 24th July 1567 while imprisoned at Lochleven Castle after the Battle of Carberry Hill and the political fallout from Darnley’s murder and her marriage to the Earl of Bothwell. The infant was proclaimed king, with the Protestant lords securing his succession; his half-uncle James Stewart, Earl of Moray, later became the first regent. The three-hour Protestant ceremony took place in the afternoon at Stirling’s parish church (the Kirk of the Holy Rude / Holy Rood), not inside Stirling Castle itself (where Mary had been crowned as an infant in 1543). Annabella Murray, Countess of Mar, brought the child from the castle. Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney, anointed him; the Earl of Atholl placed the crown on his head; the Earl of Morton carried the sceptre and pronounced the coronation oath by proxy; and the Earl of Glencairn carried the sword of honour. John Knox preached (drawing on the biblical story of the young King Joash). Lords Lindsay and Ruthven publicly swore that Mary had resigned willingly. The Honours of Scotland had been brought from Edinburgh Castle a couple of days earlier. James was then carried back to the castle. This marked the start of a long minority under successive regents while James was raised at Stirling Castle. He later became James I of England in 1603 upon the death of Elizabeth I, uniting the crowns. The event solidified Protestant control in Scotland after Mary’s downfall and set James on the path that eventually led to the Union of the Crowns...