Kings and Copes: Religious Textiles at the Courts of James IV and James V of Scotland

During the early sixteenth century James IV and James V of Scotland built up significant collections of ecclesiastical textiles. Sadly, later conflicts and religious upheavals led to their dispersal and destruction. This article draws on evidence from inventories and financial records to develop an overview of the vestments, altar hangings, and other liturgical textiles which once adorned Scotland’s pre-Reformation royal chapels. It considers the processes by which liturgical textiles were acquired, the types of vestments and church furnishings present at the Stewart court, and the religious and political messages they conveyed. The article argues that both James IV and James V took a keen interest in religious textiles, at times even personally supervising the choice of materials. This monarchical interest arose from a combination of genuine piety intertwined with a shrewd recognition of the propaganda potential of liturgical textiles. Ultimately, items such as copes and altar frontals are an overlooked aspect of the Stewart monarchy’s use of courtly display to project an image of a cultured, pious, and powerful regime.