The ‘Great Temple of Solomon’ at Stirling Castle

Abstract

In 1594, a new Chapel Royal was erected at Stirling Castle, for the baptism, on 30 August of that year, of Prince Henry, first-born son and heir to James VI King of Scots and his wife, Queen Anna, sister of Denmark’s Christian IV. James saw the baptism as a major opportunity to emphasize, to an international — and, above all, English — audience, both his own and Henry’s suitability as heirs to England’s childless and elderly Queen Elizabeth. To commemorate the baptism and associated festivities, a detailed written account was produced, entitledA True Reportarieand attributed to William Fowler. It provided a remarkable piece of Stuart propaganda, as testified by many subsequent reprints, including during the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. James no doubt had in mind the example of the celebrations at his own baptism in December 1566, which ‘took the form of a triumphant Renaissance festival, the first that Scotland — and indeed Great Britain — had ever seen’. Despite apparently being constructed within a mere seven months, the new chapel achieved its aim of being both impressive and symbolic of the aspirations of the Scottish king (Fig. 1). It can claim to be the earliest Renaissance church in Britain, with its main entrance framed by a triumphal arch, flanked by Italianate windows. However, even more significant is the evidence that the chapel was deliberately modelled on the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.

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