The Stirling Heads, carved roundels on the roof of the King's Chamber in Stirling Castle, include many members of the court of James V
The Royal Court of Scotland was the administrative, political and artistic centre of the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged in the tenth century and continued until it ceased to function when James VI inherited the throne of England in 1603. For most of the medieval era, the king had no "capital" as such. The Pictish centre of Forteviot was the chief royal seat of the early Gaelic Kingdom of Alba that became the Kingdom of Scotland. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Scone was a centre for royal business. Edinburgh only began to emerge as the capital in the reign of James III but his successors undertook occasional royal progress to a part of the kingdom. Little is known about the structure of the Scottish royal court in the period before the reign of David I when it began to take on a distinctly feudal character, with the major offices of the Steward, Chamberlain, Constable, Marischal and Lord Chancellor. By the early modern era the court consisted of leading nobles, office holders, ambassadors and supplicants who surrounded the king or queen. The Chancellor was now effectively the first minister of the kingdom and from the mid-sixteenth century he was the leading figure of the Privy Council.
At least from the accession of David I Gaelic ceased to be the main language of the royal court and was probably replaced by French. In the late Middle Ages, Middle Scots, became the dominant language. Ideas of chivalry began to dominate during the reign of David II. Tournaments provided one focus of display. The Scottish crown in the fifteenth century adopted the example of the Burgundian court, through formality and elegance putting itself at the centre of culture and political life. By the sixteenth century, the court was central to the patronage and dissemination of Renaissance works and ideas. It was also central to the staging of lavish display that portrayed the political and religious role of the monarchy.
There were probably filidh, who acted as poets, musicians and historians, often attached to the court of a lord or king. After the "de-gallicisation" of the Scottish court, a less highly regarded order of bards took over their functions, accompanying their poetry on the harp. James I may have taken English and continental styles and musicians back to the Scottish court after his captivity and Scotland followed the trend of Renaissance courts for instrumental accompaniment and playing. Much Middle Scots literature was produced by makars, poets with links to the royal court. James VI became patron and member of a loose circle of Scottish Jacobean court poets and musicians, later called the Castalian Band. From the fifteenth century the records of the Scottish court contain references to artists. The most impressive works and artists were imported from the continent, particularly the Netherlands. James VI employed two Flemish artists, Arnold Bronckorst and Adrian Vanson, who have left a visual record of the king and major figures at the court. In the early Middle Ages Forteviot probably served as a royal palace. The introduction of feudalism into Scotland in the twelfth century led to the introduction of royal castles. Under the Stuart Dynasty there was a programme of extensive building and rebuilding of royal palaces.
Lavish spending on luxurious clothing, fine foods, the patronage of innovative architecture, art and music can be seen from the reign of James I. His successors struggled with different levels of success with the costs of the royal court. After James VI inherited the English throne in 1603 the Scottish court effectively ceased to exist, ending its role as a centre of artistic patronage, political display and intrigue.
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