St Andrews Castle, the seat of bishops and archbishops in
pre-Reformation Scotland, has suffered several damaging assaults since its
first appearance in the 12th century, among them a destructive attack by a
French fleet in 1547. At the time, in the midst of the Scottish Reformation,
the castle was held by Protestant nobles under siege by the Catholic
authorities led by the Regent for Mary Queen of Scots, the Earl of Arran.
A French naval force arrived to help dislodge the occupants
but, initially, the gunfire from the vessels had little impact on the castle. The
commander of the fleet, the Italian Leone Strozzi, then attacked from the land
and, by the imaginative use of artillery, hoisting his cannon into position on
nearby towers, breached the castle defences within a matter of hours.
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St Andrews castle
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The Protestant occupants of the castle were taken to France
as prisoners. Amongst them was the religious reformer, John Knox, who spent
over a year as a galley slave on French ships before his release and eventual
return to Scotland.
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Leone Strozzi
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Leone Strozzi was a native of Venice, a Knight of the Order
of Malta and Prior in Capua near Naples. After leaving Italy, he served at the
court of Catherine de’ Medici, queen consort of France and, in effect, the
adoptive mother and, briefly, also the mother-in-law of Mary Queen of Scots. As
a commander, Strozzi achieved distinction in naval campaigns against both
England and Spain.
(Access
to the castle is via the visitor centre.) From the castle walk along North
Castle Street turning left into North Street. On entering North Street, royalists
will note with interest the Northpoint Cafe where "Kate met Wills". It might
also be remembered that the British royal family, known after 1917 as the House
of Windsor, was originally the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, with its roots
in Germany. Continue along North Street towards the ruin of the
cathedral, consecrated in 1318, and which became a major focus of Christian
pilgrimage in medieval Europe. At the cathedral, turn left into Gregory Lane
then right into Gregory Place and continue along the footpath to the harbour.
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Castle image © Tom Parnell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Strozzi image ©
Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
