Octavians

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The Octavians were a financial commission of eight in the government of Scotland first appointed by James VI on 9 January 1596.[1]

James VI's minister John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane had died on 3 October 1595, and his financial situation was troubled.[2] They were a reforming body, eager to bring order to the royal finances and bear down on patronage. They imposed a 5% import tax and promoted an expedition into the Highlands to recover tax revenue.[3]

The Octavians were in part drawn from a committee appointed in 1593 by the Parliament of Scotland to look after the estates of Anne of Denmark.[4] An English courtier in Scotland Roger Aston described events at the end of December 1595 in a letter to James Hudson: "The queen's council joins with the prior (Alexander Seton) and other of the king's council for the reformation of the king's particular affairs".[5] The committee for the queen's estates continued after the Union of Crowns, and new appointments were made in April 1617.[6]

The Octavians made particular efforts to reduce the cost of the royal households of James VI and Anne of Denmark. The chamberlain, the Duke of Lennox, and the Master Households, were encourage to reduce the number of courtiers who received fees and meals at court, and as many as 70 posts were trimmed.[7]

The initial commission for the Octavians lasted only one year, and was much disliked; Presbyterians attempted a coup at the end of 1596, and one demand was that the Octavians should be disbanded.[8] When renewed in 1597, it faced disabling opposition from vested interests, and some of the Octavians were suspect as sympathetic to Catholics.[9] But the concept of the commission as an extension of the exchequer into government persisted, and under the name of New Octavians it played a part in Scottish administration into the reign of Charles I.

Octavians of 1596[]

New Octavians of 1611[]

John Preston of Fentonbarns was already involved in crown finance. A letter from James VI of June 1599 mentions that he had instructed him to repay a sum of money advanced on the security of some of the jewels of Anne of Denmark to the goldsmith and financier George Heriot. Preston however, had reserved the money for the costs of an embassy to France.[15]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Julian Goodare, The Government of Scotland, 1560-1625 (2004), p. 157.
  2. ^ Julian Goodare, The Octavians, Miles Kerr-Peterson & Steven J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power in Scotland, 1578-1603 (Routledge, 2017), pp. 177.
  3. ^ Mark Nicholls, A History of the Modern British Isles, 1529-1603: The two kingdoms (1999), p. 306.
  4. ^ Julian Goodare (2017), pp. 177-8: Thomas Thomson, Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland: 1593-1625, vol. 4 (1816), pp. 24-7: Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 120, 697.
  5. ^ Thomas Birch, Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 1 (London, 1754), pp. 354-6.
  6. ^ James Balfour, Annales of Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1824), pp. 64-5.
  7. ^ Adrienne McLaughlin, 'Rise of a Courtier', Miles Kerr-Peterson & Steven J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power in Scotland (Routledge, 2017), p. 146.
  8. ^ Julian Goodare, The Scottish Witch-hunt in Context (2002), p. 52.
  9. ^ Felicity Heal, Reformation in Britain and Ireland (2005), p. 415.
  10. ^ Goodare, Julian. "Octavians". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/69937. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  11. ^ Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Hamilton, Thomas (1563-1637)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 24. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  12. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1894). "Murray, Gideon" . Dictionary of National Biography. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  13. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Preston, John (d.1616)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 46. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  14. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Spottiswood, John (1565-1637)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  15. ^ James Orchard Halliwell, Letters of the Kings of England, vol. 2 (London, 1846), pp. 96-7.
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