The Order of the Thistle and the reintroduction of Catholicism in late-seventeenth-century Scotland

Abstract

I argue that King James VII used the foundation of a monarchical order and subsequently a building project to reintroduce Catholic visual culture to post-Reformation Scotland. In 1687 the king issued a royal warrant for the ‘revival’ of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle. A fictional narrative was established by the Crown to validate the institution of the king's chivalric knighthood as an ancient religious Scottish tradition, and a habit was conceptualised and realised that connected the monarchy with the Roman Catholic faith. This link would ultimately be strengthened through a Catholic building project, which saw the construction of three new churches in Edinburgh and Perth between 1687–1688. Through church design, the king and a knight companion had the opportunity to create a visual reintroduction of Catholicism to be promoted in late-seventeenth century Scotland.