Katherine Bellenden facts for kids

Katherine Bellenden (1497 – c. 1568) was an important person at the royal court of James V of Scotland. She worked in the King's wardrobe, which was like a special department for clothes and fabrics. Her niece, also named Katherine Bellenden, worked there too.

A Family Connected to the King

Katherine's parents were Patrick Bellenden, who worked for Queen Margaret Tudor, and Mariota Douglas, who was King James V's nurse. This meant her family had strong ties to the royal household. Her older brother, Thomas Bellenden of Auchnoule, was a high-ranking legal official called the Justice Clerk. Another brother, John Bellenden, was a priest, poet, and translator. Katherine's grandson was the famous mathematician and poet John Napier, who invented logarithms, a special way to do calculations.

Katherine married three times. Her first husband was Adam Hopper, a merchant and a leader in Edinburgh. After Adam passed away, she married Francis Bothwell, who was also a merchant and had been a leader of Edinburgh. In those days, married women in Scotland usually kept their own family names instead of taking their husband's name. Her third husband was Oliver Sinclair, who was a close friend of the King.

Working in the Royal Wardrobe

Katherine's job in the royal wardrobe involved buying special fabrics like cambric and Holland cloth. These materials were used to make the King's shirts. She and her colleague, Janet Douglas, who was the King's seamstress, would embroider these shirts with beautiful gold and silver threads. Katherine also sold cloth to the King's tailor, Thomas Arthur, and helped manage the King's money. Janet Douglas, like Katherine, married an important person at court, David Lindsay of the Mount, who was a diplomat and a poet.

In July 1537, Katherine helped prepare for the funeral of Queen Madeleine of Valois. She provided purple velvet for the event. The royal records show many payments to "Katherine Bellenden." One record mentions a "Katherine Bellenden" who was married to Robert Craig, a servant of the tailor Thomas Arthur. This was actually Katherine's niece, who was also named Katherine Bellenden. She was the daughter of Katherine's brother, Thomas Bellenden. This niece also worked in the royal wardrobe and dealt with expensive fabrics. It seems both Katherines were important in managing the royal clothing and textiles.

Later, in the 1590s, another lady at court named Elizabeth Gibb had a similar job. She sewed and embroidered shirts and ruffs, and made hats for Queen Anne of Denmark and King James VI.

Family and Finances

In April 1538, King James V paid Katherine a large sum of money, £666-13s-4d Scots. This was to repay 1000 merks that Katherine had lent to the King's mother, Margaret Tudor.

In 1541, Katherine and her husband Oliver, along with some relatives and colleagues from the royal wardrobe, made an agreement about some property. They set aside rents from a property in Edinburgh to support priests who would say prayers for their souls in St Giles, Edinburgh.

In November 1543, Katherine wrote to Mary of Guise, who was the Queen Dowager of Scotland. Katherine and her husband had invested in a ship, but it had been taken because they owed money for lands in Orkney and Shetland. Mary of Guise was giving their lands in Orkney to George Gordon, the Earl of Huntly. Oliver Sinclair's family had held Kirkwall Castle in Orkney for many years. Katherine wrote that it was a "great lack" (a great loss) to leave their "native rooms" (their ancestral lands) that her husband's family had held for "three or four hundred years."

Katherine's Children

Katherine and Adam Hopper had a son named Richard, who was Adam's oldest child and heir.

Katherine had two daughters with Oliver Sinclair. Her daughter Isobel Sinclair married James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh. Her other daughter, Alison Sinclair, married David Hamilton of Monktonmains, who was James Hamilton's brother.