Re: Sinclair Dates

[Niven Sinclair <niven@niven.co.uk>]

At 02:05 29/11/00 -0600, you wrote:

>    [1]Sinclair Dates:  November
> 29.
>    In 1779: William 10th Earl of Caithness d.,
>    In 1530: Cardinal Thomas Wolsey d., Adviser to England's
> King Henry
>    VIII. Cardinal and statesman who dominated the government of
> England's
>    King Henry VIII from 1515 to 1529. His unpopularity
> contributed, upon
>    his downfall, to the anticlerical reaction that was a factor
> in the
>    English Reformation. The immediate cause of Wolsey's fall
> from power
>    was his failure to persuade Pope Clement VII to grant Henry
> an
>    annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. There had
> long been
>    a party of nobles
>    [2]more... [3]Tomorrow:  November 30.
>    In 1779: John 11th Earl of Caithness,
>    [4]son of William 10th Earl.
>    In 1752: St Andrew's Day Scottish patron saints feast
> day.,
>    In 1699: Darien II arrives, The second expedition arrives at
> the
>    settlement. Finds Thomas Drummond there with two
> sloops.
>    In 1292: John Baliol, King of Scots, chosen by Edward I of
> England,
>    [5]crowned at Scone.
>    [6]more...
>
> References
>
>    Visible links:
>    1.
> http://www.mids.org/sinclair/timeline.html
>    2.
> http://www.mids.org/sinclair/today/index.html
>    3.
> http://www.mids.org/sinclair/timeline.html
>    4.
> http://www.clansinclair.org/hist1.htm
>    5.
> http://www.siol-nan-gaidheal.com/history.htm
>    6.
> http://www.mids.org/sinclair/today/index.html
>
>    Hidden links:
>    7.
> http://www.clansinclair.org/hist1.htm
> [ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
> [ To get off or on the list, see
> http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html

The reference to Cardinal Wolsey in "Sinclair Dates" is
especially
relevant to Sinclairs because Sir Patrick Sinclair of Draiden
(Dryden)
was the confidantof Henry VIII - so much so that, when they were
in 
conference with eachother, Cadinal Wolsey was required to leave the 
King's chamber.

Margaret Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII and Queen Dowager and
Regent
of Scotland, refers to Sir Patrick Sinclair as he "trusty and true
servant  
as he has ever been to my husband, the King" i.e. James IV. 
This letter was written in 1520.

She refers to Patrick as "Pet Synglar" and in the
(English)State papers
there are many letters written to, by and about him.  The notices
being
quite voluminous and deserve more serious study than they have
received
to date.  One document reads: "Patrick Sinclair and Mr John
Chisholm are
nightly with us".  Why this close association with the King of
England when
we recall that 600 Sinclairs had recently been killed at the Battle of
Flodden
(1513) with King James IV, the husband of the above mentioned Margaret
Tudor?  (Sir John Sinclair, the father of Sir Patrick Sinclair, was
one of the
King's attendants and also fell at Flodden)

Of course, the King of England, Henry VIII, was the brother of the
Queen
Regent of Scotland.  Also, at the material time, there were as many
Sinclairs
in England as there were in Scotland.  Was this why Sir Patrick
Sinclair was
chosen to begin the negotiations which eventually led to the Union of
the
Crowns in 1603 when the James VI of Scotland became James I of
England?

Queen Margaret's letter to her brother, Henry VIII, is a highly
historical
document.

It has been said that the true reason why Henry VIII broke with Rome
will
be found in the vaults of Rosslyn Chapel.  Certainly, the reason for
the break
had little to do with his desire to get rid of his wives but rather
because Rome
resisted any reform to e.g. the priestly power of absolution, the whole
system
of enforced confessions, of penances, of the right of every man to read
the
bible for himself (i.e. in his own language rather than the Latin to
which the bible
had been restricted).

I do wish that some historian would take a closer look at the papers
dealing
with Sir Patrick Sinclair.  As I have said, they are voluminous and
merit
close scrutiny.   The Reformation as well as the Union of the
Crowns was being  
hatched at this time.

The new film, "The Prince & the Grail", by Robert Hutt of
Charing Cross Productions
of Halifax, Canada has to be given credit for addressing this particular
aspect of
Sinclair history although (understandably) they were unaware of the key
role being
played by Patrick Sinclair.  This film is due to be screened in
Canada in January 2001.
Thereafter, it should be available as a video.

Niven Sinclair