King James I black plaque

This black commemorative plaque records: King James. Blackfriars and the murder of King James I of Scotland. You are standing in an area that was once occupied by building that were part of the medieval Dominican Friary founded in 1231 by King Alexander II who introduced the order to Scotland. The Friary lands lie outside of the earlier walled town, on what were formally castle grounds and royal gardens. Perth's earlier castle was constructed of earth and timber; it was a short lived affair which succumbed to the River Tay's frequent catastrophic floods so that nothing remains visible today. Blackfriars - as the Dominican Friary was known - was the first and most prestigious of the four religious orders who came to reside in Perth, the others being Carmelites, Carthusians and Franciscans. According to its high status the Dominican Friary came to serve as a Royal Residence and Parliamentary meeting place when the King was in Perth. The arrangement came to an abrupt and violent end on 21st February 1437 when the incumbent King James I was murdered here by a fraction of discontented nobles. James, and later his wife Joan Beaufort, were both buried in the Carthusian Priory (Chaterhouse) although their exact resting place has not been identified. There is now little if anything remaining of these religious houses as they have all been demolished, their destruction beginning with mod actions spurred by John Knox's passionate sermon condemning idolatry on 11th May 1559. Archeological excavations carried out during the 1980s found evidence of Friary buildings close by as part of the monastic cemetery but these are now lost to modern building development. In 2017 community volunteers led by the Scotland's Urban Past project and Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust identified sections of medieval walling surviving in the cellar space below this building that are very likely a survival of the early Dominican Friary. Recorded plaque organisation: Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust.

King James I of Scotland was monarch from 1406 to 1437 and is remembered for his efforts in centralizing royal authority; he was assassinated at Blackfriars, a Dominican Friary in Perth, by discontented nobles.