Series 3 > Letters of James the Fourth, 1505-1513

LETTERS OF JAMES IV
xli
on June 24. At the same time he urged Archbishop
Blacader, the uncle of Forman, to dissuade James from his
contemplated pilgrimage to Jerusalem.1
The envoys arrived back in Scotland about September 18,
bringing the astonishing news that the Emperor of Russia
sought an alliance with the King of Denmark, news which
James interpreted as pointing to the speedy reunion of the
two severed halves of Christendom.2 But on March 25,
1508, a Danish envoy brought the dismal tidings that the
men of Liibeck and of the other Hansa towns associated
with them had broken the agreement arrived at in the
previous June, by failing to maintain the embargo on trade
with the Swedes. King John therefore asked James to
send two warships to Copenhagen before Easter.3 James
refused to send the ships till he had fuller information ; he
did, however, send letters by the same envoy to Henry VII
and Louis XII, recommending his uncle’s case to these
monarchs,4 and on April 9, 1508, he bluntly informed the
people of Lubeck that a breach of their agreement with
Denmark would involve them in a war, not only with Scot¬
land, but with her allies.5 John was not satisfied ; on
July 28, 1508, he declared to James that he had been dis¬
appointed in his hopes of support by Louis, and that he
had decided to abandon the project of a French marriage
for his son,6 and on December 21, 1508, he repeated his
request for ships and men. As the Swedes persisted in
their rebellion and the Liibeckers persisted in their support
of the Swedes, he had no choice but to go to war with
both : he therefore asked James to specify, before March
16, 1509, the number of ships and men that he could send,
and to have them at Copenhagen before May 15.7 But on
March 23 King John was able to tell his nephew that he
had entered into a truce with the Swedes, and that the
Scottish ships need not sail.
On July 20 8 John repeated his demand for ships and
1 No. 122. 2 Nos. 131-133, 135.
3 No. 151. 4 No. 169.
* No. 170. • No. 185.
1 No. 210. * No. 259.