Holyrood Abbey abbey's position close to Edinburgh Castle meant that it was often visited by Scotland's kings, who were lodged in the guest house situated to the west of the abbey cloister. In the mid-15th century, with the emergence of Edinburgh as the main seat of the royal court and the chief city in the kingdom, the Kings of Scots increasingly used the accommodation at Holyrood for secular purposes. James II and his twin brother Alexander, Duke of Rothesay, were born there in October 1430. James was also crowned at Holyrood in 1437 and building works were carried out before his marriage
Philip II, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen Philip I's death in 1551, he was first succeeded in government by his eldest son Ernest III. After Ernest's death in 1567, his brother Wolfgang succeeded. When he too died without male descendants in 1595, Philip II succeeded. Duke Philip II was married to his cousin Clara of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1532–1595), designated Abbess of Gandersheim, who had renounced her ecclesiastical office after the abbey had been occupied by Schmalkaldic troops in the course of the Protestant Reformation and plundered afterwards. The couple took residence at the secularised monastery of Katlenburg, which Philip II had rebuilt in a Renaissance style. In 1595