James II (1437 - 1460)

Portrait of James II

At six years old James heard of his father's murder and over the next few years he would experience much more in the way of political killings. He was never comfortable in public because of a large red birth-mark that earned him the nickname 'James of the Fiery Face'. Maybe partly because of this he grew up to be a ruthless and conniving king who was capable of murder himself if he felt the situation warranted it. In 1449 he assumed control of the government and also married Mary of Gueldres, niece of Philip the Good of Burgundy. In 11 years of marriage she was to bear six children, four sons and two daughters. At the beginning of his reign there was the usual vying for power which accompanies the sudden death of a monarch whose heir is a minor. In the main it was the Douglas family, who owned extensive lands in the south-west, who were the leading protagonists. Others involved included Sir William Crichton, Governor of Edinburgh Castle, Sir Alexander Livingstone, Governor of Stirling Castle, and James Kennedy, Bishop of St Andrews. By 1439 his mother had decided that Edinburgh was becoming dangerous and smuggled James out of the Castle and took him to Stirling. This proved to be a futile attempt at preserving James safety as a few months later he was abducted by the Crichtons and taken to Edinburgh.

In 1439 the fifth Earl of Douglas died, he had a claim to the throne through his mother who was a daughter of Robert III. His claim passed to William, the sixth Earl, and Sir William Crichton decided that this was a meddlesome youth he could well do without. On 24 November 1440 while William and his younger brother were dining with the king in Edinburgh Crichton had a black bull's head laid on the table. This was the sign of impending death and on Crichton's orders the two Douglas's were seized. They were given a makeshift trial, where the king pleaded for their lives, before being taken outside and beheaded. This became known as the Black Dinner and it was a lesson the king learned well.

When James took over the reigns of power himself he worked closely with the three estates and reiterated several of James I's statutes as well as promoting several of his own. This was done to help stamp out lawlessness and to ensure the economic well-being of the country. Of the great feudal families the Douglas's were the last to fall, it took three civil wars, each instigated by the king, to break their power. In February 1452 James invited William Douglas, with a safe pass, to Stirling. While in each others company they started arguing and James stabbed William in the throat. This caused a split in the country with parliament siding with the king but the Lord of the Isles siding with the Douglas's. Fighting ensued but neither side could gain the upper hand. By 1455 James had reduced many of the Douglas castles in the south-west to rubble with his formidable artillery. This artillery may have included Mons Meg which is now on display at Edinburgh Castle. Douglas power was finally broken at the battle of Arkinholm. In the end it was James fascination with artillery that killed him. While beseiging Roxburgh in support of Henry VI a cannon exploded killing the king. He was only 29 when he died.

James II illumination by Jorg von Ehingen

History Books on James II:

Author Title Published Price Order Now From: Callow, John The Making of King James II 2000 £20.00 or $32.95 Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com This revisionist account of a controversial figure provides a reappraisal of James' career prior to 1685, examining his roles as soldier, administrator, imperialist and entrepreneur. It shows how he held many of the most important positions in the kingdom, including Governor and Proprietor of New York, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company and Viceroy of Scotland, and exercised a degree of power and patronage second only to that of the King. However, James' failure to harness political support, or to present an acceptable public image to his brother's subjects, both examined here, effectively destabilized English politics for a generation. John Callow shows how James' obstinacy and authoritarianism truly rendered him, as one contemporary pamphleteer had it, "an impolitick prince". Based on archive material, this study dissolves the traditional contrast which has been seen between James as Duke and James as King, demonstrating that the weaknesses of the latter were already manifest in the former.
Speck, W. A	James II	2002	£14.99 or $13.95	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Forced out of power in the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, and defeated in the subsequent battle of the Boyne by William of Orange, the short reign of James II has an importance that reaches far beyond his three years in power. An ardent Roman Catholic, his efforts to return England to the Catholic faith continue to resonate to this day in Northern Ireland. Similarly, his attacks on the representative institutions that had been developing since the Restoration, alientated an initially enthusiastic parliament. W.A. Speck looks at all these issues through the figure of the King. The book examines James' role in the American colonies - assigned to him by his brother Charles II - his role in Scotland between 1679 and 1862, and his final exercise of power in Ireland. History Books on this time period Author Title Published Price Order Now From: Brown, Michael The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland, 1300-1455 1998 £16.99 Amazon.co.uk During the century and a half of their power the Black Douglases earned fame as Scotland's champions in the front line of war against England. On their shields they bore the bloody heart of Robert Bruce, the symbol of their claim to be the physical protectors of the hero-king's legacy. But others saw the power of these lords and earls of Douglas in a different light. To their critics the Douglases were a force for disorder in the kingdom, lawless, arrogant and violent, whose power rested on coercion and whose defiance of kings and guardians ultimately provoked James II into slaying the Douglas earl with his own hand. The Black Douglases examines aristocratic power and status and its place in Scottish political society through the greatest and most notorious magnate dynasty of late medieval Scotland. Michael Brown analyses the rise and fall of the family as the dominant magnates of the south, from the deeds of Good Sir James Douglas in the service of Bruce to the violent destruction of the Douglas earls in the 1450's. Alongside this study of the accumulationand loss of power by one great noble house, The Black Douglases includes a series of thematic examinations of the nature of aristocratic power. In particular these emphasise the link between warfare and political power in southern Scotland during the fourteenth century. For the Black Douglases, war was not just a patriotic duty but the means to power and fame in Scotland and across Europe. Grant, A. Independence & Nationhood: Scotland 1306-1469 1991 £9.95 or $20.00 Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com Under Robert Bruce and his successors, Scotland's independence from England was maintained and its sense of nationhood developed. Alexander Grant shows how this had a profound effect upon domestic as well as foreign affairs, and how it led to the evolution of a distinctive Scottish government, nobility, Church and economy. At the same time he puts Scottish history into the international context of the 100 Years War, the economic and demographic upheaval caused by the bubonic plague, and the Christianity of the pre-reformation era. Challenging traditional assumptions of general late-medieval decline, Independence and Nationhood demonstrates how the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were a crucially important period of change and growth for Scotland. Nicholson, R. The Edinburgh History of Scotland: Vol 2 The Later Middle Ages 1974 £16.99 Amazon.co.uk The four-volume Edinburgh History of Scotland is the most important project in Scottish historical writing for more than half a century; each volume is written by an expert on the period who brings to his work the direct acquaintance with original sources on which authoritative historical writing can alone be based. This, the second volume, covers the period from the close of the 13th century to the Battle of Flodden. It presents a sophisticated analysis of the facts and a comprehensive description of all the varied and intricate aspects of Scottish Medieval life. Although the book is detailed enough to serve as a work of reference, the historical development of the emergence of, possibly, the first self-conscious nation of Europe into what was perhaps the first 'new monarchy' of Europe may here be read as a continuous narrative of events. Professor Nicholson presents a precise picture of the economy, society and politics of medieval Scotland. Historical Fiction Books on James II Author Title Published Price Order Now From: Tranter, Nigel The Lion's Whelp 1998 £5.99 Amazon.co.uk The story of the child king James II, who in 1437 inherited the throne at the age of seven following the murder of his father. It is also the story of Alexander Lyon (an ancestor the the present Queen Mother) who became James' friend and protector.