Date of Birth: 16 October 1430
House: Stewart
Spouse(s): Mary, daughter of Arnold, duke of Guelders, and Catherine of Cleves
Predecessor: James I
Reign: 1437 – 1460
Summary: The assassination of King James I in February 1437 catapulted the little Prince James into the throne at the age of six. Like so many other Stewart kings, he had a long minority during which time his cousin, Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Douglas, ruled as his regent. He spent the first two years of his reign at Dunbar Castle while the Scottish Parliament confiscated various landholdings of the king. Douglas's death in 1439 caused Scotland to be ruled by a council of two, the Lord Chancellor of Scotland and Sir Alexander Livingston, who cared for the king at Stirling Castle. When James II reached adulthood in 1449, he had virtually no knowledge of how to rule a kingdom.
The Douglases used James' nineteenth birthday as an opportunity to retake control over the government from Livingston and James sat passively by during the crisis. Three years later, the Earl Douglas was murdered at Stirling Castle in 1452, and Scottish politics became quite confusing for a time. James committed the murder himself, in all likelihood, after he broke into a fit of rage concerning an axis of power being created between Douglas and the powerful earls of Ross and Crawford. His court officials then joined in and stabbed Douglas until he was unrecognizable. Civil war broke out for three years in Scotland, during which time James attempted to seize all of the Douglas lands. He finally agreed to a peace and returned his seized lands to James Douglas, the 9th earl. Soon after, Douglass rebelled again. At the battle of Arkinholm in 1455, with the assistance of Crawford, James finally decisively defeated the Douglas clan. They were stripped of their lands and exiled to England. James finally could govern Scotland as he wished and no later king of Scots faced such opposition from a rival clan. Scotland was well on its way to becoming an absolute monarchy. His next plan was to take control over the Lordship of the Isles from the MacDonald clan which ruled from Ross. James spent much of the last years of his reign traveling the country, remitting crimes for payments to the crown. By 1458, a parliamentary decree commanded the king to cease his ways regarding his treatment of criminals. His last act was to siege Roxburgh Castle, a fortress controlled by the English since the Wars of Independence 150 years earlier. James brought cannon to the battle and one of them exploded, killing the king. The siege was won three days later but it was his widow, Mary of Guelders, who claimed the victory for their nine-year-old son, James III.
House: Stewart
Spouse(s): Mary, daughter of Arnold, duke of Guelders, and Catherine of Cleves
Predecessor: James I
Reign: 1437 – 1460
Summary: The assassination of King James I in February 1437 catapulted the little Prince James into the throne at the age of six. Like so many other Stewart kings, he had a long minority during which time his cousin, Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Douglas, ruled as his regent. He spent the first two years of his reign at Dunbar Castle while the Scottish Parliament confiscated various landholdings of the king. Douglas's death in 1439 caused Scotland to be ruled by a council of two, the Lord Chancellor of Scotland and Sir Alexander Livingston, who cared for the king at Stirling Castle. When James II reached adulthood in 1449, he had virtually no knowledge of how to rule a kingdom.
The Douglases used James' nineteenth birthday as an opportunity to retake control over the government from Livingston and James sat passively by during the crisis. Three years later, the Earl Douglas was murdered at Stirling Castle in 1452, and Scottish politics became quite confusing for a time. James committed the murder himself, in all likelihood, after he broke into a fit of rage concerning an axis of power being created between Douglas and the powerful earls of Ross and Crawford. His court officials then joined in and stabbed Douglas until he was unrecognizable. Civil war broke out for three years in Scotland, during which time James attempted to seize all of the Douglas lands. He finally agreed to a peace and returned his seized lands to James Douglas, the 9th earl. Soon after, Douglass rebelled again. At the battle of Arkinholm in 1455, with the assistance of Crawford, James finally decisively defeated the Douglas clan. They were stripped of their lands and exiled to England. James finally could govern Scotland as he wished and no later king of Scots faced such opposition from a rival clan. Scotland was well on its way to becoming an absolute monarchy. His next plan was to take control over the Lordship of the Isles from the MacDonald clan which ruled from Ross. James spent much of the last years of his reign traveling the country, remitting crimes for payments to the crown. By 1458, a parliamentary decree commanded the king to cease his ways regarding his treatment of criminals. His last act was to siege Roxburgh Castle, a fortress controlled by the English since the Wars of Independence 150 years earlier. James brought cannon to the battle and one of them exploded, killing the king. The siege was won three days later but it was his widow, Mary of Guelders, who claimed the victory for their nine-year-old son, James III.
Date of Death: 3 August 1460
Successor: James III
Successor: James III
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