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James II of Scotland

Type Figure Region Scotland Time 1430–1460 Also known as James II、Fiery-faced King

King of Scotland (1437–1460) who crushed the powerful Douglas family and restored royal authority, and died in August 1460 when a cannon burst while …

Timeline

  1. 1437–1449Edinburgh · ScotlandAfter James I was assassinated in 1437, the six-year-old James II succeeded him. For more than a decade various nobles took turns as regents amid political turmoil, and the powerful Douglas family grew strong enough to rival the crown. In 1449 James II married Princess Mary of Guelders and began personal rule.
  2. 1449–1455Stirling Castle · Central ScotlandIn 1452 James II personally stabbed William, 8th Earl of Douglas, provoking a full-scale Douglas revolt. In the Battle of Arkinholm in 1455 the royal army decisively defeated the Douglas forces, the Earl was forced into exile in England, and royal authority was restored. During this period James actively advanced legislation and consolidated fiscal and judicial institutions.
  3. 1455–1460Roxburgh Castle · Scottish BordersAfter defeating the Douglas family, James II took advantage of England's Wars of the Roses and in 1460 besieged Roxburgh Castle, long held by England. On 3 August 1460, while observing his own artillery fire, the cannon burst and he was killed by fragments, aged only thirty. The accident deprived Scotland of a capable king in his prime, and the throne passed to his eight-year-old eldest son James III.

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