July 10, 1451 Birth of James III of Scotland.
He was the son of James II who had succeeded the throne in 1437 at age 7 when his father James I was assassinated. His mother was Mary of Guelders, a daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders, and Catherine of Cleves. He was the second born of their seven children.
His siblings:
-an unnamed son that died the day he was born
-Mary: married twice. With her first husband Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran, she had 2 children. And by her second husband James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton she had three children. James was 40 years her senior, but 2 of their children were born before they were married (legitimized after by the Pope). The Hamiltons Earls of Arran and the Stewart Earls of Lennox take their claim to the Scottish throne through her children from her second husband.
-Alexander: Duke of Albany. Attempted to depose his brother twice, once with the aid of Edward IV. He died in a duel in France. His first wife Katherine was a daughter of William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney. They had two children. His second wife Anne was daughter of Bertrand VI, Count of Auvergne and their son John succeeded him as Duke of Albany.
-Margaret: never married but was mistress to William Crichton, 3rd Lord Crichton of Auchingoul. William took her as mistress in anger over James making William's wife his mistress. They had a daughter Margaret who married George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes and had seven children before he divorced her. He was her third husband.
-David: Earl of Moray. he died at age 2.
-John: Earl of Mar. He died at age 20 after being imprisoned on accusations of treason. His death was suspicious and it is believed was likely on orders of his brother James.
He was born either at Stirling or St Andrews its not clear. His father was killed in 1460 while sieging Roxburgh castle, one of the only castles still controlled by England since the war of independence. He was killed from one of his artillery guns misfiring when he stood next to it. A week after his father was killed, on August 10 he was crowned king at Kelso Abbey. At 9, he was only 2 years older then his father was when he became king.
During his minority the country was run by three factions. First his mother Mary, later Bishop Kennedy and his brother Gilbert Kennedy (they were children of Princess Mary of Scotland, a daughter of Robert III. Mary was a sister of James I). And later by Robert, Lord Boyd. His mother had died in 1463.
The Boyds were extremely unpopular. Robert married his son Thomas to James' sister Mary and had him named Earl of Arran. Their one success was arranging his marriage to Margaret of Denmark. Margaret was the daughter of Christian I and sister of John and Frederick I. Her dowry included the ending of payments of taxes on the western isles, and return of Orkney and the Shetlands. James reclaimed the islands in full and 1472 Scotland reached its greatest size ever.
James fell out with the Boyds over their marriage of Thomas to Mary. Mary and Thomas were away on diplomacy at the time, the marriage annulled later. James had the family of Alexander Boyd executed. James also took on the powerful lord of the Isles in his time, confiscating the man's lands when he refused to come to Edinburgh. He eventually reclaimed most of his lands and power through the king.
He attempted peace with England. There was a suggestion of a marriage between his son James and Cecily of York. The alliance ended when Edward IV supported his brother Albany in attempting to take his throne. They invaded with Albany, including the future Richard III, naming him Alexander IV. James was imprisoned at Edinburgh castle but the English after failing to take the city and running out of money returned back to England.
While he was imprisoned two of his half-uncles formed a new government. By September 1482 he was freed from his prison. By December his brother's government collapsed with James having bought out many members of it. In 1483 he reduced his brother's power. Albany's attempt to claim the Earl of Mar saw him drive a powerful ally to James' side in the form of the Earl of Huntley. After the death of Edward IV in April James lost his last ally and he fled into England where he ended up imprisoned. He escaped and fled to France where he would die in a duel with the Duke of Orleans.
Despite his return to power James never changed. He refused to travel his lands to dispense justice. He was separated from his wife and was estranged from his heir. He favored his second son instead. In January 1488 he tried to get support by having his second son and four lairds named members of parliament to give him more support.
His son became the figurehead of the opposition. The powerful Home and Hephburn families as well as the earls of Angus and Argyll led the charge. James was killed when he met them at the Battle of Sauchieburn.
He was buried at Cambuskenneth Abbey where his wife later would be. The graves were restored by Queen Victoria in 1865 at her expense.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James...I_and_Queen_Margaret,_Cambuskenneth_Abbey.jpg
James and his wife had three children:
-James: succeeded his father as James IV at the age of 15. He was married to Margaret Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII and had one son who reached adulthood James V making him grandfather of Mary Queen of Scots.Three sons James, Alexander and Arthur died in infancy, and two daughters were stillborn.
-James: his father's favorite, Duke of Ross. never married. was also Archbishop of St Andrews (made it at 21 by his brother).
-John: Earl of Mar. Died at 24 unmarried.