"Born at Stirling on 10 July 1451, James was nine when he inherited hisfather's throne.
His mother ruled as Regent until she died in 1463. James' long minoritywas marked by unstable relations with England and ambitious aristocraticfactions.
He began to rule for himself in 1469, soon facing great difficulties inrestoring strong central government, shortly after his marriage to thepious Princess Margaret of Denmark.
Margaret's father, King Christian I of Denmark and Norway, undertook togive her a dowry of 60,000 florins of the Rhine, but as he could notraise the full amount it was agreed that he should pay 10,000 florins andpledge his lands and rights in Orkney as security for the remainder.
Unable to assemble the rest of the money in time, he had to pledge hispossessions in Shetland as well. Most of the lands and revenues in theislands already belonged to the earldom of Orkney, and in 1471 James IIIpersuaded the Earl of Orkney to exchange his property there for lands inFife.
Christian I was never able to redeem his pledge, and so Orkney andShetland remained Scottish possessions.
The ever-present English threat was temporarily solved by a truce withEdward IV in 1463.
Condemned by contemporaries and criticised by later historians as beingweak and grasping, James III nevertheless combined a full measure of theRoyal Stewart energy and intelligence with a love of the arts, and hiscoinage was the first in Scotland or England to bear a true likeness ofthe monarch.
His preference for the company of scholars, architects and artistsinfuriated his nobles, and his own brothers, Alexander, Duke of Albanyand John, Earl of Mar regarded him with jealousy verging on hatred.
In 1479, James' brothers were arrested on suspicion of conspiring againstthe Crown. The Earl of Mar died in suspicious circumstances, whilst theDuke of Albany escaped to England.
James' estrangement from his brothers and a strong faction within theScottish nobility led to the final loss of Berwick and a coup at Lauder,Berwickshire in July 1482, when the king was removed to Edinburgh Castle,some minor members of his household were hanged (including his favouriteRobert Cochrane) and the more important ones banished.
Although James tried to settle his differences with the Duke of Albany,his brother again tried to win the kingdom (Edward IV had recognised himas Alexander IV in 1482). The Duke of Albany was exiled to France.
After his queen's death in 1486, James lived in increasing isolation inStirling Castle amidst growing rumours of his cupidity (he conferred anearldom on his favourite, John Ramsay) and his undesirable friendshipwith England.
Finally, the Scottish nobles seized his eldest son and defeated James atthe Battle of Sauchieburn, three miles south-west of Stirling, on 11 June1488. He was thrown from his horse as he fled from the field.
Carried into a nearby cottage, he called for a priest, whereupon amysterious figure forced his way in, exclaimed, 'I will shrive thee' andstabbed him to death. James was buried at Cambuskenneth Abbey nearStirling."
-- Royal Household
Copyright © 2001-2005, Tim Dowling
email: tdowling_53223@yahoo.com