James II (1430-1460) became the king of Scotland in 1437 at age 6 and ruled until his death in 1460. In the early years of his reign, several noble families took advantage of his youth to gain power for themselves. As an adult, he reestablished royal control and became an active and forceful king.
James was born at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh on Oct. 16, 1430. His older twin brother, Alexander, died in infancy, leaving James the heir to the throne. His father, James I, was murdered in February 1437 as the result of an assassination plot led by Walter Stewart, earl of Atholl. The plotters were quickly captured, and the leaders were executed. James II was crowned in March.
While James was young, the Crichton, Douglas, and Livingston families competed for power and political influence over the kingdom. In 1449, James resumed his father’s policy of reducing the power of potential rivals among the nobility. He particularly targeted the built up power of the Livingston and Douglas families. In February 1452, he invited William Douglas, the eighth earl of Douglas, to meet with him at Stirling Castle. They quarreled after dinner, and James grabbed a knife and stabbed Douglas. Then the king’s followers also attacked the earl. Douglas was killed.
Over the next several years, James continued to build centralized royal authority. Conditions in Scotland became more stable. Starting in the mid-1450’s, James took advantage of an English civil war to support raids on northern England. In 1460, he led a siege of Roxburgh Castle, in what is now southern Scotland. The English had captured the castle from Scotland in the 1340’s. James was killed during the siege on Aug. 3, 1460, when a cannon accidentally exploded.
