King James IV
King James IV- King of Scotland - Chivalrous Renaissance Prince
James IV (1473 - 1513, king from 1488) James Stuart was the son of James III and Margaret of Denmark. He owed his throne to a noble coup (which was partly animated by hatred of the English) which led to the death of his father at the battle of Sauchieburn (after which James wore around his waist 'ane belt of irone' in expiation). James removed the dominant barons and substituted wise counsel to consolidate his realm.
During the early years of his reign intellectual study was nourished, for in 1495 King's College, Aberdeen, was founded, and in 1505 a College of Surgeons was established in Edinburgh, and the College of St Leonard was set up in St Andrews and the first royal residence was built at Holyrood.
There was an improvement in relations with England, though it was Henry VII who set the pace. Henry had to endure Scottish patronage of Perkin Warbeck, but after 1498 he was determined to obtain a permanent peace with James. This he hoped to secure by the marriage of the King in 1503 to his eldest daughter Margaret Tudor (it was this marriage that led a century later to the succession of the Stuart kings to the English throne by Union of the Crowns in 1603).
Peace enabled James to complete the subjugation of the Western Isles and the monarchy had never been more powerful than it was by 1507. These assets were squandered in the next few years. In 1511 Pope Julius II formed a Holy League against the policies of expansion of Louis XII of France. James's brother-in-law, Henry VIII of England, joined the Holy League with enthusiasm, but King Louis invoked the Scoto-French 'Auld Alliance' and James naively accepted the call to draw off English troops by invading England from its northern border. It was a disastrous move. At Flodden Field, just inside England, the Earl of Surrey slaughtered James's army and the king was killed with the 'flower' of his nobility on 9 September 1513. His son succeeded as James V.
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