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The Stewart Dynasty in Scotland
James III by Norman Macdougall
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- GenresScotland
Paperback
First published December 9, 2009
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About the author
Norman Macdougall
9 books5 followersNorman Macdougall is a Scottish historian who is known for writing about Scottish crown politics. He was a senior lecturer in Scottish history at the University of St Andrews.
Macdougall has written biographies of the kings James III of Scotland and James IV of Scotland. He was also responsible for editing a biography of James V of Scotland. Other publications include a work on the Auld Alliance, and editing Scotland and War, to which he also contributed an article on James IV's Great Michael.
Macdougall has written biographies of the kings James III of Scotland and James IV of Scotland. He was also responsible for editing a biography of James V of Scotland. Other publications include a work on the Auld Alliance, and editing Scotland and War, to which he also contributed an article on James IV's Great Michael.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 8, 2022
A pretty chunky biography of a medieval Scottish monarch, who ruled from 1460-1488, although the first part of his reign was as a child. I ordered the book from my local library so didn’t realise its size. It’s 368 pages excluding the bibliography and index, but the print size is very small, so might equate to more like 500 pages with a normal size font.
James III is usually regarded as an ineffective monarch, an impression this book does little to dispel. In the week of his birth, his father James II personally stabbed to death the 8th Earl of Douglas, who was probably his most powerful subject. Eight years later, James became king when his father was killed whilst observing a siege of Roxburgh Castle, a powerful stronghold in southern Scotland that had been held by the English since the wars of the previous century. James II died when one of his own cannon exploded beside him. (The English garrison at Roxburgh surrendered only a few days later). These two incidents neatly illustrate the main issues faced by Scottish rulers. Most historians agree that medieval and early modern Scotland was a kinship-based society with a weak central government, and many Scottish monarchs struggled to assert their authority over the country’s unruly nobility. Then of course, there was the issue of how to deal with the country’s powerful and aggressive southern neighbour.
Things started well for James III, with the annexation of Orkney and Shetland in 1472. These islands had been settled by Vikings some centuries before and had fallen under the rule of the King of Denmark. During James’ minority his mother, Mary of Guelders, acting as Regent, had also recovered the border town of Berwick, which had changed hands several times during wars with England. James therefore was ruler of Scotland when the country reached its greatest extent. He also broke the power of John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, and effective ruler of a huge swathe of territory in Gaelic Scotland. Unfortunately, things then went downhill. James tried to magic up money by debasing the coinage, in this case replacing the country’s gold and silver coins with copper ones. This had the usual disastrous results, and a policy of seeking peace with England fell apart in 1480 when Edward IV declared war on Scotland. A contemporary chronicler reported:
“And thai twa things causit baitht hungar and derth and mony pure folk deit of hungar.”
Berwick was recaptured by the English in 1482, this time for good, but aside from that the invasion did little other than provoke a coup in Scotland that temporarily removed James from power, although he recovered it the following year. As the author highlights, it was necessary for Scottish kings to play the game of patronage with skill, but James had an unfortunate tendency to turn friends into enemies. He faced another rebellion in 1488 and this time was killed in battle, being succeeded by his 15-year-old son James IV, who had been the titular head of the rebellion.
My rating is a sort of compromise between the scholarly quality of this book, which I have no issue with, and my personal enjoyment of it. I feel that the author probably wrote the book anticipating it would be read by his fellow academics. To be blunt, I found it a very dry read. I would only recommend the book to someone planning to do an in-depth study of this period in Scottish history.
James III is usually regarded as an ineffective monarch, an impression this book does little to dispel. In the week of his birth, his father James II personally stabbed to death the 8th Earl of Douglas, who was probably his most powerful subject. Eight years later, James became king when his father was killed whilst observing a siege of Roxburgh Castle, a powerful stronghold in southern Scotland that had been held by the English since the wars of the previous century. James II died when one of his own cannon exploded beside him. (The English garrison at Roxburgh surrendered only a few days later). These two incidents neatly illustrate the main issues faced by Scottish rulers. Most historians agree that medieval and early modern Scotland was a kinship-based society with a weak central government, and many Scottish monarchs struggled to assert their authority over the country’s unruly nobility. Then of course, there was the issue of how to deal with the country’s powerful and aggressive southern neighbour.
Things started well for James III, with the annexation of Orkney and Shetland in 1472. These islands had been settled by Vikings some centuries before and had fallen under the rule of the King of Denmark. During James’ minority his mother, Mary of Guelders, acting as Regent, had also recovered the border town of Berwick, which had changed hands several times during wars with England. James therefore was ruler of Scotland when the country reached its greatest extent. He also broke the power of John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, and effective ruler of a huge swathe of territory in Gaelic Scotland. Unfortunately, things then went downhill. James tried to magic up money by debasing the coinage, in this case replacing the country’s gold and silver coins with copper ones. This had the usual disastrous results, and a policy of seeking peace with England fell apart in 1480 when Edward IV declared war on Scotland. A contemporary chronicler reported:
“And thai twa things causit baitht hungar and derth and mony pure folk deit of hungar.”
Berwick was recaptured by the English in 1482, this time for good, but aside from that the invasion did little other than provoke a coup in Scotland that temporarily removed James from power, although he recovered it the following year. As the author highlights, it was necessary for Scottish kings to play the game of patronage with skill, but James had an unfortunate tendency to turn friends into enemies. He faced another rebellion in 1488 and this time was killed in battle, being succeeded by his 15-year-old son James IV, who had been the titular head of the rebellion.
My rating is a sort of compromise between the scholarly quality of this book, which I have no issue with, and my personal enjoyment of it. I feel that the author probably wrote the book anticipating it would be read by his fellow academics. To be blunt, I found it a very dry read. I would only recommend the book to someone planning to do an in-depth study of this period in Scottish history.
November 8, 2014
From reading this series I've come to the conclusion that being a Royal Stewart isn't a good thing. Robert III set the precedent when he set aside his father, Robert II, who lived out his life imprisoned in a Stewartry castle. Robert III's brother, the Duke of Albany, starved his nephew, who was the heir to the Scottish throne, to death after imprisoning him. His other nephew spent 19 years in English captivity while Albany ruled Scotland in Robert III's name. James I returned to Scotland and brought down his Albany relatives but in turn was assassinated by disaffected nobles. James II broke the power of the Douglas family but not before getting himself in a sticky situation by murdering a Douglas earl. Which brings us to James III who wasn't very good at following the advice of his councilors and flaunted some his favorites in the face of the Three Estates while advancing relatives who had committed flagrant acts of treason against him. He appeared to specialize in rubbing his nobility the wrong way and the last two years of his life constantly made poor decisions that led to his ruin. A very good book that I enjoyed very much.
October 11, 2024
A good book on James, nothing against the author. I just felt James was boring king. To me the most interesting part of the book was James and his brother Alexander, Duke of Albany. Don’t want to spoil it, but the battles amongst themselves was the most exciting of the book.
There were only two maps but instead of having them in the back of the book, why didn’t the author have the maps on the page that they were discussed?
There were only two maps but instead of having them in the back of the book, why didn’t the author have the maps on the page that they were discussed?
December 12, 2022
This is a book for a very serious student of the Stewart dynasty in the last third of the 15th century, not for casual readers. I fall into the second category and I found it to be rather dreary, with every person at every event named, and the various sources cited. This is good for the student but it makes for very slow reading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews