James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England. During his childhood, Scotland was governed by regents, firstly by his mother until she remarried, and then by his first cousin once removed, John Stewart, Duke of Albany. James's personal rule began in 1528, when he finally escaped the custody of his stepfather, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. His first action was to exile Angus and confiscate the lands of the Douglases.
James greatly increased his income by tightening control over royal estates and from the profits of justice, customs and feudal rights. He founded the College of Justice in 1532 and also acted to end lawlessness and rebellion in the Borders and the Hebrides. The rivalry among France, England and the Holy Roman Empire lent James unwonted diplomatic weight and saw him secure two politically and financially advantageous French marriages, first to Madeleine of Valois and then to Mary of Guise. James also fathered at least nine illegitimate children by a series of mistresses.
James's reign witnessed the beginnings of Protestantism in Scotland, and his uncle Henry VIII of England's break with Rome in the 1530s placed James in a powerful bargaining position with the papacy, allowing James to exploit the situation to increase his control over ecclesiastical appointments and the financial dividends from church revenues. Pope Paul III granted him the title of Defender of the Faith in 1537. James maintained diplomatic correspondence with various Irish nobles and chiefs throughout their resistance to Henry VIII in the 1530s, and in 1540, they offered him the kingship of Ireland. A patron of the arts, James spent lavishly on the construction of several royal residences in the High Gothic and Renaissance styles.
James has been described as a vindictive king, whose policies were largely motivated by the pursuit of wealth and a paranoid fear of his nobility, which led to the ruthless appropriation of their lands. He has also been characterised as the "poor man's king" due to his accessibility to the poor and his acting against their oppressors. James died in December 1542 following the Scottish defeat by the English at the Battle of Solway Moss. His only surviving legitimate child, Mary, succeeded him at the age of just six days old.
James was the third son of King James IV and his wife Margaret Tudor, the eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, and was the only legitimate child of James IV to survive infancy. He was born on 10 April 1512 at Linlithgow Palace and baptised the following day, receiving the title Duke of Rothesay. James became king at just seventeen months old when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513.
James was crowned in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on 21 September 1513. The nobility accepted Margaret Tudor as regent for her young son, in accordance with the terms of James IV's will, which also stated that Margaret was to retain this position so long as she remained a widow. The long minority of James V would last for nearly fifteen years, with Margaret's position as regent soon challenged by the French-born John, Duke of Albany, who was James V's second cousin and the nearest male heir to the throne after the king and his younger brother, Alexander, Duke of Ross, who was born in April 1514.
In August 1514, Margaret Tudor married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. This marriage was opposed by many among the nobility, who feared the advancement of the Douglases. They sought to deprive Margaret of the regency because she had remarried. The Privy Council removed Margaret from the office of regent and appointed the Duke of Albany to replace her.
Albany arrived at Dumbarton Castle with eight ships and a troop of French soldiers in May 1514. He entered Edinburgh on 26 May, and in July, Parliament confirmed his restoration as Duke of Albany and his position as regent. Albany's noble supporters intended his arrival to bring stable and good government, while Francis I of France sought to use Albany to maintain support for the Auld Alliance with France. The first year of his regency was a period when a vigorous defence of his authority was essential to prevent the crumbling of Scottish government either into anarchy or into English control.
Control of the person of the King was an essential prelude to Albany's attempt to govern, as he was aware from the beginning that his claims to act for the King and with full royal authority depended on the continued goodwill of the King himself, or rather of whoever had control of his person and could therefore claim to speak with his voice. Margaret and Angus were potentially hostile to Albany's intentions, and James V had to be removed from their influence. Albany besieged Stirling Castle and Margaret was forced to relinquish possession of the King and the Duke of Ross. James would not see his mother again for two years. Having lost the regency, her income and control of her sons, Margaret departed from the court in September 1515, fleeing from Linlithgow Palace, where she had gone for her lying in, to Tantallon Castle, where she gave birth to her daughter, Lady Margaret Douglas, in Northumberland.
The birth and long journey left her extremely ill, and she was not told of the death of her second son Alexander in December 1515 until she had recovered her strength. The Earl of Angus made his peace with Albany later in 1516.
A contemporary tribute was paid to the Duke of Albany's success in bringing order and good government to Scotland by Sebastian Giustinian, the Venetian ambassador at Henry VIII's court, who wrote that Scotland, "... was as much under Albany's control as if he were King". In February 1517, James was brought from Stirling to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, but during an outbreak of plague in the city, he was moved to the care of Antoine d'Arces at nearby rural Craigmillar Castle.
At Stirling, the ten-year-old James had a guard of 20 footmen dressed in his colours, red and yellow. When he went to the park below the Castle, "by secret and in right fair and soft wedder (weather)", six horsemen would scour the countryside two miles roundabout for intruders. Poets wrote nursery rhymes for James and advised him on royal behavior. Although his academic development was effectively cut short under Angus's captivity from 1525 onward, James V had been given a strong grounding by his tutors, including David Lyndsay and Gavin Dunbar. James was taught French and Latin, but as an adult, he spoke halting French, and his need for an interpreter to converse with an Italian bishop suggests that his spoken Latin and Italian were poor. His musical skills were good, although it was said his singing voice was harsh.
Between 1517 and 1520, Albany sojourned in France, and did not exercise the regency in person, but through his lieutenants including Antoine d'Arces, sieur de la Bastie. On 26 August 1517 Albany and Charles, Duke of Alençon, agreed to the Treaty of Rouen, which renewed the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France and promised a French royal bride for James V. At England's request, Albany was detained in France for four years, and with him absent, Queen Margaret returned to Scotland and sought in vain to regain the regency. Young James V was kept a virtual prisoner by Albany and his lieutenants, and Margaret was allowed to see her son only once between 1516 and the end of Albany's regency in 1524. Following the signing of the Treaty of Bruges (1521) between Henry VIII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Francis I allowed the Duke of Albany to return to Scotland to strengthen the Franco-Scottish alliance.
The Treaty of Rouen was ratified, and Madeleine of Valois was suggested as a suitable bride for James V. When the Duke of Albany returned in November 1521 Margaret sided with him against her husband, the Earl of Angus. Albany came to Edinburgh Castle, where James V was kept, and in a public ceremony, the keeper gave him the keys, which he passed to Margaret, who gave them back to Albany, symbolising that the government of Scotland was in his hands. Thus, Albany was able to keep an upper hand in regard to the ambitious Angus. The regent put Angus under charges of high treason in December 1521 and later sent him practically a prisoner to France. In November 1522, Albany took an army to besiege Wark Castle defended by William Lisle but gave up after three days when the weather deteriorated.