James IV of Scotland, 1488-1513

Following the murder of his father James came to the throne of Scotland at the age of fifteen. He had been with the rebellious lords who had defeated his father at the Battle of Sauchieburn and came to the throne not as naive as many of his contemporaries.

Wars with England was becoming something of a habit and James IV can claim to have been involved in two of them. The first was in support of the impostor Perkin Warbeck. Warbeck claimed to be a survivor of the murders of the princes in the tower and therefore the rightful claimant to the English throne. This was false but James was not to know this. He attacked England and was only stopped by Henry VII offering his daughter in marriage to James. James accepted.

Once more the tide of decision turned and James once again attacked England. This invasion was doomed and at Flodden field in September 1513 the power base of Scotland was virtually wiped out.

James' marriage to Margaret Tudor brought six babies into the world, of which only two survived to a fruitful age; James and Alexander.