1452–88, king of Scotland (1460–88), son and successor of James II. During his minority he was under the care of his mother, Mary of Guelders, and her adviser, James Kennedy, bishop of St. Andrews. After their deaths, James was seized (1466) by the Boyd family, who ruled Scotland until 1469. In that year James married Margaret, daughter of the Danish king, and began to rule personally. He was a cultivated prince but lacked the force needed in so turbulent a period. James quarreled with and imprisoned (1479) his brother, Alexander Stuart, duke of Albany, but Alexander escaped to France. In 1482, Albany, aided by the English, invaded Scotland. James moved to resist, but Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Angus, nominally one of his supporters, headed a group that hanged certain of James's favorites and briefly held the king prisoner. A period of peace followed, but in 1488 the nobles rebelled again, this time with the support of James's son, the future James IV. They defeated and murdered the king at Sauchieburn.

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