(1473-1513)

King James (Stewart) IV of Scotland

James Stewart was born on March 17, 1473, to King James III of Scotland and his wife Margaret Oldenberg, daughter of King Christian I of Denmark. His reign was an unusual one in that it both started and ended with serious trouble. But the years in the middle of his tenancy as King were a time of glory for Scotland, and for a while the country was equal in status to the other powers of Europe. King James IV was also a man of the arts, as he patronized literature, licensed Scotland's first printers, and improved education.

As a young man, James Stewart was quite well educated. This is proven by the fact that during his reign as King he was fluent in eight languages. His mother died when the boy was but thirteen, while his father's influence on the young boy was suspect to say the least. Soon after his mother's death, when the boy was but fifteen, a powerful group in opposition to the King James III, (James III was apparently homosexual) seized the young Prince and used him as a figurehead. This group, headed by the Earl of Angus, intended to dethrone the current King James III and put in his place his teenaged son.

On June 11th, 1488, the army of King James III and that of the rebels met in battle at Sauchieburn, near Stirling. The King was defeated and escaped the battle to die at the hand of an assassin very soon afterwards. Fifteen year old James Stewart was now King James IV of Scotland.

Even though the young king had no part in his father's de-throning or killing, he felt guilty of the crime. In a personally assigned penance, he wore an iron chain around his waist for the rest of his life. The circumstances and his education brought James Stewart to maturity at a very young age.

James IV rapidly became a strong and able ruler of Scotland. His intelligence and vision were readily apparent. He was an excellent horseman and excelled in the martial sports. He also had a fondness for women, proven by his wife and his four mistresses.

James quickly extended his power to the west and north in Scotland. By 1493, he had subdued the Lord of the Isles and all of Scotland followed one master. In 1494, King James helped to establish Aberdeen University. Two years later he was responsible for the first compulsory education act which required that the sons of Barons and freeholders learn Latin and go to college and study art and law.

Despite James' considerable accomplishments, the constant troubles with England continued throughout his reign. In 1495, James invaded England in support of Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the English throne. The fighting was limited and in 1497 there was a negotiated peace.

James was offered the hand of the daughter of Henry VIII in the very late 1400's but had his own ideas of whom he should marry. He planned to marry Margaret Drummond, one of his mistresses and the mother of one of his illegitimate children, but an unknown culprit poisoned her in 1500. Finally, in 1503, James accepted the offer of the English King and married Margaret Tudor when the princess was only thirteen. During their ten years of marriage she bore him six children, one of whom became James V.

In 1505, James IV helped found the College of Surgeons in Edinburgh. By 1507, he had Scotland's first printing press imported. He expanded many of the buildings of the Kingdom including those at Falkland and Stirling. He started the construction of Holyroodhouse at about the same time. The military was not neglected, as James added to the size of the royal artillery and built the largest warship of its time, the Great Michael.

James vision of a united Europe was a primary objective of his reign. In the hope of stopping all the petty squabbling among the nations and securing peace, James constantly trumpeted the threat of the Turks, which were slowly but surely building their empire. This would have been a great feat of diplomacy if he had pulled it off, but in the end Pope Julius II undermined his effort. The Pope ignited a war by first allying with France to break the power of Venice and then by starting a new alliance to remove the French from Italy. All the major powers joined the Pope and Europe was at war.

James IV was now in a spot. England had joined the alliance with the Pope against France. But James had an agreement with the French and was their ally. In an attempt to stop the English from their war with France, James sent Henry VIII an ultimatum in 1513. In response Henry replied that he owned Scotland and would deal with it after France. James IV was given no choice but to attack England in support of his French allies.

The two sides met in battle at Flodden, with a disastrous result for the Scots. The King, James IV, was killed while fighting along with many of the nobles of Scotland. King James V was now King of Scotland.

King James IV ruled Scotland for 25 years. In that time he did more to educate the people and improve the welfare of the Scots than any King before him. He even managed to raise Scotland to the status of an equal power among the royal houses of Europe for a short time, until events beyond his control led to his death on the field of battle.

BW, March 2000