ames II (1430-60), king of Scotland, was
only in his seventh year when he succeeded his father, James I.
Important legislative enactments mark his reign, and the
administration of justice was made more efficient by the
establishment, in 1458, of a court or committee of nine
representatives of the clergy, nobility, and burghers to deal
with judicial matters. Glasgow University was founded by him in
1451. [World Wide Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1935]
Notes on King James II
Twin to his brother Alexander. Succeeded after his
Father was assasinated at Perth. After his Father’s murder,
he was sheltered by his Mother in Edinburgh and then Stirling
Castle. In 1439, when the Queen-Dowager married Sir James Stewart
of Lorne (the Black Knight of Lorne), her co-regent Livingston of
Callander forced her to relinquish her guardianship of the young
King. The country meanwhile had been ruined by the feuds of the
nobles. James continued under the protection of Livingston and
Crichton, the Chancellor of Scotland, until he took up the reins
in 1449. James displayed great prudence and vigour. War with
England was resumed on the Borders in 1448 and ended next year by
a truce. He obtained from Parliament enactments designed to
protect the people but was thwarted by the nobles, especially by
the House of Douglas. As the Yorkists protected the exiled
Douglases, James entangled himself in the Wars of the Roses. He
marched for the Lancastrian cause with a powerful army in 1460.
While laying siege to Roxburgh Castle, he was killed by the
bursting of a piece of ordnance (cannon). Succeeded by his eldest
son. {Burke’s Peerage and Chamber’s Biographical
Dictionary} [GADD.GED]
