Synopses & Reviews
Detailed and up-to-date, this study analyzes Scotlands James III from both private and public perspectives and seeks to explain why this monarch was challenged by a huge rebellion in 1482, which he narrowly survived, and why he succumbed to a further rising in 1488, which placed his eldest son on the throne as James IV. James IIIs various characterizationssuch as peace-loving, suspicious, treacherous, pious, lecherous, and lazyare scrutinized, as is his role as a major patron of the arts. The architect of an intelligent and forward-looking foreign policy, James III was much criticized for his failures, including debasement of the coinage, royal money hoarding, favoring others above the noble counselors, and his inability to staunch feuds and enforce criminal justice. This chronicle explores all of these topics and probes into the life of one of the most enigmatic Stewart kings.
Review
"[Macdougall has] scrupulous objectivity and mastery of high political narrative." —Scottish Review of Books
Synopsis
James III is the most enigmatic of the Stewart kings of Scotland. Variously characterised as artistic, peace-loving, morbidly suspicious, treacherous, pious, lecherous and lazy, King James was much criticised by contemporaries and later chroniclers for his failure to do his job in the manner expected of him, and particularly for his reliance on low-born favourites to the exclusion of his 'natural' counsellors, the nobility. Specific complaints included debasement of the coinage, royal hoarding of money, failure to staunch feuds and to enforce criminal justice.
Yet James III has also been seen as a major patron of the arts, as Scotland's first Renaissance king, and as the architect of an intelligent and forward-looking foreign policy. In this new study, the author explores all these areas and seeks to explain why King James was challenged by a huge rebellion in 1482, which he narrowly survived, and why he succumbed to a further rising in 1488, which placed his eldest son on the throne as James IV.
About the Author
Norman Macdougall is a senior lecturer in Scottish history at the University of St. Andrews and the author of An Antidote to the English: The Auld Alliance and James IV.