Minority and Early Reign of James II of Scotland, 1437–1449

James II became king at the age of six after his father’s assassination. His mother Joan Beaufort, the Crichtons, the Livingstons and the Black Douglases competed for custody of the child and control of royal government.

The struggle included the seizure of the king, the Black Dinner of 1440 and repeated changes in the dominant faction. James’s marriage to Mary of Guelders in 1449 marked his movement towards personal rule, though conflict with the Douglases continued.

A King Imperiled and A King Empowered dramatise the dangers of minority government and the young monarch’s attempt to transform ceremonial kingship into effective authority.