JAMES V. (1512-1542), king of Scotland, only legitimate son of James IV., was born at Linlithgow on April io, 1512, and suc ceeded his father in 1513. The regency was at first vested in his mother, but after Queen Margaret's second marriage, with Archi bald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus, in Aug. 1514, it was transferred by the estates to John Stewart, duke of Albany. The minority of James was disturbed by constant quarrels between a faction, gen erally favourable to England, under Angus, and the partisans of France under Albany; while the queen-mother and the nobles struggled for possession of the king's person. The English had not followed up their victory at Flodden, but Henry VIII. was watch ing affairs in Scotland with an observant eye, and other European sovereigns were not indifferent to the possibility of a Scottish alliance. In 1524, when Albany had retired to France, the parlia ment declared James fit to govern with the advice of his mother and a council. This "erection" of James as king was mainly due to the efforts of Henry VIII. In 1526 Angus obtained control of the king, and kept him in close confinement until 1528, when James, escaping from Edinburgh to Stirling, compelled him to flee to England. In 1529 and 1530 the king made a strong effort to sup press his turbulent vassals in the south of Scotland. Negotiations for peace with England were ,begun, and in May 1534 a treaty was signed. Henry VIII. wished James to marry his daughter Mary, but the Scottish king married Madeleine, daughter of King Francis I. at Paris in Jan. 1537. Madeleine died on June 7, 1537, and in 1538 James made a much more important marriage, being united to Mary (1515-6o), daughter of Claude, duke of Guise, and widow of Louis of Orleans, duke of Longueville. This connection
probably induced James to forsake his vacillating foreign policy, and to range himself definitely among the enemies of England.
In 1536 he had refused to meet Henry VIII. at York, where Henry had hoped to kidnap him, and in the following year had received the gift of a cap and sword from Pope Paul III., thus renouncing the friendship of his uncle. Although in 1540 the English king made another attempt to win the support of James for his religious pol icy, the relations between the two countries became very un friendly, and in 1542 Henry sent an army to invade Scotland. James's forces, owing to the lack of support from the nobles, were easily scattered at the rout of Solway Moss on Nov. 25, 1542. This blow preyed upon the king's mind, and on Dec. 14 he died at Falkland, having just heard of the birth of his daughter. His two sons had died in infancy, and his successor was his only legitimate child, Mary. He left several bastards, among them James Stewart, earl of Moray (the regent Moray), Lord John Stewart (1531-63) prior of Coldingham and Lord Robert Stewart, earl of Orkney (d. 1592).
James showed great vigour and independence as a sovereign, both in withstanding the machinations of his uncle, Henry VIII., and in opposing the influence of the nobles, and his habit of mingling with the peasantry secured for him a large amount of popularity. The persecutions of heretics during this reign were due mainly to the influence exercised by the ecclesiastics, especially by David Beaton, archbishop of St. Andrews.