Editing James V (section)

== Minority rule ==
=== Albany's regency ===
[[File:John d'Albany.jpg|left|thumb|[[John Stewart, Duke of Albany]], regent of James V from 1515 to 1524]]

Albany arrived at [[Dumbarton Castle]] with eight ships and a troop of French soldiers in May 1514.<ref>Emond, Ken, ''James V'' (John Donald, 2019), p. 54.</ref> He entered [[Edinburgh]] on 26 May, and in July [[Parliament of Scotland|Parliament]] confirmed his restoration as Duke of Albany and his position as regent. Albany's noble supporters intended his arrival to bring stable and good government, while [[Francis I of France]] sought to use Albany to maintain support for the [[Auld Alliance]] with France.<ref name="Emond60">Emond, Ken, ''James V'' (John Donald, 2019), p. 60.</ref> The first year of his regency was a period when a vigorous defence of his authority was essential to prevent the crumbling of Scottish government either into anarchy or into English control.<ref name=Emond60/>

The struggle for control of the person of the King was an essential prelude to Albany's attempt to govern, as he was aware from the beginning that his claims to act for the King and with full royal authority depended on the continued goodwill of the King himself, or rather of whoever had control of his person and could therefore claim to speak with his voice. Margaret and Angus were potentially hostile to Albany's intentions, and James V had to be removed from their influence.<ref>Emond, Ken, ''James V'' (John Donald, 2019), p. 79.</ref> Albany besieged Stirling Castle and Margaret was forced to relinquish possession of the King and the Duke of Ross.<ref name=Emond60/> James would not see his mother again for two years.<ref name="Ross194">Ross, Stewart, ''The Stewart Dynasty'' (Thomas and Lochar, 1993), p. 194.</ref> Having lost the regency, her income and control of her sons, Margaret departed from the court in September 1515, fleeing from [[Linlithgow Palace]], where she had gone for her lying in, to [[Tantallon Castle]], where she gave birth to her daughter, [[Lady Margaret Douglas]], in [[Northumberland]].<ref>Emond, Ken, ''James V'' (John Donald, 2019), pp. 91–92.</ref>

The birth and long journey left her extremely ill and she was not told of the death of her second son Alexander in December 1515 until she had recovered her strength. The Earl of Angus made his peace with Albany later in 1516.<ref>Emond, Ken, ''James V'' (John Donald, 2019), p. 61.</ref>

A contemporary tribute, paid to the Duke of Albany's success in bringing order and good government to Scotland, by [[Sebastian Giustinian]], the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] Ambassador at Henry VIII's Court, was that Scotland, "...was as much under Albany's control as if he were King...".<ref>Emond, Ken, ''James V'' (John Donald, 2019), p. 143.</ref> In February 1517, James was brought from Stirling to the [[Palace of Holyroodhouse]] in [[Edinburgh]], but during an outbreak of plague in the city, he was moved to the care of [[Antoine d'Arces]] at nearby rural [[Craigmillar Castle]].<ref>''Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland'', vol. 5, p. 130.</ref>

At Stirling, the ten-year-old James had a guard of 20 footmen dressed in his colours, red and yellow. When he went to the park below the Castle, "by secret and in right fair and soft wedder (weather)", six horsemen would scour the countryside two miles roundabout for intruders.<ref>''HMC Earl of Mar & Kellie at Alloa House'' (London, 1904), pp. 11–12.</ref> Poets wrote their own nursery rhymes for James and advised him on royal behavior. Although his academic development was effectively cut short under Angus's captivity from 1525 onward, James V had been given a strong grounding by a number of tutors, including [[David Lyndsay]] and [[Gavin Dunbar (archbishop of Glasgow)|Gavin Dunbar]].<ref name="Ross197">Ross, Stewart, ''The Stewart Dynasty'' (Thomas and Lochar, 1993), p. 197.</ref> James had been taught French and Latin, but as an adult, he spoke halting French, and his need for an interpreter to converse with an Italian bishop suggests that his spoken Latin and Italian were poor.<ref name=Ross197/><ref name="Cameron556">Cameron, Jamie, ''James V'' (Tuckwell, 1998), p. 556.</ref>

[[File:6th Earl of Angus.jpg|right|thumb|[[Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus]], James V's step-father]]

Between 1517 and 1520, Albany sojourned in France, and did not exercise the regency in person, but through his lieutenants including [[Antoine d'Arces]], sieur de la Bastie. On 26 August 1517 Albany and [[Charles IV, Duke of Alençon|Charles, Duke of Alençon]] agreed the [[Treaty of Rouen (1517)|Treaty of Rouen]], which renewed the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France and promised a French royal bride for James V. At England's request, Albany was detained in France for four years, and with him absent, Queen Margaret returned to Scotland and sought in vain to regain the regency.<ref name=Ross194/> Young James V was kept a virtual prisoner by Albany and his lieutenants, and Margaret was allowed to see her son only once between 1516 and the end of Albany's regency in 1524. Following the signing of the [[Treaty of Bruges (1521)]] between [[Henry VIII of England]] and [[Holy Roman Emperor Charles V]], Francis I allowed the Duke of Albany to return to Scotland to strengthen the Franco-Scottish alliance.<ref name="Ross195">Ross, Stewart, ''The Stewart Dynasty'' (Thomas and Lochar, 1993), p. 195.</ref>

The Treaty of Rouen was ratified, and [[Madeleine of Valois]] was suggested as a suitable bride for James V. When the Duke of Albany returned in November 1521 Margaret sided with him against her husband, the Earl of Angus. Albany came to [[Edinburgh Castle]], where James V was kept, and in a public ceremony, the keeper gave him the keys, which he passed to Margaret, who gave them back to Albany, symbolising that the government of Scotland was in his hands.<ref>Ken Emond, ''The Minority of James V'' (Edinburgh, 2019), p. 140.</ref> Thus, Albany was able to keep an upper hand in regard to the ambitious Angus. The regent put Angus under charges of high treason in December 1521 and later sent him practically a prisoner to France. In November 1522, Albany took an army to besiege [[Wark on Tweed Castle|Wark Castle]] defended by William Lisle, but gave up after three days when the weather deteriorated.<ref>Ken Emond, ''The Minority of James V'' (Edinburgh, 2019), p. 175.</ref>

=== Margaret's coup ===
In 1524, Albany was finally removed from power in a ''[[coup d'état]]'' while he was in France. Margaret, with the help of [[James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran]] and his followers, brought James V from Stirling to Edinburgh.<ref name=Ross195/> In August, Parliament declared the regency at an end, and the 12-year-old King James was prematurely "erected" to full kingly powers. In November, Parliament formally recognised Margaret as the chief councillor to the King.<ref name=Ross195/> Margaret's alliance with the Hamiltons inevitably alienated other noble houses. Henry VIII allowed the Earl of Angus (who Albany had banished) to return to Scotland in 1524, and he entered into an alliance with [[John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox]], an enemy of Margaret and Arran.<ref name=Ross195/> When Angus arrived in Edinburgh with a large group of armed men, claiming his right to attend Parliament, Margaret ordered cannons to be fired on them from Edinburgh Castle.<ref name=Ross195/> Parliament subsequently made Angus a ''[[Lord of the Articles]]'' and a member of the ''[[council of regency]]''.

=== Angus captivity ===
A plan was agreed to end the feuding among these opposing groups by allowing each of them in turn to act as host to the young king. However, the plan fell apart in November 1525 when, at the end of his period of custody, Angus refused to surrender the King who, in effect, became a prisoner of the Red Douglases for the next two-and-a-half years.<ref name=Ross195/> Angus again "erected" James V to full kingly powers, took him on justice ayres and kept him under close supervision. He spoiled the King with various lavish gifts in an attempt to buy his favour and make the detention more tolerable, and when James showed signs of tiring of these gifts, Angus also introduced the adolescent king to the pleasures of the flesh with a succession of [[prostitute]]s.<ref name="Ross196">Ross, Stewart, ''The Stewart Dynasty'' (Thomas and Lochar, 1993), p. 196.</ref>

Angus overreached himself, assuming the office of [[Lord Chancellor of Scotland|Lord Chancellor]], and granting his followers almost every lucrative post available in the royal household.<ref name=Ross196/> While James V clearly enjoyed some aspects of his captivity, he grew to hate his captor. Several attempts were made to free the young king—one by [[Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch]], who ambushed the King's forces on 25 July 1526 at the [[Battle of Melrose]] and was routed off the field. Another attempt later that year, on 4 September at the [[Battle of Linlithgow Bridge]], failed again to relieve the King from the clutches of Angus.<ref name=Ross196/> In May 1528 James finally escaped from Angus's captivity when he fled from Edinburgh to Stirling in disguise. After meeting with his mother at Stirling, James V re-entered Edinburgh in July with a large army. Summoned for [[treason]], Angus holed himself up in Tantallon Castle until an agreement was reached whereby he was allowed to go into exile in England after surrendering his castles.<ref name=Ross196/>