Editing James III of Scotland (section)

=== The Queen Regent ===
During the early years of James III's reign, the government was led by the [[queen mother]], Mary of Guelders, as [[regent]], while James was educated by Archibald Whitelaw, the [[Secretary of State (Kingdom of Scotland)|Secretary of State]] and a [[Classics|classical]] scholar who had taught at [[University of St Andrews|St Andrews]] and [[University of Cologne|Cologne]].<ref name="auto11"/> In March 1461 the first parliament of the reign appointed a council of regency consisting of the [[James Kennedy (bishop)|Bishop of St Andrews]], the [[Andrew de Durisdeer|Bishop of Glasgow]], and the [[earl]]s of [[George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus|Angus]], [[Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly|Huntly]], [[Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll|Argyll]], and [[William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness|Orkney]].<ref>Tanner, Roland, ''The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament: Politics and the Three Estates, 1424–1488'' (John Donald, 2001), p. 208.</ref>

Mary of Guelders emerged as an astute and capable ruler, pursuing a pragmatic foreign policy during the [[Wars of the Roses]] taking place in [[Kingdom of England|England]]. Following the defeat of the [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrians]] by the [[Yorkists]] at the [[Battle of Towton]] in March 1461, [[Henry VI of England]], [[Margaret of Anjou]], and [[Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales|Edward, Prince of Wales]] fled north across the border seeking refuge. They were received by Mary of Guelders and lodged at [[Linlithgow Palace]] and the Dominican friary in [[Edinburgh]].<ref>Macdougall, Norman, ''James III'' (John Donald, 2009), p. 24.</ref>

The Lancastrians expected Mary to provide them with Scottish troops to help Henry VI recover the throne, but she had no intention of becoming involved in a war on their behalf. Mary sought to gain as much as she could from the Lancastrian fugitives while opening negotiations with the victorious Yorkists to explore the possibility of a truce.<ref>Macdougall, Norman, ''James III'' (John Donald, 2009), p. 26.</ref> In return for a year's refuge in Scotland and loans that Mary of Guelders granted them, the Lancastrians surrendered [[Berwick-upon-Tweed|Berwick]] to the Scots in April 1461.

This period also saw disputes between Mary and [[James Kennedy (bishop)|James Kennedy]], [[Bishop of St Andrews]] over who had control over the person of James III, and over foreign policy, with the bishop favouring an alliance with the Lancastrians, while Mary initially wanted to continue playing off the warring parties in England against each other, before eventually supporting the Yorkists.<ref>Macdougall, Norman, ''James III'' (John Donald, 2009), p. 30.</ref>

Although the sources for the period are vague, it is believed that Kennedy and his supporters mounted a coup in the autumn of 1462 by taking possession of the 10-year-old James III following an armed confrontation with Mary's supporters in [[Edinburgh]].<ref>Macdougall, Norman, ''James III'' (John Donald, 2009), p. 34.</ref> Mary of Guelders died in December 1463, leaving Bishop Kennedy in undisputed control of government.