[3] Not much is known about James's early life, but it is known that he received a good education from Archibald Whitelaw, the humanist scholar and secretary of state, and the theologian John Ireland, under the direction of his mother.

This policy would see further prospective English brides proposed for his son: Anne de la Pole (niece of Richard III of England) in 1484 and an unspecified daughter of Edward IV in 1487.

[7] James III was an unpopular king: he faced two major rebellions during his reign, and alienated members of his close family, especially his younger brother, Alexander, Duke of Albany.

[5] Following the death of Margaret of Denmark in July 1486, Prince James may have viewed the king's deliberate promotion of his second son — the 1486 and 1487 proposals to marry him to one of the younger daughters of Edward IV of England, and the conferring on him of the dukedom of Ross in January 1488 — with apprehension.

The Archbishop of St Andrews, William Scheves, a favourite of James III, did not officiate during the coronation ceremony, with the new king being instead crowned by Robert Blackadder, Bishop of Glasgow.

[22] As Ferdinand and Isabella were negotiating an alliance with Henry VII, James knew that Spain would help him in his struggles with England in order to prevent the situation escalating into war with France.

[25] When news of this invasion reached Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, on 21 October 1496, he wrote to his ambassador in Spain, to request the Spanish monarchs make peace between England and Scotland.

Shipping and trade were to be conducted according to the 1464 Treaty of York, and Border wardens on either side were given new powers to execute cross-border murderers after 20 days detention and punish thieves caught red-handed, and neither king should harbour the other's rebels.

[44] John was a weak leader whose authority had been damaged in 1476 when he had forfeited the earldom of Ross and his lands in Knapdale and Kintyre to James III due to the treasonous Treaty of Westminster he had agreed with Edward IV of England.

[50] At first, Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll, was set to fill the power vacuum and enforce royal authority, but he met with limited success in a struggle with his brother-in-law, Torquil MacLeod of Lewis.

[51] After the parliament of 1504, a royal fleet sailed north from Ayr to attack the Castle of Cairn-na-Burgh, west of Mull, where it is thought that Maclean of Duart had Domhnall Dubh in his keeping.

Between 1488 and 1497, Parliament voted taxation almost annually to support diplomacy and war, including embassies to the continent, the king's naval expeditions to the western Highlands, and the 1496–97 conflicts with England.

[64] Although Bishop Elphinstone protested against this scandalous appointment, it was a shrewd move by the king as it removed any potential dynastic threat which his legitimate younger brother might pose in the future.

[65] Following the death of the Duke of Ross in 1504, James IV appointed his eleven-year-old illegitimate son, Alexander, as archbishop, thereby ensuring that the Crown would continue to receive the revenues of St Andrews.

[66] By the end of the reign the Treasurer's annual receipts had increased — due to feudal payments made to the Crown by the holders of land, and judicial fines for criminal offences — from around £4,500 in 1496–1497 to a huge £28,000 by 1512.

[67] James IV took a close interest in the development of the Royal Scots Navy, viewing a strong fleet as a means of protecting Scottish shipping, gaining international prestige, and providing him with an outlet to pursue foreign policies in alliance with either England or France.

[94] He also took an interest in other sciences which are now less creditable, establishing an alchemy workshop at Stirling Castle, where alchemist John Damian looked for ways to turn base metals into gold.

[99] James IV's court and royal household were cosmopolitan, containing assorted foreign peoples including French, Italian and German minstrels, Flemish metalworkers, and Spanish dancers.

[104][105][106] The women were visible in court life and Helen More became the presumed subject of the poem "Of Ane Blak-Moir" by William Dunbar describing an African woman offered as a prize in jousting tournaments.

[113] The status of the Africans in James IV's court is contested, with some historians taking the view that the two women Elen and Margaret More were "enjoying in the royal service a benevolent form of ... black slavery".

Blackadder's death on 28 July 1508, presumably from an infectious illness, on board a ship from Venice to Jaffa appears to have convinced James IV of the inadvisability of sailing to Jerusalem.

In November 1511, England also joined the League, with Henry VIII deciding to use the occasion as an excuse to conclude the Treaty of Westminster — a pledge of mutual aid against the French — with Ferdinand II.

[129] James gave formal agreement to the renewal of the alliance in July 1512, but this was a gesture rather than a commitment of active support against England, and it was still possible that Scotland would remain neutral in any Anglo-French war.

[131] James IV summoned the Scottish army, and sent a naval fleet of twenty-two vessels, including the Great Michael, to join the ships of Louis XII of France.

[133] Led by James IV, the Scottish army, numbering some 42,000 men, and including a large artillery train, crossed the River Tweed into England near Coldstream around 22 August.

The Scottish infantry had been equipped with 18-foot-long (5.5 m) pikes by their French allies; a new weapon which had proved devastating in continental Europe, but required training, discipline and suitable terrain to use effectively.

[147] The Battle of Flodden was one of Scotland's worst military defeats: the loss of not only a popular and capable king but also a large portion of the political community, was a major blow to the realm.

[148][149] James's lower jaw had been pierced by an arrow, an injury which would have disabled him sufficiently for the attacking English soldiers to move in and slash him with their bills, almost severing his left hand and slicing his throat open.

Although Henry VIII obtained a dispensation from Pope Leo X on 29 November 1513 to have the Scottish king buried in St Paul's Cathedral in London, James IV remained unburied.

[152] James IV's coffin was rediscovered during the reign of Elizabeth I of England when it was opened and his body became a plaything, John Stow writing that "Workmen there for their foolish pleasure hewed off his head.