The son of Margaret Tudor and James IV, James V was born on April 12, 1512. When his father was cut down at the grisly battle of Flodden in September 1513, 17-month-old James became king. A power battle ensued between Margaret Tudor, sister to King Henry VIII and the powerful Douglas clan over who should reign as regent. Caught in the middle was a little boy, vulnerable and scared. Queen Margaret remarried and was run out of Scotland. James was held captive by the Angus clan until the age of 16 when he made a daring escape.
Marriages
Once he had established himself as king, James began hunting for a wife. He looked toward France and the Auld Alliance. Even though his uncle was pushing his cousin, Princess Mary Tudor, as a possible match, James decided to make a trip to France, to meet a prospective bride, Marie de Bourbon. In September 1536, James left for France, where King François I warmly welcomed him.
James decided against marrying Marie de Bourbon, whom he declared to be a “Misshapen hunchback.” Instead, he set his sights on the daughter of François I, Princess Madeleine. There is a story that François actually encouraged the Scots king's suit for his daughters hand, by allowing James to spy on Madeleine while she bathed. Other’s claim that François was distraught at the thought of sending his delicate daughter off to the wilds of Scotland. James probably needed little pushing for a match with Madeleine. She was a princess, with a large dowry, and that was really all any monarch needed in a wife. The fact she was attractive was an added bonus. The couple married on January 1, 1537.
James and Madeleine returned to Scotland in May 1537 and Madeleine, never physically strong, was dead by early July. James wasted no time in searching for another wife. He was married by proxy to the widowed Marie de Guise in May, 1538.
James planned to meet with his uncle, Henry VIII, during Henry’s summer progress north, at the town of York, in England. At the last moment the Scottish council decided against letting the king go, for fear he would be captured by Henry. The English king was none too happy about his nephew’s apparent snub.
In the autumn of 1542, Henry VIII began clamoring once more about his lordship over Scotland. On November 24, 1542, the English and the Scottish met at Solway Moss. After a lukewarm battle, the Scots retreated and the English cheered yet another victory. James, who had not been present at the defeat, remained at Falkland Palace, ill. The news of the defeat was followed a few days later by the birth of a baby daughter. The last was too much for the emotionally volatile king. He had failed to bring stability to Scotland, and now he was tired. He rolled over on his side, sighed the infamous words “It came wi’ a lass and it shall go wi’ a lass” and died. (This last part was probably added for romantic drama by later historians.) James was thought to have died from cholera or dysentery. He was buried at Holyrood Abbey, leaving his six-day-old daughter Mary, Queen of the Scots.
Sources
Cameron, Jamie. James V: The Personal Rule 1528-1542. East Lothian: Tuckwell Press, 1998.
Oram, Richard. Kings and Queens of Scotland. Gloucestershire:Tempus Publishing, 2006.
