The Battle Of Sauchieburn was the last stand of a shambolic monarch as rebellion brought King James III’s rule crashing to a fatal conclusion.
James III lacked the political acumen to be king. A mind turned by constant plotting and a distrust of those around him, he lived in a prism of doubt, jealousy and ambition.
It some respects, James III was a hostage to fortune; he belonged to the dynasty of the Stewart Kings. An exploding cannon at Roxburgh saw off his father, King James II, but his end would be no accident.
Crowned at the age of nine, his mother, Mary of Gueldres, was made regent and ran the country’s affairs until he was old enough to rule. In the absence of a supreme ruler dissent would spread and a vacuum of authority would indulge the political opportunist.
James became a pawn. He was captured and forced to declare before parliament that Sir Alexander Boyd was acting in his interest. Boyd would only be serving his own dynastic ambition. He arranged for his son, Thomas, to marry the king’s sister, and though Boyd’s brazen chicanery afforded him some regal clout it was short-lived. His ascent courted enemies that would ultimately annul his swelling influence. When Boyd left for Denmark, to arrange the marriage between Princess Margaret Of Denmark and James, his rivals seized the opportunity, turning the king against Boyd.
James would learn that governing the country to his every caprice resulted in chaotic governance. Relationships with his barons became fractious, their influence on the country’s affairs diminished under a king, who would act unilaterally, pandering to his favoured courtiers.
In 1482, his brother Alexander, Duke of Albany, would rebel, taking arms in his campaign for the throne. Supported by troops sent by King Edward VI, Albany’s rebellion fell short at Edinburgh Castle. James’ barons, supposedly loyal to him, did not offer a stout resistance, yet still they found favour in the king’s court. Frustrated again by the king’s whimsical rule, the noble’s were driven to open rebellion, rallying their political and military efforts behind Prince James, the king’s fifteen-year-old son.
The unrest would come to a head at Sauchie Burn, a short distance from Bannockburn.
The battle was fought between as many as 30,000 troops of King James III of Scotland and some 18,000 troops raised by a group of dissident Scottish nobles nomimally led by the king's 15-year-old son.
James III had faced open rebellion for a few months, but chose to face the rebels close to where his ancestor Robert I of Scotland had defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn.
To this day his death would be shrouded in mystery. Some say he died falling from his horse, others that he survived the fall, and was given aid by a miller and his wife, asking to see a priest, a nobleman disguised as a priest would visit him and stab the king. A king’s death in battle, or the aftermath, would always enter folklore. As it stood, James’ death was declared accidental.
He would be succeeded by his son. The new king would wear an iron chain round his waist in penance, a mark of his guilt in his involvement in his father’s death.