James IV

By Norman Macdougall

James IV is the best-known of all the late medieval Scottish rulers. Widely praised by his contemporaries, he combined the qualities of successful medieval monarch with a wide interest in the arts and sciences, while remaining acutely conscious of the need to enhance the prestige of his dynasty throughout Europe. This excellent study examines all aspects of James IV’s sovereignty, explains his popularity and his highly successful kingship and assesses reasons for the disastrous end to the reign when the king and a large population of the Scottish nobility were eliminated in a single afternoon in 1513 at Flodden.

This book represents Scottish historical research at its very best. It is meticulously researched and sensitively written.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Donald
• Release date: Nov 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781788852432

Norman Macdougall

Norman MacDougall was formerly senior Lecturer in the Department of Scottish History at the University of St Andrews.

Reviews for James IV

[lisa.schureman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The popular king of the Stewart dynasty who based his kingship on a broader geographic base than his ancestors and was seen by people all over his kingdom. Like his ancestor James II, he should have been more familiar with the new technology that caught his fancy or used the Scottish landscape as one of his weapons like Robert I, rather than allow the English to cut his army off from Scotland on a battlefield with poor footing with the unfamiliar Swiss pikes that lead to a huge disaster that left the king, a large portion of the nobility, and major members of the clergy dead to be followed by the succession of another child king. He should have also made sure that the Stewart dynasty's future didn't reside in one little young prince even if it meant delaying border warfare until he had a few more surviving children