James III., king of Scotland from 1460 to 1488, son of James II.; was during his minority under the care of his mother and Bishop Kennedy of St. Andrews, the Earl of Angus being lieutenant-general of the kingdom; but the bishop and the earl died before he was 14, and the nobility fell into faction and disorder again; the first to gain power was Lord Boyd (whose son married the king's sister), but a charge of treason brought about his downfall and exile; the king married Princess Margaret of Denmark in 1469, and gave himself up to a life of quiet ease surrounded by men of art and culture, while his brothers Albany and Mar, by their military tastes and achievements, won the affections of the nobles; James, becoming jealous, imprisoned them; Albany, who had intrigued with Edward IV., fled to France, Mar died in Craigmillar Castle; while the king and his army were marching to meet expected English action in 1482 the nobles, instigated by Archibald, Bell-the-Cat, seized and hanged the royal favourites at Lauder, and committed the king to Edinburgh Castle; a short reconciliation was effected, but was soon broken, and civil war ensued; the defeat of the royalist forces at Sauchieburn took place in 1488; the king escaped from the field, but was thrown from his horse, and taking refuge in a house at Beaton's Mill, was there slain (1462‒1488).
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
James II. * James IV.