James II was just 6 years old when he succeeded to the throne following the murder of his father. He was nicknamed ‘Fiery Face’ after a large birthmark on his face.
He was crowned at Holyrood Abbey ending the tradition since Kenneth MacAlpin of crowning at Scone. During his minority three rival families, William Crichton of Edinburgh, Alexander Livingstone of Stirling and William Douglas, fought for control. When James took over power of king he had Livingstone arrested, and is said to have personally killed William Earl of Douglas when he invited him in February 1452 for negotiations at Stirling castle.
Having taken control of the warring factions, James created new earldoms and set about organising central government and introduced central taxation. The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451.
He successfully played the Lancastrians and Yorkists in England against each other, and in 1460 besieged Roxburgh with a large army and iron cannons newly imported from Flanders. Standing too close to a cannon which exploded he was fatally struck and killed by flying metal. (Royal family history web site: http://www.britroyals.com/index.htm; accessed January 28, 2012)
Buried at Holyrod (The concise dictionary national biography. Part 1 : from the beginnings till 1900. London : Oxford University Press, 1969, pg. 679).