Blogging from A to Z Challenge: J is for James

I’m in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge for the month of April.  I need your help!  To meet this challenge, I’ll be doing one post a day, working through the alphabet.

Your job is to comment and keep me motivated!  Let me know you’re out there and following along.  Can she make it?  Will she?  Of course she will!  With you as my cheering section, I won’t be stumped by J or Q or even X.

So without further ado, here is today’s post.

J is for James.  James IV to be exact.  There were several King Jameses during Scotlands history, as well as pretenders to the throne.  The term Jacobite (from the latin for James – Jacobus) comes from those attempts to restore James II, a Stuart, and his descendants to the thrones of England, Scotland and Wales in the 1600s and 1700.  

But before that, there was a series of James, 1 through VI, who ruled Scotland, or attempted to, one right after the other in the 15th and 16th century.  James VI become James 1 of England and united the two countries under one crown, if not one state.

James IV was an educated man, interested in the arts, literature, and science.  He spoke seven languages, built up the Scottish navy, and attempted to make peace with England, forging a treaty with Henry VII and marrying his daughter, Margaret, sister to Henry VIII.  

But James was also bound by the Auld Alliance, the mutual defense treaty with France dating back to the 1200s.   When Henry VIII  invaded France, James IV invaded England and was killed in the battle at Flodden Fields, just over the Border in northern England.  Most of his nobles, lairds and their heirs died with him that day.  

The heir to the Scottish throne, James V was a toddler.  The power vacuum left in the wake of this disaster affected all parts of Scotland for years to come.  

This time period is the setting for my Highland Talents books.  The first, Highland Healer, is available at most retailers.  The second, Highland Seer, is due out later this year.

Interested in finding the other nearly 2000 blogs participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge?  Click on the title, then scroll down to find the sign-up list.