James V of Scotland

James V became King of Scotland on 9 September 1513 when he was barely a year old, crowned three weeks later while regents fought over the kingdom. His mother Margaret Tudor governed until she remarried, then his cousin John Stewart, Duke of Albany took control. In 1528, at sixteen, James escaped his stepfather Archibald Douglas and began personal rule by exiling Douglas and seizing his family's lands. He tightened royal finances through estates, customs, and feudal rights, founded the College of Justice in 1532, and crushed disorder in the Borders and Hebrides. European rivalry gave him leverage to secure two French marriages - first to Madeleine of Valois, then to Mary of Guise - while fathering at least nine children by mistresses. He exploited his uncle Henry VIII's break with Rome to control church appointments and revenues, earning the title Defender of the Faith from Pope Paul III in 1537. James died on 14 December 1542 following Scotland's defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss, leaving his six-day-old daughter Mary as queen.