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Following an almost decade-long minority, James III took personal control of his government in 1469. From the beginning, his rule proved controversial, thanks principally to his reliance on low-born favourites, unusually pacific policy towards England, debasement of the coinage and generally high-handed style. He also suffered from the presence of two ambitious younger brothers, Alexander, duke of Albany and John, earl of Mar, both of whom stood ever-ready to challenge the king for supremacy. James held his unstable regime together throughout the 1470s, but eventually things began to unravel.
The first real inkling of trouble came in 1479, when the king, for reasons that remain obscure, fell out with his brothers. Mar was imprisoned and later died, while Albany fled to France to escape charges of treason.…
