his only brother, had died, thus leaving James as heir apparent with the title Duke of Rothesay. On 21 February 1437, James I was assassinated, and the six-year-old James immediately succeeded him as James II. He was crowned in Holyrood Abbey by Abbot Patrick on 25 March 1437.

On 3 July 1449, the eighteen-year-old James married the fifteen-year-old Mary of Guelders,