< Back Kings, Poets and Writers King James III of Scotland James III of Scotland (1451 - 1488), was king of Scotland from 1460 until his death. The son of James II of Scotland, he followed his father’s political line, resuming a bitter fight against the English, but was killed in a conspiracy by a number of Scottish nobles who had sided with the English king. He married Margaret, daughter of Christian I of Denmark and Norway, and was succeeded on his death by his first-born child James IV.