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A belt of 0.50 caliber ammunition loaded to a M2 Browning. Every fifth round with a red tip is a M20 (armour piercing incendiary tracer).

Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war (from the Latin munire, to provide), but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions. In the widest sense of the word it covers anything that can be used in combat that includes bombs, missiles, warheads, and mines (landmines, naval mines, and anti-personnel mines)—that munitions factories manufacture. The purpose of ammunition is predominantly to project force against a selected target. However, the nature of ammunition use also includes delivery or combat supporting munitions such as pyrotechnic or incendiary compounds. Since the design of the cartridge, the meaning has been transferred to the assembly of a projectile and its propellant in a single package.

The subject of ammunition is a complex one which covers application of fire to targets, general use of weapons by personnel, explosives and propellants, cartridge systems, high explosive projectiles (HE), warheads, shaped charge forms of attack on armour and aircraft, carrier projectiles, fuzes, mortar ammunition, small arms ammunition, grenades, mines, pyrotechnics, improved conventional munitions, and terminally guided munition.

Glossary[link]

Box of ammunition from first half of the 20th century. From the Museo del Objeto del Objeto collection

• A cartridge, is a single unit of ammunition. For a modern small arms cartridge this is the combination of bullet, propellant, primer and cartridge case in a single unit.
• A "round" is a term synonymous with a fully loaded cartridge containing a projectile, propellant, primer and casing.
• Large caliber cannon often fire explosive-filled projectiles known as shells, non-explosive projectiles may be used for practice (see artillery).
• Large numbers of small projectiles intended to be fired all at once in a single discharge are also called shot; hand-held guns designed for this type of ammunition are generally known as shotguns.
• Duds are fully loaded ordnance that fail to function as intended. A cartridge that fails to fire in the weapon is known as a misfire. A partially functioning round is named a hang fire. Dud ammunition, unexploded ordnance (UXO), is regarded as highly dangerous, and most safety officials inform civilians to report finding of any large-bore duds to the local police or military.
• Dum-dum rounds were early attempts to cause contact-initiated expansion. Many were leadnose bullets with "X" marks cut across the nose.

Historical (c. World War I)[link]

These general conditions apply to the storage of ammunition in fortresses. Here the positions for the magazine and ammunition stores are so chosen as to afford the best means of protection from an enemy's fire. Huge earth parapets cover these buildings, which are further strengthened, where possible, by traverses protecting the entrances. For the purpose of filling, emptying, and examining cannon cartridges and shell, a laboratory is generally provided at some distance from the magazine. The various stores for explosives are classified into those under magazine conditions (such as magazines, laboratories, and cartridge stores) and those with which these restrictions need not be observed (such as ammunition and shell stores). The interior walls of a magazine are lined, and the floors laid so that there may be no exposed iron or steel. At the entrance, there is a lobby or barrier, inside which persons about to enter the magazine change their clothes for a special suit, and their boots for a pair made without nails. In an ammunition or shell store these precautions need not be taken except where the shell store and the adjacent cartridge store have a common entrance; persons entering may do so in their ordinary clothes. A large work may have a main magazine and several subsidiary magazines, from which the stock of cartridges is renewed in the cartridge stores attached to each group of guns or in the expense cartridge stores and cartridge recesses. The same applies to main ammunition stores which supply the shell stores, expense stores, and recesses.

Cannon balls from the American Civil War

The supply of ammunition are either for guns forming the movable armament or for guns placed in permanent positions. The movable armament will consist of guns and howitzers of small and medium caliber, and it is necessary to arrange suitable expense cartridge stores and shell stores close to the available positions. They can generally be constructed to form part of the permanent work in the projected face of traverses or other strong formations, and should be arranged for a twenty-four hour supply of ammunition. These stores are refilled from the main magazine every night under cover of darkness. Light railways join the various positions. The guns mounted in permanent emplacements are divided into groups of two or three guns each, and usually each group will require but one calibre of ammunition. A cartridge store, shell store and a general store, all well ventilated, are arranged for the especial service of such a group of guns. In the cartridge store the cylinders containing the cartridges are so placed and labeled that the required charge, whether reduced or full, can be immediately selected.

In the shell store, the common shell are separated from the armour-piercing or shrapnel. Each nature of projectile is painted in a distinctive manner to render identification easy. The fuzes and tubes are placed in the general store with the tools and accessories belonging to the guns. The gun group is distinguished by some letter and the guns of the group by numerals; thus A/1 is number one gun of group A. The magazine and shell stores are also indicated by the group letter, and so that mistakes, even by those unaccustomed to the fort, may be avoided, the passages are pointed out by finger posts and direction boards. For the immediate service of each gun, a few cartridges and projectiles are stored in small receptacles (called cartridge and shell recesses respectively) built in the parapet as near the gun position as practicable. In some cases, a limited number of projectiles may be placed close underneath the parapet if this is conveniently situated near the breech of the gun and not exposed to hostile fire.

In order to supply the ammunition sufficiently rapidly for the efficient service of modern guns, hydraulic, electric, or hand-power, hoists are employed to raise the cartridges and shell from the cartridge store and shell store to the gun floor, whence they are transferred to a derrick or loading tray attached to the mounting for loading the gun.

Projectiles for BL guns above 6 inch (152 mm) calibre are stored in shell stores ready filled and fuzed standing on their bases, except shrapnel and high-explosive shell, which are fuzed only when about to be used. Smaller sizes of shells are laid on their sides in layers, each layer pointing in the opposite direction to the one below to prevent injury to the driving bands. Cartridges are stored in brass corrugated cases or in zinc cylinders. The corrugated cases are stacked in layers in the magazine with the mouth of the case towards a passage between the stacks, so that it can be opened and the cartridges removed and transferred to a leather case when required for transport to the gun. Cylinders are stacked, when possible, vertically one above the other. The charges are sent to the gun in these cylinders, and provision is made for the rapid removal of the empty cylinders.

The number and nature of rounds allotted to any fortress depends on questions of policy and location, the degrees of resistance the nature of the works and personnel could reasonably be expected to give, and finally on the nature of the armament. That is to say, for guns of large calibre three hundred to four hundred rounds per gun might be sufficient, while for light QF guns it might amount to one thousand or more rounds per gun.

Modern era[link]

This section requires expansion.

Modern ammunition includes not only shells for tube artillery and mortars, but increasingly aircraft-delivered bombs, smart bombs, rockets and other explosive-bearing projectiles. The destructive power and lethality of these systems may be difficult to appreciate; but forces in the fight see the accuracy as just another survival tool against the enemy. A single cluster bomb, deliverable by any of the above systems, can sow softball-sized bomblets across a 100-yard (90-m) American football–sized field in sufficient density to kill any personnel, even penetrating sandbagged trenches and body armour.

Operation Desert Storm saw widespread usage of cluster bombs—the Iraqi forces called them "steel rain". There is little doubt that their usage is also seen as a psychological tool. The aforementioned bomblets are armed upon dispersal by the spinning action which is hastened by a design resembling a "softball with small wings".

Design of the ammunition[link]

The design of the ammunition is determined by its purpose; anti-personnel ammunition is often designed to break up or tumble inside the target, in order to maximize the damage done. Anti-personnel shells contain shrapnel and are designed to explode in mid-air, so its fragments will spread over a large area. Armor-piercing ammunition tends to be hard, sharp, and narrow, often with lubrication. Incendiary projectiles include a material such as white phosphorus which burns fiercely. Tracer ammunition emits light as it travels, allowing the gunner to see the path of bullets in flight while using a machine gun.

Popular types of military rifle and machine gun ammunition include the 5.45 mm, 5.56 mm, and 7.62 mm. Main battle tanks use KE-penetrators to combat other MBTs and armoured fighting vehicles, and HE-Frag (High Explosive-Fragmentation) for soft targets such as infantry.

Components of ammunition[link]

Preparing 105mm M119 howitzer ammunition: powder propellant, cartridge and shell with fuze.

The components of ammunition intended for rifles and munitions may be divided into these categories:

• explosive materials and propellants
• projectiles of all kinds
• cartridges

Fuzes[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fuzes

The term "fuze" is used, by English speakers, to denote detonators for explosives, differentiating it from "fuses", which are either circuit breakers or a means of transmitting fire (e.g. the fuse on a firecracker).

Common artillery fuzes include point detonating, delay, time, and proximity. Point detonating fuzes detonate upon contact with the target. Delay fuzes are designed to penetrate a target before detonating. Time fuzes, as the name implies, detonate a certain time after being fired in order to achieve a burst at a specific time after being fired. Proximity fuzes contain a radio transceiver activated after firing to detonate the projectile when the signal reflected from the ground reaches a certain strength, e.g. 7 meters above the ground. Fuzes are usually armed by the acceleration of the projectile imparted by firing, and usually arm several meters after clearing the bore of the weapon.

Storage of ammunition[link]

See ammunition dump and magazine for discussion of modern ammunition storage facilities.

Firearms ammunition[link]

Various rifle cartridges compared to the height of a US$1 bill.

Ammunition for infantry refers to the ammunition carried by a typical foot (infantry) soldier. Someone serving in the infantry generally carries, in pouches, bandoliers, etc., one hundred rounds of small-arms ammunition (S.A.A.), and it is usual to supplement this, when an action is imminent, from the regimental reserve (see below). Like any trade, the proper tools are necessary for the task at hand. Infantry need to be provided with the weapons and ammunition to deal with the expected threat, be it another foot soldier, a mounted combatant, armoured vehicle or aircraft.

Every reduction in the caliber (size) of the rifle's ammunition means an increase in the number of rounds carried. One hundred rounds of the Martini-Henry ammunition weighed 10 pounds 10 ounces (4.8 kg); the same weight gives 155 rounds of 0.303 in (7.7 mm) ammunition and at 0.256 in (6.5 mm) the number of rounds is still greater. The regimental reserves were historically carried in six S.A.A. carts and on eight pack animals. The six carts are distributed, one as reserve to the machine gun, three as reserve to the battalion itself, and two as part of the brigade reserve, which consists therefore of eight carts. The brigade reserve communicates directly with the brigade ammunition columns of the artillery (see below). The eight pack animals follow the eight companies of their battalion. These, with two out of the three battalion carts, endeavour to keep close to the firing line, the remaining cart being with the reserve companies. Men also are employed as carriers, and this duty is so onerous that picked men only are detailed. Gallantry displayed in bringing up ammunition is considered indeed to justify special rewards. The amount of S.A.A. in regimental charge is 100 rounds in the possession of each soldier, 2000 to 2200 on each pack animal, and 16,000 to 17,600 in each of four carts, with, in addition, about 4000 rounds with the machine gun and 16,000 more in the fifth cart.

Currently, every army of an internationally recognized country (except those who rely on others for defense, such as Andorra) has adopted assault rifles as the main infantry weapon.

In western (NATO) forces, the 7.62 mm NATO round has been mostly replaced by the lighter 5.56 mm NATO round, which is better suited for automatic fire than the larger round and allows each soldier to carry more ammunition. The larger caliber ammunition is still retained where range and weight of shot is important, e.g. machine guns and sniper rifles.

Other nations, especially forces with former ties to the Soviet Union tend to use rifles related to or developed from the AK-47 with similar sized rounds to the NATO ones. In 7.62x39mm and 5.45x39mm for assault rifles and 7.62x54mmR for sniper rifles and light machine guns.

Ordnance ammunition[link]

Modern 120 mm tank gun cartridges with different projectiles

Modern artillery ordnance ammunition is generally of two types: separate loading and semi-fixed. Semi-fixed ammunition (rounds) appear in the form of a projectile mated with a cartridge case which contains the propellant and they resemble small arms rounds.

The canister is outfitted with a primer on its base which fires upon contact from the firing pin. Gunpowder, precision machined to burn evenly, is contained inside of cloth bags that are numbered. US/NATO 105 mm howitzers use semi-fixed ammunition, containing seven powder bags referred to as increments or charges. Putting the powder in bags allows the howitzer crew to remove the increments when firing at closer targets. The unused increments are disposed of by analysing burning in a powder pit at a safe distance from the guns.

Above a certain size, semi-fixed rounds are impracticable; the weight of the whole assembly is too much to be carried effectively. In this case separate loading ammunition is used: the projectile and propelling charge are supplied and loaded separately. The projectile is rammed home in the chamber, the powder charge(s) are loaded (usually by hand), then the breech is closed and the primer is inserted into the primer holder on the back the breech. Separate loading ammunition is typically used on 155 mm and larger howitzers. Several propellant types are available for 155 mm howitzer.

All normal projectiles arrive at the weapon with a plug in the fuze well on the nose of the projectile. Using a special fuze wrench, the plug is unscrewed and a fuze is screwed in. The decision as to which type of fuze to use is made by the fire direction center and carried out by the gun crew.

The armaments fitted to early tanks were contemporary field or naval artillery pieces and used the same ammunition. When tank versus tank combat became more important, and specific tank guns did not exist, it became common to adapt anti-aircraft guns (artillery) which fired shells of high velocity, which were needed for high altitude targets. As the armour applied to tanks increased, ammunition for tank use paralleled that of anti-tank guns. Current tank gun ammunition is a single fixed round ("shell" and charge combined in a single piece) for quick loading, the propellant is in a combustible case, thus negating empty shell casings. The primary anti-armor (anti-tank) warhead is the sabot round, a shaped charge or sensor fuzed warhead.

The tank made horse cavalry obsolete, and while an infantryman could deal with a horse-mounted enemy, new weapons were needed to defeat a tank or other armored fighting vehicle. The first anti-tank weapons given to the infantrymen were based upon small arms; for example the anti-tank rifle. As even the later designs of tanks carried more armour, the limit of a man-portable rifle that could fire a round with sufficient kinetic energy to penetrate the armour was reached.

The introduction of the shaped charge warhead gave the infantryman a weapon that used chemical energy rather than kinetic to penetrate armour in a focused manner, which made them more effective than large grenades. When propelled by a rocket, the shaped charge gained range as well. Weapons such as the US Bazooka and German Panzerfaust, although bulky, were suitable for infantry use—though they were designed to be short ranged weapons, which simplified accuracy for striking a vehicle's weak points.

M107 Shells

After World War 2, the advent of the missile delivered both great range and accuracy and provided infantry with a weapon that could reliably destroy the heaviest tanks at long distances.

Today's infantryman can deploy sophisticated multi-spectral man-portable surface-to-air missiles equipped with the ability to reject decoys and defeat counter-measures.

Since aircraft are relatively light in weight, and delicate in construction, this, combined with their highly flammable fuel, made aircraft more susceptible to fatal damage since their first mass usage in World War I; sometimes being brought down by single bullet, when striking something vital in the airplane. The main weaknesses of ammunition provided to infantry to deal with aircraft were limited range and small warheads; both due to the necessity of maintaining man-portable weapons.

An example of a modern surface to air missile for infantry is the FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defence System), provided as an all-up round in a canister it is attached to a launcher unit and is ready to expend. Numerous other missiles in this class exist from different nations of origin. Infantry machine guns and rifles may improve their ability against aircraft by utilising tracer ammunition, to allow the aimer to better gauge the lead aim necessary to strike his target.

Weapons developed primarily for anti-tank roles can add proximity fusing to increase the probability of a kill by having the warhead detonate nearby the target without having to make contact.

Naval ammunition[link]

Battleship ammunition

The ranges at which engagements are conducted by warships are typically much greater than that at which land warfare is observed. However, many exceptions can occur. The targets are also generally machines, not men. Naval ammunition is therefore optimized for great velocity (to reach those great ranges, to hit aircraft flying at altitude and also with the benefit of reducing the lead that has to be applied to hit a distant moving target) and to disable said machines, rather than rending human flesh. Naval gun ammunition of World War II vintage came in two main varieties, armor-piercing shells to attack hardened warships or high explosive incendiary shells (with point detonating fuses to start fires on ships, or mechanical time fuses designed to fragment and create clouds of shrapnel to defeat aircraft). With the demise of the armored warship, contemporary naval gun ammunition is solely the high explosive variety, but new fuses and guidance options are available to increase lethality, especially against high speed missile or aircraft threats.

Supply of ammunition in the field[link]

With every successive improvement in military arms there has necessarily been a corresponding modification in the method of supplying ammunition and in the quantity required to be supplied. When hand-to-hand weapons were the principal implements of battle, there was no such need. But in the Middle Ages, the archers and crossbowmen had to replenish the shafts and bolts expended in action, and during a siege, stone bullets of great size, as well as heavy arrows, were freely used. The missiles of those days were however interchangeable, and at the Battle of Towton (1461), part of the Wars of the Roses, the commander of the Yorkist archers induced the enemy to loose arrows in order to obtain them for future use, similarly to a story in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (孔明借箭). This interchangeability of war material was even possible for many centuries after the invention of firearms. At the Battle of Liegnitz (1760) a general officer was specially commissioned by Frederick II of Prussia to pack up and send away, for Prussian use, all the muskets and ammunition left on the field of battle by the defeated Austrians.

Captured material is utilized whenever possible at the present time. In the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese went so far as to prepare beforehand spare parts for the Chinese guns they expected to capture. It is rare to find a modern army trusting to captures for arms and ammunition; almost the only instance of the practice is that of the Chilean Civil War (1891) in which the army of one belligerent was almost totally dependent upon this means of replenishing stores of arms and cartridges. What was possible with weapons of comparatively rough make is no longer to be thought of in the case of modern arms.

The Lee-Metford bullet of 0.303 inch (7.7 mm) diameter can scarcely be used in a rifle of smaller caliber, and in general the minute accuracy of parts in modern weapons makes interchangeability almost impossible. However, the widespread availability of mass-produced small arms have resulted in many conflicts in which both sides use the same weapons (e.g. AK-74) and ammunition types, making captured ammunition once again a potentially important consideration. Further, owing to the rapidity with which, in modern arms, ammunition is expended, and the fact that, as battles are fought at longer ranges than formerly, more shots have to be fired in order to inflict heavy losses, it is necessary that the reserves of ammunition should be as close as possible to the troops who have to use them. This was always the case even with the older firearms, as, owing to the great weight of the ammunition, the soldier could only carry a few rounds. Nevertheless it is only within the past seventy years that there has grown up the elaborate system of ammunition supply which now prevails in all regularly organized armies. That which is described in the present article is the British, as laid down in the official Combined Training (1905) and other manuals. The new system designed for stronger divisions, and others, vary only in details and nomenclature. Against this, the move towards smaller calibres (e.g. NATO standard 5.56 mm) and reduced consumption rates in modern low-intensity asymmetric warfare may make ammunition relatively less important (if only by weight/volume) than other combat supply commodities such as water.

See also[link]

References[link]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ammunition

• Ammunition at the Open Directory Project.
• European Ammunition Box Translations

James IV
King of Scots
Reign	11 June 1488 – 9 September 1513
Coronation	24 June 1488
Predecessor	James III
Successor	James V
Spouse	Margaret Tudor
Issue
James, Duke of Rothesay (infant) Arthur, Duke of Rothesay (infant) James V Alexander, Duke of Ross (infant)
Father	James III
Mother	Margaret of Denmark
Born	(1473-03-17)17 March 1473 Stirling Castle, Scotland
Died	9 September 1513(1513-09-09) (aged 40) Battle of Flodden Field, Northumberland

James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all of Great Britain, to be killed in battle.

Early life[link]

James was the son of James III and Margaret of Denmark, probably born in Stirling Castle. As heir apparent to the Scottish crown, he became Duke of Rothesay. In 1474, his father arranged his betrothal to Princess Cecily of England.^[1] His father was not a popular king and faced two major rebellions during his reign. The marriage negotiations and dowry payments led to the invasion of Scotland and capture of Berwick in 1482 by his uncle Alexander, Duke of Albany and Richard, Duke of Gloucester while James remained at Stirling. James III's army rebelled against him and the English army reached Edinburgh.^[2]

During the second rebellion, the rebels set up the 15-year-old James as their nominal leader. His father was killed fighting rebels at the Battle of Sauchieburn on 11 June 1488, and James took the throne and was crowned at Scone on 24 June. When he realised the indirect role which he had played in the death of his father, he decided to do penance for his sin. From that date on, he wore a heavy iron chain cilice around his waist, next to the skin, each Lent as penance, adding every year extra ounces.^[3]

Reign[link]

Politics[link]

James IV quickly proved to be an effective ruler. He defeated another rebellion in 1489, took a direct interest in the administration of justice and finally brought the Lord of the Isles under control in 1493. For a time, he supported Perkin Warbeck, the pretender to the English throne, and carried out a brief invasion of England on his behalf in September 1496. Then, in August 1497, James laid siege to Norham Castle, using his father's bombard Mons Meg.

James recognized nonetheless that peace between Scotland and England was in the interest of both countries, and established good diplomatic relations with England, which was at that time emerging from a period of civil war. First he ratified the Treaty of Ayton in February 1498. Then, in 1502 James signed the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Henry VII. He also saw the importance in building a fleet that could provide Scotland with a strong maritime presence. James founded two new dockyards for the purpose and acquired a total of 38 ships for the Royal Scottish Navy, including the Margaret, and the carrack Michael or Great Michael. The latter, built at great expense at Newhaven and launched in 1511, was 240 feet (73 m) in length, weighed 1,000 tons and was, at that time, the largest ship in Europe.^[4]

Culture[link]

James IV was a true Renaissance prince with an interest in practical and scientific matters. He granted the Edinburgh College of Surgeons a royal charter in 1506, turned Edinburgh Castle into one of Scotland's foremost gun foundries, and welcomed the establishment of Scotland's first printing press in 1507. He built a part of Falkland Palace, Great Halls at Stirling and Edinburgh castles, and furnished his palaces with tapestries.^[5] James was a patron of the arts, including many literary figures, most notably the Scots makars whose diverse and socially observant works convey a vibrant and memorable picture of cultural life and intellectual concerns in the period. Figures associated with his court include William Dunbar, Walter Kennedy and Gavin Douglas, who made the first complete translation of Virgil's Aeneid in northern Europe. His reign also saw the passing of the makar Robert Henryson.

James was well educated and a fluent polyglot. In July 1498 the Spanish envoy Pedro de Ayala reported to Ferdinand and Isabella that;

The King is 25 years and some months old. He is of noble stature, neither tall nor short, and as handsome in complexion and shape as a man can be. His address is very agreeable. He speaks the following foreign languages ; Latin, very well ; French, German, Flemish, Italian, and Spanish ; Spanish as well as the Marquis, but he pronounces it more distinctly. He likes, very much, to receive Spanish letters. His own Scots language is as different from English as Aragonese from Castilian. The King speaks, besides, the language of the savages who live in some parts of Scotland and on the islands. It is as different from Scots as Biscayan is from Castilian. His knowledge of languages is wonderful. He is well read in the Bible and in some other devout books. He is a good historian. He has read many Latin and French histories, and profited by them, as he has a very good memory. He never cuts his hair or his beard. It becomes him very well.^[6]

James IV was the last King of Scots known to have spoken Scottish Gaelic. James is one of the rulers reported to have conducted a language deprivation experiment,^[7] sending two children to be raised by a mute woman alone on the island of Inchkeith, to determine if language was learned or innate.^[8] At Stirling Castle, James maintained an alchemical workshop with a furnace of the quintessence. The project consumed quantities of quick-silver, golden litharge, and tin.^[9] It was said that one of his alchemists Father Damian attempted to fly from Stirling Castle.

Policy in the Highlands and Isles[link]

In May 1493 John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, was forfeited by the Parliament of Scotland. King James himself sailed to Dunstaffnage Castle, where the western chiefs made their submission to him. John surrendered and was brought back as a pensioner to the royal court, then lived at Paisley Abbey. The Highlands and Islands now fell to direct royal control. John's grandson Domhnall Dubh (Donald Owre), one of the possible claimants to the Lordship was peaceable, but the other, his nephew Alexander MacDonald of Lochalsh invaded Ross and was later killed on the island of Oronsay in 1497.^[10]

In October 1496 the Royal Council ordered that the Clan Chiefs in the region would be held responsible by the king for crimes of the islanders. This act for the governance of the region was unworkable, and after the Act of Revocation of 1498 undermined the Chief's titles to their lands, resistance to Edinburgh rule was strengthened. James waited at Kilkerran Castle at Campbeltown Loch to re-grant the Chief's charters in the summer of 1498. Few of the Chiefs turned up.^[11] At first, Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll, was set to fill the power vacuum and enforce royal authority, but he met with limited success in a struggle with his brother-in-law, Torquil MacLeod of Lewis. Torquil was ordered to hand over Donald Dubh, heir to the lordship of the Isles, to James IV at Inverness in 1501. James waited, but Torquil never came.

After this defiance, Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, was granted Torquil's lands. He raised an army in Lochaber and also cleared the tenants of that area, replacing them with his supporters.^[12] After the parliament of 1504, a royal fleet sailed north from Ayr to attack the Castle of Cairn-na-Burgh, west of Mull, where, it is thought, Maclean of Duart had Donald Dubh in his keeping.^[13] As progress at the siege was slow, James sent Hans the royal gunner in Robert Barton's ship and then the Earl of Arran with provisions and more artillery. Cairn-na-Burgh was captured by June 1504 but Donald Dubh remained at liberty.^[14] In September 1507, Torquil MacLeod was besieged at Stornoway Castle on Lewis. Donald Dubh was captured and kept in prison for the rest of life, and Torquil MacLeod died in exile in 1511. The Earl of Huntly was richly rewarded for his troubles, a price that James was prepared to pay.^[15]

War and death[link]

When war broke out between England and France as a result of the Italian Wars, James found himself in a difficult position as his obligations under the Auld Alliance with France conflicted with the treaty made with England in 1502. The new king of England, Henry VIII, attempted to invade France in 1513, and James reacted by declaring war on England. Pope Leo X sent a letter to James threatening him with ecclesiatical censure for breaking peace treaties on 28 June 1513, and subsequently James was excommunicated by Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge. James summoned sailors and sent the Scottish navy, including the Great Michael to join the ships of Louis XII of France.^[16] Hoping to take advantage of Henry's absence at the siege of Thérouanne, he led an invading army southward into Northumbria, only to be killed, with many of his nobles and common soldiers, at the disastrous Battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513, ending Scotland's land-based involvement in the War of the League of Cambrai.

In his otherwise flattering portrait of James Pedro de Ayala had cast doubt on James's ability as a military commander, portraying him as impetuous on the battlefield and prone to foolhardiness;

He is courageous, even more so than a king should be. I am a good witness of it. I have seen him often undertake most dangerous things in the last wars. On such occasions he does not take the least care of himself. He is not a good captain, because he begins to fight before he has given his orders. He said to me that his subjects serve him with their persons and goods, in just and unjust quarrels, exactly as he likes, and that therefore he does not think it right to begin any warlike undertaking without being himself the first in danger. His deeds are as good as his words.^[17]

A body, thought to be that of James, was recovered from the battlefield and taken to London for burial. James had been excommunicated, and although Henry VIII had obtained a breve from the Pope on 29 November 1513 to have the King buried in consecrated ground at St. Pauls, the embalmed body lay unburied for many years at Sheen Priory in Surrey.^[18] The body was lost after the Reformation. John Stow claimed to have seen it, and said the king's head (with red hair) was removed by a glazier and eventually buried at St Michael Wood Street.^[19] James's bloodstained coat was sent to Henry VIII (then on campaign in France) by his queen, Catherine of Aragon.^[20] Erasmus provided an epitaph for the King in his Adagia. Later, in 1533, he wrote to James V of Scotland pointing out this essay on duty under the adage Spartam nactus es, (You who were born to Sparta shall serve her), on the subject of the Flodden campaign and the death of James and his son, Alexander.^[21]

Legends of the King's resting place[link]

However rumours persisted for many years that James had survived and had gone into exile, or his body was buried in Scotland, with no evidence to support them. Two castles in the Scottish Borders are claimed to be the real resting place of James. These stories follow the legend that, prior to the Scots charge at Flodden, James had ripped off his royal surcoat to show his nobles that he was prepared to fight as an ordinary man at arms. The body recovered by the English did not have the iron chain round its waist. (So some historians claimed he removed his chain while dallying in Lady Heron's bedroom.) However, Border legend claimed that during the battle of Flodden four Home horsemen or supernatural riders swept across the field snatching up the King's body as such a prize could not be allowed to fall into English hands after such a humiliating defeat, or that the King left the field alive and was killed soom after. In the 18th century when the medieval well of Hume Castle was being cleared the skeleton of a man with a chain round his waist was discovered in a side cave. Unfortunately this skeleton has since disappeared. Another version of this tale has the skeleton discovered at Hume a few years after the battle and re-interred at Holyrood Abbey. Exactly the same story was told for Roxburgh Castle, the skeleton there discovered in the 17th century. Yet another tradition is the discovery of the royal body at Berry Moss, near Kelso. Fuelling these legends, Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie writing in the 1570s claimed that a convicted criminal offered to show Regent Albany the King's grave ten years after the battle, but Albany refused.^[22]

Marriage[link]

His early betrothal to Cecily of England came to nothing, but interest in an English marriage remained.

In a ceremony at the altar of Glasgow Cathedral on 10 December 1502, James confirmed the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Henry VII of England.^[23] By this treaty James married Henry's daughter Margaret Tudor. After a wedding by proxy in London, the marriage was confirmed in person on 8 August 1503 at Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh. Their wedding was commemorated by the gift of a Book of Hours.

The union produced four children plus two stillbirths:^[24]

• James, Duke of Rothesay (21 February 1507, Holyrood Palace – 27 February 1508, Stirling Castle)
• A stillborn daughter at Holyrood Palace on 15 July 1508.
• Arthur, Duke of Rothesay (20 October 1509, Holyrood Palace – Edinburgh Castle, 14 July 1510).
• James V (Linlithgow Palace, 15 April 1512 – Falkland Palace, Fife, 14 December 1542), the only one to reach adulthood, and the successor of his father.
• A second stillborn daughter at Holyrood Palace in November 1512.
• Alexander, Duke of Ross (Stirling Castle, 30 April 1514 – Stirling Castle, 18 December 1515), born after James's death.

Illegitimate children[link]

James also had eight illegitimate children with four different mistresses:^[25]

• with Marion Boyd:
  • Alexander (c.1493 – Battle of Flodden Field, 9 September 1513), Archbishop of St Andrews.
  • James Stewart (c. 1494 – young)
  • Catherine Stewart(c. 1495 – 1554), who married James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Morton.
• with Margaret Drummond:
  • Margaret Stewart (born around 1497), married firstly John Gordon, Lord Gordon and secondly Sir John Drummond. Her son by Lord Gordon became George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly
• with Janet Kennedy:
  • James (before 1499 – 1544), created Earl of Moray.
  • two children who died in infancy.
• with Isabel Stewart, daughter of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan:
  • Lady Janet Stewart (17 July 1502 – 20 February 1562).

Titles and styles[link]

• 17 March 1473 – 11 June 1488: The Duke of Rothesay
• 11 June 1488 – 9 September 1513: His Grace The King

Fictional portrayals[link]

James IV has been depicted in historical novels and short stories. They include:^[26]

• The Yellow Frigate (1855) by James Grant,^[26] also known as The Three Sisters.^[27] The main events of the novel take place in the year 1488, covering the Battle of Sauchieburn, the assassination of James III of Scotland, the rise to the throne of James IV, and the plots of the so-called English faction in Scotland. James IV, and Margaret Drummond are prominently depicted. Andrew Wood of Largo and Henry VII of England are secondary characters.^[26]
• In the King's Favour (1899) by J. E. Preston Muddock. Covers the last few months of James IV's reign and ends with the Battle of Flodden (1513).^[28]
• The Arrow of the North (1906) by R. H. Forster. The novel mainly depicts Northumberland in the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII of England. It covers the Flodden campaign of the Anglo-Scottish Wars and the finale depicts the battle which ended James IV's life.^[28]
• The Crimson Field (1916) by Halliwell Sutcliffe. Also covers the Anglo-Scottish Wars. It features James IV and "ends with a full account of the Battle of Flodden" (1513).^[28]
• King Heart (1926) by Carola Oman. The story depicts Scotland in the time of James IV. The king himself is depicted in an epilogue featuring the Battle of Flodden (1513).^[26]
• Gentle Eagle (1937) by Christine Orr, fictional account of the king's life
• Chain of Destiny (1964) by Nigel Tranter, fictional account of the king's life, from Sauchieburn to Flodden
• Falcon (1972) by A J Stewart, an unusual work by an author claiming to be a reincarnation of the king
• The Tournament of the Black Lady is a short story which features the 1508 jousting tournament held by King James at Edinburgh Castle.
• The Tournament of the African Lady is a short animation that recreates the jousting tournament held by King James lV of Scotland on the 31st May 1508.

Ancestors[link]