James V's life, although short, was action packed. King from the age of eighteen months, he weathered a difficult minority, as Scottish lords around him vied for supremacy in a period when influence within Scotland was bitterly contested between France and England. Taking a firm grip on power at the age of sixteen, James soon showed he was a king to be reckoned with. Concerned with justice, as well as improving crown authority, he still had time to travel to France and bring back new ideas of architecture, embodied in his beautiful palaces of Stirling and Falkland. ABOUT THE SERIES: Tudor Times Insights are ebooks collating articles from our website www.tudortimes.co.uk which is a repository for a wide variety of information about the Tudor and Stewart period 1485 – 1625. There you can find material on People, Places, Daily Life, Military & Warfare, Politics & Economics and Religion. The site has a Book Review section, with author interviews and a book club. It also features comprehensive family trees, and a ‘What’s On’ event list with information about forthcoming activities relevant to the Tudors and Stewarts.