<P> Robert's efforts to control Scotland culminated in success, and Scottish independence was acknowledged in 1328 . However, only one year later, Robert died and was succeeded by his five - year - old son, David II . On the pretext of restoring John Balliol's rightful heir, Edward Balliol, the English again invaded in 1332 . During the next four years, Balliol was crowned, deposed, restored, deposed, restored, and deposed until he eventually settled in England, and David remained king for the next 35 years . </P> <P> David II died childless in 1371 and was succeeded by his nephew Robert II of the House of Stuart . The reigns of both Robert II and his successor, Robert III, were marked by a general decline in royal power . When Robert III died in 1406, regents had to rule the country; the monarch, Robert III's son James I, had been taken captive by the English . Having paid a large ransom, James returned to Scotland in 1424; to restore his authority, he used ruthless measures, including the execution of several of his enemies . He was assassinated by a group of nobles . James II continued his father's policies by subduing influential noblemen but he was killed in an accident at the age of thirty, and a council of regents again assumed power . James III was defeated in a battle against rebellious Scottish earls in 1488, leading to another boy - king: James IV . </P> <P> In 1513 James IV launched an invasion of England, attempting to take advantage of the absence of the English King Henry VIII . His forces met with disaster at Flodden Field; the King, many senior noblemen, and hundreds of soldiers were killed . As his son and successor, James V, was an infant, the government was again taken over by regents . James V led another disastrous war with the English in 1542, and his death in the same year left the Crown in the hands of his six - day - old daughter, Mary I. Once again, a regency was established . </P> <P> Mary, a Roman Catholic, reigned during a period of great religious upheaval in Scotland . As a result of the efforts of reformers such as John Knox, a Protestant ascendancy was established . Mary caused alarm by marrying her Catholic cousin, Lord Darnley, in 1565 . After Lord Darnley's assassination in 1567, Mary contracted an even more unpopular marriage with the Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of Darnley's murder . The nobility rebelled against the Queen, forcing her to abdicate . She fled to England, and the Crown went to her infant son James VI, who was brought up as a Protestant . Mary was imprisoned and later executed by the English queen Elizabeth I . </P>

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