_Return of the King_ (1)--_state of the Highlands_ (2)--_murder of James_ (3)--_judicial reforms_ (4)--_James II._ (5)--_Crichton and Livingstone_ (6)--_the Douglases_ (7)--_majority of James_; _fall of Douglas_ (8)--_siege of Roxburgh_ (9)--_James III._ (10)--_Orkney and Shetland_ (11)--_relations with England_ (12)--_revolt of the nobles_ (13)--_battle of Sauchieburn_ (14)--_Church matters_ (15)--_James IV._ (16)--_English intrigues_ (17)--_state of the Highlands_ (18)--_differences with England_ (19)--_battle of Flodden_ (20)--_state of the Church_ (21)--_James V._ (22)--_Albany's regency_ (23)--_English interference_ (24)--_the "Erection"_ (25)--_fall of Angus_ (26)--_internal affairs_ (27)--_English war_ (28)--_death of James_; _his character_ (29)--_Mary_ (30)--_treaties with England_ (31)--_first English invasion_ (32)--_second English invasion_ (33)--_third English invasion_; _fight at Pinkie_ (34)--_internal affairs_ (35)--_Regency of Mary of Lorraine_; _first marriage of Mary Stewart_ (36)--_social progress_ (37)--_state of education and literature_ (38)--_summary_ (39). =1. James I., 1424-1436. Return of the King.=--In 1424 James came home and brought with him his English wife, _Joan_, daughter of the _Earl of Somerset_. As he had been taken in time of peace, a ransom could not decently be demanded, but the Scots were required to pay forty thousand pounds to defray the expenses of his eighteen years' maintenance and education. The King, now at last restored to his kingdom, let eight months pass quietly before taking vengeance on those who had so long kept him out of it. He spent this time in winning the confidence of the people and of the lesser barons. He then seized _Albany_, his two sons, and twenty-six other nobles at _Perth_, whither they had come to attend the Parliament. _Albany_ and his two sons were tried before a jury of twenty-one peers, many of whom sat only to secure their own safety. They were found guilty of treason and put to death at _Stirling_. James himself presided at the trial, thereby reviving the ancient practice of the King's personal administration of justice.