James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus

Who was James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus?

James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus, Lord of Liddesdale and Jedburgh Forest was a Scottish Nobleman. He was the son of William Douglas, 2nd Earl of Angus and Margaret Hay of Yester.

Angus succeeded at the age of eleven years old, and was soon involved in strife with his Black Douglas cousins. He was forfeited of his estates by James II in 1445, under the influence of his near cousin William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas. The Earl of Douglas was trying to consolidate the power vacuum created and partially filled by the murder of his cousins at the "Black Dinner" at Edinburgh Castle, sanctioned by the king and his own father James the Gross, 7th Earl of Douglas.

It has been suggested that the feud between the Black and Red Lines of the House of Douglas were fomented by Bishop Kennedy of St. Andrews as a method of controlling unruly magnates, and ensuring continued Stewart power. To compound the treachery, Kennedy was a first cousin through Angus' grandmother, Princess Mary of Scotland, a daughter of King Robert III.

During his forfeiture, Angus was surprised at the reluctance of his tenantry to pay their Feus, he made a point of collecting them punctually in person.

Angus died in 1446.