A cannon named “Lion” and the death of a Scottish King, 1460.King James II of Scotland w

A cannon named “Lion” and the death of a Scottish King, 1460.King James II of Scotland was a very ambitious ruler, who among taking the throne in 1437 sought to unify Scotland under his absolute rule.  This mean’t reigning in the power of his nobles, especially the Douglas clan.  By 1455 James II had captured Douglas lands and was now the sole political ruler of Scotland, with the exception of a few Scottish castles stills in the hands of the English.In 1460 James II sought to remove the English presence from Scottish soil and laid siege to Roxburg Castle along the border region of Scotland.  One of the advantages of James II was that he was a big proponent of new artillery technology, recently brought to Europe from the east. He imported a large collection of cannon from Flanders, and often personally sighted them and loaded them in battle. However, his love of the cannon would ultimately be his undoing.In the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, cannon making was still a sketchy process, with accidents occurring frequently.  During the siege of the castle James II was personally overseeing the firing of a cannon named Lion when the big gun, either defective or overloaded, exploded. A large piece of the gun struck him in his thigh, severing his femoral artery, causing him to bleed out within minutes.  King James II would not live to see Roxburg Castle fall two days later.  Bummer man! -- source link

More pics about