In February 1452, King James II of Scotland stabbed William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, to death at Stirling Castle. The murder did not end the power of the great Douglas family but instead ignited a state of intermittent civil war. A month after the killing, the 9th Earl of Douglas burned the town of Stirling in retaliation, an act of open defiance against the Crown. James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton, was certainly present with the 9th Earl of Douglas at the time of this burning.
Following the burning of Stirling, open warfare broke out in which King James II attacked Douglas lands. An agreement was eventually reached between the King and the Douglas faction at Douglas Castle in August 1452, under which the Douglas forgave the King for the killing of his brother. This settlement held until 1455, when the conflict resumed and ultimately concluded with the destruction of Douglas power at the Battle of Arkinholm and the forfeiture of the vast Douglas estates to the Crown.
James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton, was recorded as being with the 9th Earl of Douglas a month after the murder of the 8th Earl at Stirling Castle, at the time the 9th Earl burned the town of Stirling in reprisal against King James II, an act that plunged Scotland into open warfare between the Crown and the House of Douglas.
No specific casualty figures are recorded in the sources.
The 9th Earl of Douglas and his supporters, including James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton, were involved in the burning. No details of Crown forces are given in the sources.
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