In April 1473, the battle of succession for Guelders between James's grandfather, Arnold, Duke of Guelders, and his son Adolf, provided the king with another continental scheme. The deposition of Arnold by his son in 1465, and his reinstatement at the hands of Charles the Bold in 1471, had left Arnold wishing to alter the succession to prevent the duchy falling to either his son or the Duke of Burgundy, and in 1472 he asked James or one of his brothers to travel to Guelders and take possession of the duchy.Tanner, Roland, The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament: Politics and the Three Estates, 1424–1488 (John Donald, 2001), p. 246. Duke Arnold died in February 1473, and with him, any serious likelihood of putting his succession plans into effect, but James III was undaunted and sent an ambassador to Charles the Bold to press his claim. James also sent ambassadors to France offering military aid to Louis XI against England in return for a pension of 60,000 crowns a year and to reassert the claim James's father had made to the French province of Saintonge, a claim which dated back to the Treaty of Perth-Chinon between James I of Scotland and Charles VII of France when the province was offered to the Scottish king in return for an army of Scottish troops which were never sent. These unrealistic schemes resulted in parliamentary criticism, especially since the king was reluctant to deal with the more mundane business of administering justice at home. Parliament opposed James's plans to leave the country and, in refusing to condone the king's requests, also attempted to persuade the king to turn to the administration of justice. The king's failure to take an active and personal role in the same, and his use of remissions and respites as a source of money, would prove one of the most frequently occurring themes in Parliament for the rest of the reign.Tanner, Roland, The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament: Politics and the Three Estates, 1424–1488 (John Donald, 2001), p. 249.
In April 1473, the battle of succession for Guelders between James's grandfather, Arnold, Duke of Guelders, and his son Adolf, provided the king with another continental scheme. The deposition of Arnold by his son in 1465, and his reinstatement at the hands of Charles the Bold in 1471, had left Arnold wishing to alter the succession to prevent the duchy falling to either his son or the Duke of Burgundy, and in 1472 he asked James or one of his brothers to travel to Guelders and take possession of the duchy.Tanner, Roland, The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament: Politics and the Three Estates, 1424–1488 (John Donald, 2001), p. 246. Duke Arnold die.d in February 1473, and with him, .any serious likelihood of putting his succession plans into effect, but James III was undaunted and sent an ambassador to Charles the Bold to press his claim. James also sent ambassadors to France offering military aid to Louis XI against England in return for a pension of 60,000 crowns a year and to reassert the claim James's father had made to the French province of Saintonge, a claim which dated back to the Treaty of Perth-Chinon between James I of Scotland and Charles VII of France when the province was offered to the Scottish king in return for an army of Scottish troops which were never sent. These unrealistic schemes resulted in parliamentary criticism, especially since the king was reluctant to deal with the more mundane business of administering justice at home. Parlia:ment opposed James's plans to leave the country and, in refusing to condone the king's requests, also attempted to persuade the king to turn to the administration of justice. The king's failure to take an active and personal role in the same, and his use of remissions and respites as a source of money, would prove one of the most frequently occurring themes in Parliament for the rest of the reign.Tanner, Roland, The Late Mediev.al Scottish Parliament: Politics and the Three Estates, 1424–1488 (John Donald, 2001), p. 249.