On this day in 1402 the murder takes place in Falkland Palace of David Stewart, 1st Duke of Rothesay, the oldest son of King Robert III of Scotland and heir to the throne. He is killed on the orders of his uncle, Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany.
David Stewart was heir apparent to the throne of Scotland from 1390 and the first Duke of Rothesay from 1398. He was named after his great-granduncle, David II of Scotland.
In late February 1402, while travelling officially to St Andrews, David was arrested just outside the city at Strathtyrum in a sting operation which had been arranged by Albany, at that time in complicit alliance with David's brother-in-law, Archibald, the fourth Earl of Douglas, who was offended with Rothesay for his unfaithfulness to his wife, the sister of Douglas. (David's father-in-law, the highly influential third Earl, had died two years before, in 1400.) The pretext for David's arrest was that the three-year period of his lieutenancy had expired.
David Stewart was heir apparent to the throne of Scotland from 1390 and the first Duke of Rothesay from 1398. He was named after his great-granduncle, David II of Scotland.
In late February 1402, while travelling officially to St Andrews, David was arrested just outside the city at Strathtyrum in a sting operation which had been arranged by Albany, at that time in complicit alliance with David's brother-in-law, Archibald, the fourth Earl of Douglas, who was offended with Rothesay for his unfaithfulness to his wife, the sister of Douglas. (David's father-in-law, the highly influential third Earl, had died two years before, in 1400.) The pretext for David's arrest was that the three-year period of his lieutenancy had expired.