He succeeded his father James IV at the age of only two months. His mother, her husband, Archibald Angus, Earl of Douglas, and John Stuart, Duke of Albany, struggled for control of the kingdom during his minority. When he came to power he began to ally himself with France against his uncle Henry VIII of England, and made diplomatic marriages to Madeleine, daughter of Francis I of France (1536), and on her death to Mary of Guise. His only child was a daughter, who succeeded him as Mary, Queen of Scots.