A royal feast inside Edinburgh Castle promised safety, friendship, and a reset between a child king and the heirs of Scotland’s most powerful clan. Instead, the Black Dinner of 1440 delivered a brutal omen, a midnight judgment, and two young Douglases beheaded under the crown’s roof—an unforgivable breach of hospitality that rippled across the realm.

We follow the power lines behind the spectacle: how the Black Douglases rose through land, war, and royal marriages to rival the throne; why Chancellor William Crichton and Sir Alexander Livingston formed a fragile alliance to stop a teenage earl; and how James Douglas of Avondale, the beneficiary in the shadows, turned catastrophe into control. The plot that aimed to decapitate a dynasty only sharpened it—until a king who had watched in silence as a boy decided to act.

Years later at Stirling Castle, James II invited the eighth Earl of Douglas to talk peace. What began as reconciliation ended with a dagger, a poleaxe, and a body on the floor. The king’s strike ignited civil war, crushed the Black Douglas network at Erkinholm, and brought their estates into royal hands. Along the way we unpack the symbolism of the black bull’s head, the sacred logic of medieval hospitality, and how broken oaths reshaped Scottish politics.

If you love gripping medieval history, clan rivalries, and the hard choices behind state power, this story has it all: betrayal at table, a child monarch forged by trauma, and a final reckoning that redrew Scotland’s map. Listen now, subscribe for more deep-cut history, and tell us—was the crown saving the kingdom or staining it forever? Rate and review to help more curious minds find the show.

Send a text

Support the show

This website contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and purchase a product, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support the running of this website and allows me to continue providing valuable content. Please note that I only recommend products and services that I believe in and have personally used or researched.