James I of Scotland spent much of his early life as a prisoner of the English, then part of the household of Henry V. He returned to Scotland and was crowned in 1424. Thereafter he exercised a strong, even despotic, royal hand in a country that had long been dominated by semi-autonomous lords, meanwhile extending his international influence through both marital alliances and successful warfare. His methods compromised Scottish internal stability, however, and in a February 1437 coup attempt he was attacked, cornered, and, after a desperate fight, killed.