The power and influence of the Douglases continued to grow. Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas, succeeded to his father's estates and in 1437 was appointed Regent to the young King James II. He died unexpectedly in 1439 and in the ensuing power struggle Sir William Crichton, Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar, and James Douglas, Earl of Avondale (son of Archibald the Grim) conspired to usurp the Black Douglas power. In 1440 they summoned Archibald's children William and David to Edinburgh Castle. At the so-called "Black Dinner" that followed, the two boys were summarily beheaded on trumped-up charges, over the protests of the ten-year-old King James II. James Douglas was the principal benefactor, inheriting the Earldom of Douglas.