John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland (1525–1567) was a Scottish magnate. John Gordon supported the chief of his family, his cousin theEarl of Huntly against theEarl of Moray. After Huntly's defeat at Corrichie, he went into exile, and shortly after his return to Scotland he was murdered by a kinswoman.
John Gordon was the son ofAlexander Gordon, Master of Sutherland andLady Janet Stewart. His father Alexander was the son of LadyElizabeth Sutherland, 10th Countess of Sutherland (sister ofJohn Sutherland, 9th Earl of Sutherland) and Adam Gordon, younger son ofGeorge Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly. His mother Janet was the daughter ofJohn Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl and Janet Campbell. Elizabeth Sutherland and her husband Adam quashed a rival claimant to the earldom of Sutherland in 1518, at theBattle of Alltachuilain.
Alexander Gordon was madeEarl of Sutherland in December 1527, when his mother, the Countess Elizabeth Sutherland, resigned her rights. Alexander died in 1530, and Lady Janet Stewart marriedHugh Kennedy of Girvanmains, and subsequently,Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven.
John, although still a minor, attended theParliament of Scotland, in December 1543, which rejected theTreaty of Greenwich. Some time after May 1544, John married Lady Elizabeth Campbell, daughter ofColin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll. She was the Countess of Moray, being the widow ofJames Stewart, Earl of Moray, who was the son of KingJames IV of Scotland by his mistress,Janet Kennedy.
On 4 May 1546, John was formally madeEarl of Sutherland. In the following year, he commanded part of the rear guard at theBattle of Pinkie Cleugh.[1]
His wife Elizabeth died in 1547, and in 1548, John married, as his second wife, Lady Helen Stewart, who had previously been married toWilliam Hay, 6th Earl of Erroll. She was the daughter ofJohn Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox. Her sister, Lady Elizabeth Stewart, had an illegitimate son with KingJames V of Scotland known as Adam Stewart, Prior ofPerth Charterhouse.[2]
In December 1554,Alexander Sutherland, 8th of Duffus, while still a minor, was invested under dispensation from John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland as overlord of the lands ofSkelbo andInvershin. The lands of Skelbo, Invershin,Proncy,Torboll and all of the other lands that belonged to Sutherland of Duffus inSutherland, were erected into abarony by the Earl of Sutherland on 7 November 1562, that was called the barony of Skelbo, to be held by Sutherland of Duffus and his heirs.[3]
In the Autumn of 1554Mary of Guise paid for a ship, troops and a cannon to be used by John, 11th Earl of Sutherland and his step-brotherHugh Kennedy of Girvanmains to arrestIye du Mackay, chief of theClan Mackay, who had caused mischief in Sutherland. They sailed in theLion and capturedBorve Castle, Sutherland. Kennedy subsequently captured Iye Mackay and brought him to Edinburgh.[4]
In September 1561 Sutherland was able to advance negotiations for themarriage of Mary, Queen of Scots with wife's nephew,Lord Darnley. He introduced Darnley's tutor Arthur Lallart or Lilliard to Mary atStirling Castle.[5]
In September 1562,Mary, Queen of Scots and her half-brotherJames Stewart newly madeEarl of Moraycame north to Inverness and Aberdeen. Their discussions with John's cousin the Earl of Huntly led to armed conflict. After thebattle of Corrichie, secret letters between John Gordon and the Earl of Huntly were discovered. John Gordon fled toLouvain inFlanders. At theParliament of Scotland on 28 May 1563, in the presence of Queen Mary, Huntly and Sutherland were forfeited.[6] In 1565 Queen Mary of Scotland restored the Earls of Huntly, Sutherland and others of the name Gordon who had been forfeited.
The Earl of Sutherland was invited to return to Scotland. TheEarl of Bedford, Governor ofBerwick on Tweed sent aprivateer called Wilson who carried Swedish letters of marque to intercept his ship, and the Earl was imprisoned at Berwick. Sutherland was considered a danger to English policy in Scotland. Mary, Queen of Scots, demanded the release of the Earl, who was now sick with an ague. Bedford wrote toElizabeth on his behalf. The Earl was released after the assurance that he was reconciled with theEarl of Moray.
On his return to Scotland, Sutherland married Marie Seton, daughter ofLord Seton. Both were poisoned atHelmsdale Castle by Isobel Sinclair, and died atDunrobin Castle on 23 June 1567. Isobel Sinclair, the Earl's aunt, poisoned them in an attempt to make her own son Earl. She also tried to poisonAlexander, the Earl's heir, but the cup of poison was drunk by her own son, who died two days later, so Alexander survived. Isobel Sinclair died before her execution, possibly by poisoning herself.George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness may have been behind the plot because he envied the Sutherland earldom.[7]
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
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| Preceded by | Earl of Sutherland 1535–1567 | Succeeded by |