James Stewart, Earl of Moray | |
|---|---|
 The Earl of Moray, a detail from a wedding portrait byHans Eworth | |
| Regent of Scotland | |
| In office 22 August 1567 – 23 January 1570 | |
| Monarch | James VI |
| Preceded by | Mary of Guise |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1531 Scotland |
| Died | 23 January 1570 Linlithgow, Scotland |
| Resting place | St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh |
| Spouse(s) | Christina Stewart Agnes Keith |
| Children | Elizabeth Stewart, 2nd Countess of Moray |
| Parents |
|
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (c. 1531 – 23 January 1570)[1] was a member of theHouse of Stewart as the illegitimate son ofJames V of Scotland. At times a supporter of his half-sisterMary, Queen of Scots, he was theregent of Scotland for his half-nephew, the infantJames VI, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570. He was the first head of government to be assassinated with a firearm.
Moray was born in about 1531, an illegitimate child of KingJames V of Scotland and his mistress LadyMargaret Erskine, daughter ofJohn Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine, and wife of SirRobert Douglas of Lochleven.[2]
On 31 August 1536, he received aroyal charter granting the lands ofTantallon and others. James was appointedPrior of St Andrews,Fife, in 1538.[3] This position supplied his income. Clothes for "lord James of Sanctandrois" and his brothers were made by the king's tailor,Thomas Arthur.[4]
Lord James and his half-brotherJames Stewart, Commendator of Kelso and Melrose were at school inSt Andrews when James V died in 1542. In June 1543,the Regent Arran sentthe Laird of Grange to collect them and take them toLinlithgow Palace. Instead, Robert Douglas took Lord James toLochleven Castle.[5]
In May 1553, the imperial ambassador to England,Jean Scheyfve, heard thatMary of Guise planned to make him regent in place ofJames Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault.[6] Mary of Guise was the widow of James V and the mother of his only surviving legitimate child,Mary, Queen of Scots, who was living in France at the time and had not yet reached adulthood. Guise herself became regent in 1554.
On 5 August 1557, Moray, his half-brother Lord Robert, andLord Home led a raiding party fromEdinburgh towardsFord Castle inNorthumberland and burnt houses at Fenton and inGlendale, before retreating on the approach of an English force led byHenry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland.[7][8]
In 1558, James attended thewedding in Paris of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Dauphin of France, who became KingFrancis II of France. To fund this trip, his mother obtained credit fromTimothy Cagnioli, an Italian banker in Edinburgh.[9]
James became a supporter of theScottish Reformation. In June 1559, he plucked down the graven images in various churches atPerth.[10] An English commentator praised James for his virtue, manhood, valour and stoutness as a leader of the ProtestantLords of the Congregation.[11]
After the death of her first husband, King Francis of France, Mary planned to return to Scotland. James wrote to her in June 1561 aboutBartholomew de Villemore, the FrenchComptroller of Scotland, who was ordered to repair her palaces and make provision for her household.[12] Despite their religious differences, Moray became one of the chief advisers to his half-sister Mary after her return from France. Although James disturbed her priests celebrating mass atHolyroodhouse in September 1561,[13] she made himEarl of Moray andEarl of Mar (the Mar earldom was soon afterwards withdrawn)[14] the following year, both earldoms being new creations.[15] With the lucrative Moray earldom cameDarnaway Castle with its medieval hall, notable even then as "verie fayer and large builded." Moray also had a smaller house calledPitlethie nearLeuchars inFife, which his father had used.[16]
He wrote toRobert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, a favourite of QueenElizabeth I of England, in January 1562.[17] In October 1562, Moray defeated a rebellion byGeorge Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, at theBattle of Corrichie nearAberdeen. The very powerful and wealthy Huntly, who controlled large areas of northeastern Scotland, died immediately after this battle.[14] In 1562, Alistair Gunn son-in-law ofJohn Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland, led Gordon's retinue and encountered James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, and his followers on the High Street ofAberdeen. The Earl of Moray was the bastard half-brother ofMary, Queen of Scots, as well as the son-in-law ofWilliam Keith, 4th Earl Marischal, chief of Clan Keith. It was the custom at the time to yield thoroughfares to the personage of greater rank, and in refusing to yield the middle of the street to Stewart and his train, Gunn insulted the Earl publicly. Stewart soon afterward had him pursued to a place called Delvines, near Nairn. There he was captured byAndrew Munro of Milntown and taken to Inverness, and following a mock trial, he was executed.[18][19]
Moray went toCastle Campbell for the wedding ofJames Stewart, 1st Lord Doune, and Margaret Campbell (d. 1572), sister of theEarl of Argyll, on 10 January 1563. There was a masque involving courtiers and musicians dressed in whitetaffeta as shepherds.[20] However, Moray became ill and withdrew toStirling Castle. Mary, Queen of Scots, was also ill for a week.[21]
Moray opposed the marriage of his half-sister Mary, toHenry Stuart, Lord Darnley, in July 1565, and he embarked upon the unsuccessfulChaseabout Raid, a revolt precipitated by the marriage, together with theEarl of Argyll andClan Hamilton.[22] He was subsequently declared anoutlaw and took refuge in England, where he had an audience withElizabeth I in the presence of the French ambassadorsPaul de Foix andMichel de Castelnau. She disapproved of his action against a lawful monarch.[23]
It was said thatDavid Rizzio was involved in brokering pardons at Holyrood for Moray and the rebels, which aroused the jealousy of Lord Darnley.[24][25] Moray returned to Scotland after the murder of Rizzio, pardoned by the Queen, and once more became one of her key advisers. On 31 August 1566, Moray wrote fromStirling Castle to thetreasurerRobert Richardson to ensureNichola Wardlaw, one of the queen's gentlewomen, received a velvet gown for her wedding day.[26] He contrived nonetheless to be away at the time of Darnley's assassination in 1567. He avoided the entanglements of Mary's disastrous marriage toJames Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, which followed the Darnley murder by mere weeks, by removing himself to France.[2]
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Mary wasforced to abdicate atLochleven Castle on 24 July 1567.[14] Moray returned to Edinburgh from France on 11 August 1567 by way ofBerwick-upon-Tweed.William Cecil, the English Secretary of State, had arranged his transport fromDieppe in an English ship.[27] He was appointedregent on 22 August for the infant KingJames VI. There was a public ceremony or inauguration in Edinburgh, Moray took an oath before the Justice ClerkJohn Bellenden at theTolbooth and was proclaimed by heralds at theMercat Cross.[28]
The appointment was confirmed byParliament in December. To raise money, Moray sent his agentNicolas Elphinstone to London to sellMary's jewels and pearls.[29] Moray bought clothes for his lackeys and an African servant calledNageir the Moor in February 1568.[30]
Mary escaped from Loch Leven on 2 May 1568, and theDuke of Châtellerault and other nobles rallied to her standard. Moray gathered his allies and defeated her forces at theBattle of Langside, nearGlasgow, on 13 May 1568.[2] Mary was compelled to flee and decided to seek refuge in England. She could have departed for France if she had liked, where she retained the status of queen dowager; however, this would have taken more time and resources to arrange.[14]
For the subsequent management of the kingdom without Mary as queen, he secured both civil andecclesiastical peace and earned the title of "The Gude Regent".[31] In August 1568, it was reported that Moray refused a letter from Mary's supporterLord Herries that was addressed simply to the "Earl of Moray" without his new title of Regent of Scotland.[32]
In September 1568, Moray chose commissioners and travelled toYork to discuss a treaty with England. Moray had a list of allegations against Mary compiled, known as theBook of Articles, which he sent to Cecil. During this conference, he produced theCasket letters, which were supposed to incriminate Queen Mary and justify his rule in Scotland. It was later said that a plan to assassinate him atNorthallerton,Yorkshire, on his way back had been called off.[33]
Scotland was now in a state ofcivil war. Moray moved against the supporters of Queen Mary in their south-west homelands with a military expedition in June 1568 called the 'Raid of Dumfries' or 'Raid of Hoddom'.[34] The Regent's army and the royal artillery were taken toBiggar, where his allies were commanded to muster on 10 June and proceed on toDumfries. The army was protected by a scouting party led by AlexanderHume ofManderston, and the vanguard was commanded by theEarl of Morton andLord Home. Behind was the 'carriage' (the artillery train), followed by Moray himself. The Laird ofCessford followed behind, and the army was flanked by the scouting parties of the Lairds of Merse andBuccleuch.[35]
Along the way, Moray captured houses belonging to supporters of Queen Mary, includingLord Fleming's Boghall,Skirling,Crawford,Sanquhar,Kenmure andHoddom, where the cannon were deployed, andAnnan, where he rendezvoused with the English noblemanLord Scrope (the Captain ofCarlisle Castle), to discuss border matters. Scrope estimated the army to number 6,000 men and returned to Carlisle, where he saw Queen Mary's servants play football on 14 June. Moray then tookLochmaben Castle, which theLaird of Drumlanrig was left to hold, and then captured Lochwood and Lochhouse before returning to Edinburgh viaPeebles. At Dumfries, a number ofLord Maxwell's supporters surrendered.[36] Moray was responsible for the destruction ofRutherglen castle, which he burned to the ground in 1569 in retribution against the Hamiltons for having supported Mary at the Battle of Langside.[37]
In June 1569, Moray went north toBrechin, where he accepted hostages sent byGeorge Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly. AtDunnotar Castle, he proclaimed that he had "reparit (arrived) in proper person (as Regent) to thir north partis of firm purpose and deliberation to reduce sic as hes neglectit their duty in time bypast ... intending to use lenitie (leniency) and moderation."[38]
AtAberdeen, Moray held talks with Huntly himself. AtInverness, on 4 June 1569, Moray met theHighland and Island chiefs with the Earls of Caithness and Sutherland andLord Lovat. His secretary, John Wood, said "such a power had seldom been seen there," Moray wrote that "the journey is to put down troubles in the north."[39]
In March 1569 Moray came fromKelso toLiddesdale and spoke to the English border warden, Sir John Forster. He was accompanied by Lord Home, Ker ofCessford, Ker ofFerniehirst, Scot of Buccleuch and 4,000 men. After holding unsatisfactory talks with the local leaders, "the best of the surname men", Moray burned the farmsteads in Liddesdale. He stayed atMangerton, then had the house blown up with gunpowder and returned to Jedburgh.[40]
On Thursday 19 January 1570, Moray was atStirling Castle, where he had invited the English diplomat SirHenry Gates and the soldier SirWilliam Drury, Marshal of Berwick, for dinner in the Great Hall. Later, in his bedchamber, he told the English visitors he would meet them and certain Scottish nobles at Edinburgh on Monday or Tuesday to discuss therendition of English rebels. Moray was troubled by the problem ofDumbarton Castle, which was held against him by supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots.[44] On 21 January, he sent letters to summon theEarl of Morton, Lindsay andHome to the meeting in Edinburgh.[45]
Moray was assassinated inLinlithgow on 23 January 1570 byJames Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a supporter of his half-sister Mary. As Moray was passing in acavalcade in the main street below, Hamilton fatally wounded him with amatchlockcarbine shot from a window of his uncleArchbishop Hamilton's house.[46] He was the first head of government to be assassinated by a firearm.[47]
Moray's body was shipped toLeith, then taken to Holyrood Abbey.[48] Moray was buried on 14 February 1570 in St Anthony's aisle atSt Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh. Seven earls and lords carried his body;William Kirkcaldy of Grange held his standard, andJohn Knox preached at the funeral.[48] Knox's own prohibition of funeral sermons (on the grounds that they glorified the deceased and displayed distinctions between rich and poor) was waived for the occasion.[49] Moray's tomb was carved by John Roytell andMurdoch Walker, with a brass engraved byJames Gray.[50] The contract for the tomb survives. It was written by the chaplain Robert Ewyn, the administrator of the craft of masons and wrights in Edinburgh.[51]
His wife, Agnes Keith, was buried inside his tomb when she died in 1588.[52]
Moray was succeeded by his eldest daughter and heir,Elizabeth Stewart, 2nd Countess of Moray, whose husband,James Stewart of Doune, acquired the earldom on their marriage.
Astained-glass window installed inSt. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh in the 1880s depicts Moray's assassination andJohn Knox preaching at his funeral.[53] There is abas-relief sculpture byAmelia Hill in Linlithgow commemorating the assassination and a Regent Moray Street near theKelvin Hall in Glasgow.
The Earl of Moray is depicted in many fictional works which focus on the life and times of Mary, Queen of Scots. These include the following:
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Murray, James Stuart, Earl of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 40–41.| Peerage of Scotland | ||
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| New creation | Earl of Moray 1562–1570 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
