James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
Encyclopedia
James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney (c. 1534 – 14 April 1578), better known by his inherited title as 4th Earl of Bothwell, was hereditary Lord High Admiral of Scotland
. He is best known for his association with and subsequent marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third husband. He was the last royal consort of Scotland only, as the spouses of all subsequent Scottish monarchs were also the Royal Consorts of England, Wales and Ireland, after the Union of the Crowns
.
, and Agnes Sinclair (d.1572), daughter of Henry Sinclair, 3rd Lord Sinclair
, and was styled Lord Hailes from birth. He succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Bothwell in 1556.
, Bothwell sailed around Europe. During a visit to Copenhagen around 1559, he fell in love with Anna Tronds, known in English as Anna Throndsen
and posthumously as Anna Rustung. She was a Norwegian noblewoman whose father, Kristoffer Trondson (Rustung), a famous Norwegian admiral, was serving as Danish Royal Consul. After their engagement, or more likely marriage under Norwegian law, Anna left with Bothwell. In Flanders, he said he was out of money and asked Anna to sell all her possessions. She complied and visited her family in Denmark to ask for more money. Anna was unhappy and apparently given to complaining about Bothwell. Bothwell's treatment of Anna played a part in his eventual downfall.
In February 1566 Bothwell married Jean Gordon
, sister of Sir John Gordon and of the Earl of Huntly
. They were divorced on 7 May 1567, citing his adultery
with her servant as cause. He married Mary, Queen of Scots, eight days later.
Court in the autumn of 1560, after he left Anna Rustung in Flanders
. He was kindly received by the Queen and her husband, King Francis II
, and, as he himself put it: "The Queen recompensed me more liberally and honourably than I had deserved" — receiving 600 Crowns and the post and salary of gentleman of the French King's Chamber. He visited France again in the spring of 1561, and by 5 July was back in Paris for the third time — this time accompanied by the Bishop of Orkney
and the Earl of Eglinton. By August, the widowed Queen was on her way back to Scotland in a French galley, some of the organisation having been dealt with by Bothwell in his naval capacity.
, the Queen Regent of Scotland, against the Protestant Lords of the Congregation
. Bothwell and 24 followers took 6000 crowns of English money destined to be used against Guise from the Laird of Ormiston on Halloween 1559 at an ambush near Haddington. In retaliation the Protestant leader, the Duke of Châtelherault, sent his son the Earl of Arran
and the Master of Maxwell to seize Bothwell's home Crichton Castle
and force the Earl, who was at Borthwick
, to join them. Bothwell remained true to the Queen Regent, though it was said in January he was "weary of his part". The English agent Thomas Randolph
also hinted at this time of a scandal involving his sister Jean Hepburn
.
following Mary of Guise's death and the return to Scotland of Mary, Queen of Scots, Bothwell appears to have been not much more than a troublesome noble at court. His open quarrel with the Earl of Arran
and the Hamiltons, who accused him of intriguing against the Crown, caused some degree of anguish to the Queen, and although the Earl of Arran was eventually declared mad, Bothwell was nevertheless imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle
without trial in 1562. Later that year, while the Queen was in the Highlands
, he escaped and went to Hermitage Castle
.
The Queen and Bothwell were by now very close. When Bothwell married Lady Jean Gordon
, daughter of the 4th Earl of Huntly
, in February 1566, the Queen attended the wedding (the marriage lasted just over a year). In the following summer, upon hearing that he had been seriously wounded and was likely to die, she rode all the way through the hills and forests of the Borders to be with him at Hermitage Castle
only a few weeks after giving birth to her son. However, historian Lady Antonia Fraser
asserts that Queen Mary was already on her way to visit Bothwell on matters of state before she heard about his illness, and that therefore this visit is not evidence they were already lovers at the time of his accident.
. Darnley's father, the Earl of Lennox
, and other relatives agitated for vengeance and upon his petition, the Privy Council
began proceedings against Bothwell on 12 April 1567. Sir William Drury
reported to Sir William Cecil
, Secretary of State to Elizabeth I of England
, that the Queen was in continuous ill-health "for the most part either melancholy or sickly". On the appointed day Bothwell rode magnificently down the Canongate
, with the Earl of Morton
and Sir William Maitland of Lethington
flanking him, and his Hepburns trotting behind. The trial lasted from noon till seven in the evening. Bothwell was acquitted and it was widely rumoured that he would marry Mary.
, with Lord Bothwell carrying the Sceptre
, where the proceedings of Bothwell's trial were officially declared to be just according to the law of the land. On Saturday 19 April no fewer than eight Bishops, nine Earls, and seven Lords of Parliament put their signatures to what became known as the Ainslie Tavern Bond
, a manifesto declaring that Mary should marry a native-born subject, and handed it to Bothwell.
On Wednesday 24 April, while Mary was on the road from Linlithgow Palace
to Edinburgh, Bothwell suddenly appeared with 800 men. He assured her that danger awaited her in Edinburgh, and told her that he proposed to take her to his castle at Dunbar
, out of harm's way. She agreed to accompany him and arrived at Dunbar at midnight. There Mary was taken prisoner by Bothwell and allegedly raped by him to secure marriage to her and the crown (though whether she was his accomplice or his unwilling victim remains a controversial issue). On 12 May the Queen created him Duke of Orkney, and he married Mary in the Great Hall at Holyrood
on 15 May 1567, according to Protestant rites officiated by Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney
. Within three days, Sir William Drury wrote to London that although the manner of things appeared to be forcible, it was known to be otherwise.
The marriage divided the country into two camps, and on 16 June, the Lords opposed to Mary and the Duke of Orkney (as Bothwell had newly become) signed a Bond denouncing them. A showdown between the two opposing sides followed at Carberry Hill
on 15 June 1567, from which Bothwell fled, after one final embrace, never to be seen again by Mary. In December that year, Bothwell's titles and estates were forfeited by Act of Parliament.
in the hope of raising an army to put Mary back on the throne. Unfortunately he was caught off the coast of Norway
(then ruled by Denmark
) without proper papers, and was escorted to the port of Bergen
. This was the native home of Anna Throndsen
. Anna raised a complaint against Bothwell, which was enforced by her powerful family; her cousin Erik Rosenkrantz, a high-level official in Norway, remanded Bothwell to a local prison whilst Anna sued him for abandonment and return of her dowry. Anna must have had a soft spot in her heart for Bothwell, as he persuaded her to take custody of his ship, as compensation. Bothwell would have been released, but the monarch, King Frederick II of Denmark
, had heard that the English Crown was seeking Bothwell for the alleged murder of King Henry and decided to take him into custody in Denmark.
Frederick at first treated Bothwell with respect but later sent him to the notorious Dragsholm Castle
, where he was held in what was said to be appalling conditions, and he was driven insane. A pillar to which he was chained can still be seen, with a circular groove in the floor around the pillar where Bothwell purportedly remained for the last ten years of his life and where he died. His (alleged) mummified body could be seen in Fårevejle, in the church near the castle, until a few decades ago. However, the identity of the body has never been conclusively proven.
Lord High Admiral of Scotland
The Lord High Admiral of Scotland was one of the Great Offices of State of the Kingdom of Scotland before the Union with England in 1707.The office was one of considerable power, also known as Royal Scottish Admiralty, including command of the King's ships and sailors and inspection of all sea...
. He is best known for his association with and subsequent marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third husband. He was the last royal consort of Scotland only, as the spouses of all subsequent Scottish monarchs were also the Royal Consorts of England, Wales and Ireland, after the Union of the Crowns
Union of the Crowns
The Union of the Crowns was the accession of James VI, King of Scots, to the throne of England, and the consequential unification of Scotland and England under one monarch. The Union of Crowns followed the death of James' unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I of...
.
Early life
He was the son of Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of BothwellPatrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell
Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell , was the son of Adam Hepburn, Lord Hailes, who died at the Battle of Flodden the year after Patrick's birth.Hepburn was known as the Fair Earl...
, and Agnes Sinclair (d.1572), daughter of Henry Sinclair, 3rd Lord Sinclair
Lord Sinclair
Lord Sinclair is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1449 for William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney. In 1470, Lord Orkney surrendered the earldom in return for the earldom of Caithness. In 1477, Lord Caithness wished to disinherit his eldest son from his first marriage to Lady...
, and was styled Lord Hailes from birth. He succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Bothwell in 1556.
Early marriages
As Lord High Admiral of ScotlandLord High Admiral of Scotland
The Lord High Admiral of Scotland was one of the Great Offices of State of the Kingdom of Scotland before the Union with England in 1707.The office was one of considerable power, also known as Royal Scottish Admiralty, including command of the King's ships and sailors and inspection of all sea...
, Bothwell sailed around Europe. During a visit to Copenhagen around 1559, he fell in love with Anna Tronds, known in English as Anna Throndsen
Anna Throndsen
Anna Tronds , known in English as Anna Throndsen and posthumously as Anna Rustung, was a Dano-Norwegian noblewoman. In English and Scots history, Anna Throndsen is most known for her marriage with James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell , a man who later married Mary, Queen of Scots...
and posthumously as Anna Rustung. She was a Norwegian noblewoman whose father, Kristoffer Trondson (Rustung), a famous Norwegian admiral, was serving as Danish Royal Consul. After their engagement, or more likely marriage under Norwegian law, Anna left with Bothwell. In Flanders, he said he was out of money and asked Anna to sell all her possessions. She complied and visited her family in Denmark to ask for more money. Anna was unhappy and apparently given to complaining about Bothwell. Bothwell's treatment of Anna played a part in his eventual downfall.
In February 1566 Bothwell married Jean Gordon
Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell
Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell was a wealthy Scottish noblewoman and the first wife of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell who became, after his divorce from Lady Jean, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Lady Jean herself had a total of three husbands...
, sister of Sir John Gordon and of the Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly , was Lord Chancellor of Scotland and major conspirator of his time.-Biography:...
. They were divorced on 7 May 1567, citing his adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
with her servant as cause. He married Mary, Queen of Scots, eight days later.
First acquaintance in France
Bothwell appears to have met Queen Mary when he visited the FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Court in the autumn of 1560, after he left Anna Rustung in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. He was kindly received by the Queen and her husband, King Francis II
Francis II of France
Francis II was aged 15 when he succeeded to the throne of France after the accidental death of his father, King Henry II, in 1559. He reigned for 18 months before he died in December 1560...
, and, as he himself put it: "The Queen recompensed me more liberally and honourably than I had deserved" — receiving 600 Crowns and the post and salary of gentleman of the French King's Chamber. He visited France again in the spring of 1561, and by 5 July was back in Paris for the third time — this time accompanied by the Bishop of Orkney
Bishop of Orkney
The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics within the territory of modern Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St...
and the Earl of Eglinton. By August, the widowed Queen was on her way back to Scotland in a French galley, some of the organisation having been dealt with by Bothwell in his naval capacity.
Under Mary of Guise's regency
Bothwell supported Mary of GuiseMary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
, the Queen Regent of Scotland, against the Protestant Lords of the Congregation
Lords of the Congregation
The Lords of the Congregation were a group of Protestant Scottish nobles who in the mid-16th century favoured reformation of the church along Protestant principles and a Scottish-English alliance.- Historical events :...
. Bothwell and 24 followers took 6000 crowns of English money destined to be used against Guise from the Laird of Ormiston on Halloween 1559 at an ambush near Haddington. In retaliation the Protestant leader, the Duke of Châtelherault, sent his son the Earl of Arran
James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran
James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran was a Scottish nobleman and soldier who fought against French troops during the Scottish Reformation....
and the Master of Maxwell to seize Bothwell's home Crichton Castle
Crichton Castle
Crichton Castle is a ruined castle situated at the head of the River Tyne, near the village of Crichton, Midlothian, Scotland. The castle lies two miles south of the village of Pathhead, and the same distance east of Gorebridge, at . A mile to the south-west is Borthwick Castle.-History:In the late...
and force the Earl, who was at Borthwick
Borthwick Castle
Borthwick Castle is one of the largest and best-preserved surviving medieval Scottish fortifications. It is located twelve miles south-east of Edinburgh, to the east of the village of Borthwick, on a site protected on three sides by a steep fall in the ground...
, to join them. Bothwell remained true to the Queen Regent, though it was said in January he was "weary of his part". The English agent Thomas Randolph
Thomas Randolph (diplomat)
Thomas Randolph was an English ambassador serving Elizabeth I of England. Most of his professional life he spent in Scotland at the courts of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her son James VI. While in Scotland, he was embroiled in marriage projects and several upheavals...
also hinted at this time of a scandal involving his sister Jean Hepburn
Jean Hepburn
Jean Hepburn, Lady Darnley, Mistress of Caithness, Lady Morham was a Scottish noblewoman and a member of the Border clan of Hepburn. Her brother was James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Jean's first husband was John Stewart, 1st Lord Darnley, an illegitimate...
.
At Queen Mary's court
After Protestant Lords gained powerScottish Reformation
The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...
following Mary of Guise's death and the return to Scotland of Mary, Queen of Scots, Bothwell appears to have been not much more than a troublesome noble at court. His open quarrel with the Earl of Arran
James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran
James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran was a Scottish nobleman and soldier who fought against French troops during the Scottish Reformation....
and the Hamiltons, who accused him of intriguing against the Crown, caused some degree of anguish to the Queen, and although the Earl of Arran was eventually declared mad, Bothwell was nevertheless imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
without trial in 1562. Later that year, while the Queen was in the Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
, he escaped and went to Hermitage Castle
Hermitage Castle
Hermitage Castle is a semi-ruined castle in the border region of Scotland. It is under the care of Historic Scotland. The Castle has a reputation, both from its history and its appearance, as one of the most sinister and atmospheric in Scotland....
.
The Queen and Bothwell were by now very close. When Bothwell married Lady Jean Gordon
Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell
Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell was a wealthy Scottish noblewoman and the first wife of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell who became, after his divorce from Lady Jean, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Lady Jean herself had a total of three husbands...
, daughter of the 4th Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly was a Scottish nobleman.-Biography:He was the son of John Gordon, Lord Gordon, and Margaret Stewart, daughter of James IV. George Gordon inherited his earldom and estates in 1524 at age 10...
, in February 1566, the Queen attended the wedding (the marriage lasted just over a year). In the following summer, upon hearing that he had been seriously wounded and was likely to die, she rode all the way through the hills and forests of the Borders to be with him at Hermitage Castle
Hermitage Castle
Hermitage Castle is a semi-ruined castle in the border region of Scotland. It is under the care of Historic Scotland. The Castle has a reputation, both from its history and its appearance, as one of the most sinister and atmospheric in Scotland....
only a few weeks after giving birth to her son. However, historian Lady Antonia Fraser
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...
asserts that Queen Mary was already on her way to visit Bothwell on matters of state before she heard about his illness, and that therefore this visit is not evidence they were already lovers at the time of his accident.
The murder of Darnley
In February 1567, Bothwell was one of those accused of having murdered the Queen's consort Lord DarnleyHenry Stuart, Lord Darnley
Henry Stewart or Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany , styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland and murdered at Kirk o'Field...
. Darnley's father, the Earl of Lennox
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox was the 4th Earl of Lennox, and leader of the Catholic nobility in Scotland. He was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox. His grandson was James VI of Scotland....
, and other relatives agitated for vengeance and upon his petition, the Privy Council
Privy Council of Scotland
The Privy Council of Scotland was a body that advised the King.In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland...
began proceedings against Bothwell on 12 April 1567. Sir William Drury
William Drury
Sir William Drury, Knt., was an English statesman and soldier,He was a son of Sir Robert Drury of Hedgerley in Buckinghamshire, and grandson of another Sir Robert Drury , who was speaker of the House of Commons in 1495. He was a brother of Dru Drury.He was born at Hawstead in Suffolk, and was...
reported to Sir William Cecil
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...
, Secretary of State to Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, that the Queen was in continuous ill-health "for the most part either melancholy or sickly". On the appointed day Bothwell rode magnificently down the Canongate
Canongate
The Canongate is a small district at the heart of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland.The name derives from the main street running through the area: called Canongate without the definite article, "the". Canongate forms the lower, eastern half of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh's historic Old Town....
, with the Earl of Morton
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
James Douglas, jure uxoris 4th Earl of Morton was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he did manage to win the civil war which had been dragging on with the supporters of the exiled Mary, Queen of...
and Sir William Maitland of Lethington
William Maitland of Lethington
Sir William Maitland of Lethington was a Scottish politician and reformer, and the eldest son of the poet Richard Maitland....
flanking him, and his Hepburns trotting behind. The trial lasted from noon till seven in the evening. Bothwell was acquitted and it was widely rumoured that he would marry Mary.
Marriage to Queen Mary
The next Wednesday, the Queen rode to the Estates of ParliamentParliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...
, with Lord Bothwell carrying the Sceptre
Sceptre
A sceptre is a symbolic ornamental rod or wand borne in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia.-Antiquity:...
, where the proceedings of Bothwell's trial were officially declared to be just according to the law of the land. On Saturday 19 April no fewer than eight Bishops, nine Earls, and seven Lords of Parliament put their signatures to what became known as the Ainslie Tavern Bond
Ainslie Tavern Bond
The Ainslie Tavern Bond was a document signed on about 20 April 1567 by a number of Scottish bishops and nobles...
, a manifesto declaring that Mary should marry a native-born subject, and handed it to Bothwell.
On Wednesday 24 April, while Mary was on the road from Linlithgow Palace
Linlithgow Palace
The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are situated in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although maintained after Scotland's monarchs left for England in 1603, the...
to Edinburgh, Bothwell suddenly appeared with 800 men. He assured her that danger awaited her in Edinburgh, and told her that he proposed to take her to his castle at Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
, out of harm's way. She agreed to accompany him and arrived at Dunbar at midnight. There Mary was taken prisoner by Bothwell and allegedly raped by him to secure marriage to her and the crown (though whether she was his accomplice or his unwilling victim remains a controversial issue). On 12 May the Queen created him Duke of Orkney, and he married Mary in the Great Hall at Holyrood
Holyrood Palace
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The palace stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle...
on 15 May 1567, according to Protestant rites officiated by Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney
Bishop of Orkney
The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics within the territory of modern Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St...
. Within three days, Sir William Drury wrote to London that although the manner of things appeared to be forcible, it was known to be otherwise.
The marriage divided the country into two camps, and on 16 June, the Lords opposed to Mary and the Duke of Orkney (as Bothwell had newly become) signed a Bond denouncing them. A showdown between the two opposing sides followed at Carberry Hill
Battle of Carberry Hill
The Battle of Carberry Hill took place on the 15th June 1567, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, a few miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. It was part of the ongoing civil war that surrounded Mary, Queen of Scots and the ever changing sides that opposed her and supported her.-The conflict:In May of...
on 15 June 1567, from which Bothwell fled, after one final embrace, never to be seen again by Mary. In December that year, Bothwell's titles and estates were forfeited by Act of Parliament.
Anna's revenge
He escaped from Scotland and travelled to ScandinaviaScandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
in the hope of raising an army to put Mary back on the throne. Unfortunately he was caught off the coast of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
(then ruled by Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
) without proper papers, and was escorted to the port of Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
. This was the native home of Anna Throndsen
Anna Throndsen
Anna Tronds , known in English as Anna Throndsen and posthumously as Anna Rustung, was a Dano-Norwegian noblewoman. In English and Scots history, Anna Throndsen is most known for her marriage with James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell , a man who later married Mary, Queen of Scots...
. Anna raised a complaint against Bothwell, which was enforced by her powerful family; her cousin Erik Rosenkrantz, a high-level official in Norway, remanded Bothwell to a local prison whilst Anna sued him for abandonment and return of her dowry. Anna must have had a soft spot in her heart for Bothwell, as he persuaded her to take custody of his ship, as compensation. Bothwell would have been released, but the monarch, King Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II of Denmark
Frederick II was King of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig from 1559 until his death.-King of Denmark:Frederick II was the son of King Christian III of Denmark and Norway and Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg. Frederick II stands as the typical renaissance ruler of Denmark. Unlike his father, he...
, had heard that the English Crown was seeking Bothwell for the alleged murder of King Henry and decided to take him into custody in Denmark.
Frederick at first treated Bothwell with respect but later sent him to the notorious Dragsholm Castle
Dragsholm Castle
Dragsholm Castle is a historic building in Hørve, Denmark.For about 800 years there has been a building on the islet by the “drag”. From the original palace over the medieval castle to the current baroque style, Dragsholm Castle has had an influence on and been influenced by changing times and...
, where he was held in what was said to be appalling conditions, and he was driven insane. A pillar to which he was chained can still be seen, with a circular groove in the floor around the pillar where Bothwell purportedly remained for the last ten years of his life and where he died. His (alleged) mummified body could be seen in Fårevejle, in the church near the castle, until a few decades ago. However, the identity of the body has never been conclusively proven.
Titles and styles
- Lord Hailes (c.CircaCirca , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1535 – September 1556) - The Earl of Bothwell (September 1556 – 12 May 1567)
- The Duke of Orkney (12 May 1567 – 29 December 1567)
- James Hepburn (29 December 1567 – 14 April 1578)
Ancestry
See also
- Casket lettersCasket lettersCasket Letters is the name generally given to a group of eight letters and a sequence of irregular sonnets said to have been addressed by Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Earl of Bothwell, between January and April 1566 or 1567. If authentic throughout, they would provide definite proof of Mary's...