James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray
Encyclopedia
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (c. 1531 – 23 January 1570), a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V
James V of Scotland
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...

, was Regent of Scotland for his nephew, the infant King James VI of Scotland
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

, from 1567 until his assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

 in 1570. Before 1562 he was known as 'Lord James.'

Life and career

Moray was born in about 1531, the most notable of the many illegitimate children of King James V of Scotland. His mother was the King's favourite mistress, Lady Margaret Erskine
Margaret Erskine
Lady Margaret Erskine was a mistress of King James V of Scotland.She was a daughter of John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine and Margaret Campbell.James V had a number of mistresses in his time, but some accounts describe her as his favourite...

, daughter of John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine
John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine
John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine was a Scottish nobleman who was de jure but not de facto Earl of Mar.He succeeded to the title of 16th Earl of Mar de jure, [S., c. 1115], on 9 September 1513. On 3 August 1522, Mar was appointed keeper of the ten year old King James V of Scotland and Stirling Castle...

, and wife of Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven. James was appointed Prior of St Andrews
Prior of St Andrews
The Prior of St Andrews was the head of the property and community of Augustinian canons of St Andrews Cathedral Priory, St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was established by King David I in 1140 with canons from Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire...

 in his youth. This position supplied his income. As early as May 1553, the imperial ambassador to England, Jean Scheyfve, heard that Mary of Guise
Mary 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...

 planned make him Regent of Scotland in place of James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault.

On 5 August 1557, Moray, his half-brother Lord Robert, and Lord Home
Alexander Home, 5th Lord Home
Alexander Home, 5th Lord Home was the son of George Home, 4th Lord Home and Mariotta Haliburton. He became Lord Home on the death of his father who was injured in a skirmish with the English two days before the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh.-Marriages:...

 led a raiding party from Edinburgh towards Ford Castle
Ford Castle
Forde Castle is a Grade 1 listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument situated at a shallow crossing point on the River Till, Ford, Northumberland, England....

 in Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...

 and burnt houses at Fenton
Fenton
- England :* Fenton, Cumbria* Fenton, South Kesteven, Lincolnshire* Fenton, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire* Fenton, Northumberland* Fenton, Nottinghamshire* Fenton, Staffordshire - United States :* Fenton, Iowa* Fenton, Louisiana...

 before retreating on the approach of an English force led by Henry Percy
Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland, 2nd Baron Percy was an English aristocrat and conspirator.-Life:He was born at Newburn Manor about 1532, was second of the two sons of Sir Thomas Percy, who was executed in 1537 as a chief actor in the Pilgrimage of Grace, and Eleanor Harbottle...

. James attended the wedding of his legitimate half-sister, Mary, Queen of Scots, in Paris. To fund this trip his mother obtained credit from Timothy Cagnioli, an Italian banker in Edinburgh. At Perth in June 1559 James plucked down the images in various churches. An English commentator praised James for his virtue, manhood, valiantness and stoutness as a leader of the Scottish Reformation
Scottish 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...

 and a Lord 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 :...

. Moray became the chief advisor to Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1561 after her return from France. She was the only surviving child of his father's marriage to Mary of Guise
Mary 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...

. Although he disturbed her priests celebrating mass at Holyroodhouse in September 1561, she made him Earl of Moray
Earl of Moray
The title Earl of Moray has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland.Prior to the formal establishment of the peerage, Earl of Moray, numerous individuals ruled the kingdom of Moray or Mormaer of Moray until 1130 when the kingdom was destroyed by David I of Scotland.-History of the...

 the following year. With the earldom came Darnaway Castle
Darnaway Castle
Darnaway Castle is located in Darnaway Forest, southwest of Forres in Moray, Scotland. This was Comyn land, given to Thomas Randolph along with the Earldom of Moray by King Robert I. The castle has remained the seat of the Earls of Moray ever since. Rebuilt in 1810, it retains the old...

 with its medieval hall, notable even then as 'verie fayer and large builded.' On 8 February 1562, Moray married Agnes Keith
Agnes Keith, Countess of Moray
Agnes Keith, Countess of Moray was a Scottish noblewoman having been the eldest daughter of William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal. She was the wife of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland and the illegitimate half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots, making her a sister-in-law of the...

, daughter of William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal
William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal
William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal was a Scottish nobleman and politician.-Family background and career:Keith was born on 24 July 1506, the son of Robert Keith, Master of Marischal and Lady Elizabeth Douglas....

. The marriage produced three daughters:
  • Elizabeth (wife of James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray
    James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray
    James Stewart , 2nd Earl of Moray was a Scottish nobleman, the son of James Stewart, 1st Lord Doune. The 2nd Earl was murdered by George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly, as the culmination of a vendetta...

    )
  • Annabel
  • Margaret (wife of Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll
    Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll
    Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll , Scottish nobleman, was the son of Andrew, 8th earl, and of Lady Jean Hay, daughter of William, 6th earl...

    ).


In October 1562, he defeated a rebellion by George Gordon, 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...

, at the Battle of Corrichie near Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

.

After Moray opposed the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Lord Darnley
Henry 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...

 in 1565, he embarked upon the unsuccessful 'Chaseabout Raid
Chaseabout Raid
The Chaseabout Raid was a rebellion by James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray against his half sister, Mary, Queen of Scots, on 26 August 1565, over her marriage to Lord Darnley.-Background:...

', together with the Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll was one of the leading figures in the politics of Scotland during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the early part of that of James VI.-Biography:...

 and Clan Hamilton
Clan Hamilton
The House of Hamilton, occasionally and erroneously referred to as Clan Hamilton, is a Scottish family who historically held broad territories throughout central and southern Scotland, particularly Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and the Lothians...

. He was subsequently declared an outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...

 and took refuge in England. Returning to Scotland after the murder of David Rizzio
David Rizzio
Davide Rizzio, sometimes written as Davide Riccio or Davide Rizzo , was an Italian courtier, born close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts de San Paolo et Solbrito, who rose to become the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots...

, he was pardoned by the Queen. He contrived, however, to be away at the time of Darnley's assassination, and avoided the tangles of the marriage with Bothwell
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney , 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...

 by going to France. After Mary's abdication
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...

 at Loch Leven
Loch Leven
Loch Leven is a fresh water loch in Perth and Kinross council area, central Scotland.Roughly triangular, the loch is about 6 km at its longest. The burgh of Kinross lies at its western end. Loch Leven Castle lies on an island a short way offshore...

, in July 1567, he was appointed regent of Scotland. When she escaped from Loch Leven (2 May 1568) the Duke of Chatelherault
James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran
James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault and 2nd Earl of Arran was a Scottish nobleman.-Biography:He was the eldest legitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran....

 and other nobles rallied to her standard, but Moray gathered his allies and defeated her forces at the Battle of Langside
Battle of Langside
The Battle of Langside, fought on 13 May 1568, was one of the more unusual contests in Scottish history, bearing a superficial resemblance to a grand family quarrel, in which a mother fought her brother who was defending the rights of her infant son...

, near Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 (13 May 1568), and compelled her to flee to England. For this and the subsequent management of the kingdom he secured both civil and ecclesiastical peace, and earned the title of "The Good Regent". Moray was responsible for the destruction of Rutherglen castle
Rutherglen castle
Rutherglen Castle was located where Castle Street meets King Street in Rutherglen. It was a large and important castle having been built in the 13th century, the walls were reportedly 5 feet thick. The castle fell under the control of the English during the First War of Scottish Independence and...

 which he burned to the ground in 1569, in retribution against the Hamiltons for having supported Mary, at the Battle of Langside.

Death

On Thursday 19 January 1570 Moray was at Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...

 where he had invited the English diplomat Sir Henry Gate, Marshall of Berwick, and the soldier 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...

 for dinner in the Great Hall. Later in his bedchamber he told the English visitors he would meet with them and certain Scottish nobles at Edinburgh on Monday or Tuesday to discuss the rendition of English rebels
Rising of the North
The Rising of the North of 1569, also called the Revolt of the Northern Earls or Northern Rebellion, was an unsuccessful attempt by Catholic nobles from Northern England to depose Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots.-Background:When Elizabeth I succeeded her...

. Moray was troubled by the problem of Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high.-Iron Age:...

, which was held against him by supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots. On 21 January, he sent letters to summon 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...

, Lindsay and Home
Alexander Home, 5th Lord Home
Alexander Home, 5th Lord Home was the son of George Home, 4th Lord Home and Mariotta Haliburton. He became Lord Home on the death of his father who was injured in a skirmish with the English two days before the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh.-Marriages:...

 to the meeting in Edinburgh, but Moray was assassinated in Linlithgow
Linlithgow
Linlithgow is a Royal Burgh in West Lothian, Scotland. An ancient town, it lies south of its two most prominent landmarks: Linlithgow Palace and Linlithgow Loch, and north of the Union Canal....

 on 23 January 1570 by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh
James Hamilton (assassin)
James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh was a Scottish supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots, who assassinated James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland, in January 1570...

, a supporter of Mary. Hamilton, using a gun, shot and fatally wounded Moray from a window at his uncle John Hamilton
John Hamilton (archbishop)
The Most Rev. Dr. John Hamilton , Scottish prelate and politician, was an illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran....

's house as Moray was passing in a cavalcade
Cavalcade
Cavalcade may refer to:*Cavalcade, a horseback procession, parade, or mass trail ride*A huge parade*A huge procession*Suzuki GV1400 Cavalcade, a Suzuki luxury touring motorcycle available from 1985 to 1988 in North America...

 in the main street below. It was the first recorded assassination by a firearm. The Regent's body was shipped to Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

 then taken to Holyrood Abbey. He was buried on 14 February 1570 in St. Anthony's aisle at St. Giles, Edinburgh. Seven earls and lords carried his body; William Kirkcaldy of Grange
William Kirkcaldy of Grange
Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange , Scottish politician and general, was the eldest son of Sir James Kirkcaldy of Grange , a member of an old Fife family...

 held his standard, and John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...

 preached at the funeral. Moray's tomb was carved by John Roytell and Murdoch Walker, with a brass engraved by James Gray. His wife, Agnes was buried inside his tomb when she died in 1588.

Moray was succeeded by his eldest daughter and heir, Elizabeth Stewart, 2nd Countess of Moray, whose husband, James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray
James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray
James Stewart , 2nd Earl of Moray was a Scottish nobleman, the son of James Stewart, 1st Lord Doune. The 2nd Earl was murdered by George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly, as the culmination of a vendetta...

 acquired the earldom on their marriage.

Moray in popular culture

Notable media depictions of Moray include Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...

's portrayal of James Stewart (pre-Regency) in the 1971 film Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (film)
Mary, Queen of Scots is a 1971 Universal Pictures biographical film based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Leading an all-star cast are Vanessa Redgrave as the titular character and Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I. In the same year, Jackson played the part of Elizabeth in the TV drama Elizabeth...

. He also features in Sir Walter Scott's 1820 novel The Monastery
The Monastery
The Monastery: a Romance is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott. Along with The Abbot, it is one of Scott's Tales from Benedictine Sources and is set in the time of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Elizabethan period.-Plot introduction:...

.
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