Tudors Versus Stewarts

by Linda Porter

  Madeleine, the first wife of James V, was the daughter of Francis I of France. James went to France to seek her hand and was much influenced by the magnificence of Paris and the French court. His wife, alas, was already dying of tuberculosis when they married and lived only seven weeks in Scotland before dying there in the summer of 1537.

  Linlithgow Palace, to the west of Edinburgh, was the favourite home of Margaret Tudor and Mary of Guise. It was also the birthplace of Margaret’s son, James V, and his daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots.

  A vision in pink, Mary as a young woman in France.

  Lady Margaret Douglas, the only child of Margaret Tudor and the earl of Angus. Formidably determined and ambitious, she was eventually reconciled with her daughter-in-law, Mary, Queen of Scots, becoming a staunch supporter of the claim to the English throne of her grandson, who became James I of England in 1603.

  Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley and King of Scots, was the adored elder son of Margaret Douglas and her husband, Matthew Stewart, earl of Lennox. He was tall, good-looking and accomplished in courtly pursuits. Mary, Queen of Scots made him her second husband because he strengthened her dynastic claim to the English throne but his immaturity, illness and heavy drinking ruined their marriage. He was murdered in 1567.

  James Hepburn, fourth earl of Bothwell, in a miniature painted in 1566 to mark his marriage to Lady Jean Gordon. An opportunist with a violent nature, Bothwell’s first marriage was quickly brought to an end when he decided to marry the queen himself after Darnley’s murder, in which he was implicated. His abduction and rape of Mary has been romanticized and his loss of support among the Scottish nobility cost the queen her throne.

  Hermitage Castle. This grim fortress, in countryside still remote today, was inhabited by Bothwell when he was responsible for keeping order in the Borders. Mary and her advisers briefly visited him there in the autumn of 1566, after he had been wounded in a fight. It is highly unlikely to have been a romantic tryst and the queen fell seriously ill shortly afterwards.

  James VI. Mary, Queen of Scots’ son knew neither of his parents. He was brought up in a strict environment but his intellectual attainments flourished. His minority was difficult, characterized by faction and plots against his life. But he never lost sight of the goal he shared with his mother—the throne of England—and his accession was welcomed in 1603.

  The Honours of Scotland. The crown, sceptre and sword that form the royal regalia of Scotland, on display in Edinburgh Castle.

  Dramatis Personae

  THE SCOTS

  THE STEWARTS

  JAMES III, KING OF SCOTS, 1452–88. The eldest son of James II and Mary of Gueldres, James became king in 1460 aged eight. An austere, remote and unpopular ruler, his regime was shaken by serious rebellion in 1482. Further revolt in 1488 involving his eldest son led to his overthrow and death at the battle of Sauchieburn.

  ALEXANDER, DUKE OF ALBANY, 1454–85. The younger brother of James III. Their deteriorating relationship made Albany flee to France. In 1482, allied with England, he invaded Scotland but could not hold on to power. Imprisoned in 1485, he escaped back to France, where he was killed in a joust a few months later.

  JOHN STEWART, DUKE OF ALBANY, c.1482–1536. Alexander, duke of Albany’s son was born in France and brought up at the French court. He was called to Scotland to act as regent in 1515, the first of three separate terms he spent there. Hard-working and genuinely committed, he was frustrated by the complexity of Scottish politics and English opposition to his rule.

  MARGARET OF DENMARK, QUEEN OF SCOTS, 1456/7?–86. The wife of James III was a Danish princess. She produced three sons – James, duke of Rothesay (the future James IV), James, duke of Ross and John, earl of Mar. The crisis of 1482 permanently damaged the royal couple’s marriage; James stayed in Edinburgh and Margaret resided at Stirling.

  JAMES IV, KING OF SCOTS, 1473–1513. The first son of James III and Margaret of Denmark was brought up at Stirling by his mother. He came to the throne, in revolt against his father, in 1488. James married Margaret Tudor in 1503. International success and domestic stability made him the last great king of medieval Scotland. He died at the battle of Flodden in 1513.

  JAMES STEWART, DUKE OF ROSS, 1476–1504. The second son of James III and Margaret of Denmark, James was brought up with his brothers at Stirling. James IV secured his appointment as archbishop of St Andrews but he died without being consecrated.

  ALEXANDER STEWART, ARCHBISHOP-DESIGNATE OF ST ANDREWS, c.1493–1513. The eldest illegitimate son of James IV by his mistress, Marion Boyd, Alexander was destined for the church. A pupil of Erasmus, much admired by his tutor, he was gifted and charming. He died beside his father at Flodden.

  JAMES V, KING OF SCOTS, 1512–42. The son of James IV and Margaret Tudor was aged seventeen months on his accession. His minority was characterized by factional struggles within Scotland. In 1528 he began his personal rule. A capable monarch with a splendid court, James married twice, first to Madeleine of Valois and then to Mary of Guise.

  JAMES STEWART, FIRST EARL OF MORAY, 1531/2–70. The son of James V and his mistress, Margaret Erskine. His relationship with his half-sister, Queen Mary, was uneasy and he opposed the Darnley marriage. He was abroad when Mary married Bothwell and he defeated her forces in 1568, precipitating her flight to England. He served briefly as regent before his assassination.

  JAMES HAMILTON, SECOND EARL OF ARRAN AND DUKE OF CHTELHERAULT, c.1519–75. The second earl of Arran was the great-grandson of James II. He became regent after James V’s death. An unsuccessful military leader, his defeat at the battle of Pinkie in 1547 was the low-point of his career. Arran was a survivor but his pragmatism has been viewed as vacillation. Recent studies suggest that his goal was to defend Scotland and that his patriotism, while not excluding self-interest, was genuine.

  MATTHEW STEWART, FOURTH EARL OF LENNOX, 1516–71. Educated in France, the fourth earl of Lennox returned to Scotland in 1543 to pursue his own interest – he was also a great-grandson of James II. In 1544 he changed tack and pledged himself to Henry VIII, marrying the king’s niece, Lady Margaret Douglas. Lennox was elated by the marriage of his son, Lord Darnley, to Queen Mary and devastated by Darnley’s assassination. He became regent in 1570 and was fatally wounded by opponents in 1571.

  ALEXANDER STEWART, DUKE OF ROSS, 1514–15. James IV’s posthumous son was born to Margaret Tudor in April 1514. With his brother, James V, he was removed from his mother’s care by the duke of Albany in the summer of 1515. He died in December of that year, after his mother had fled to England.

  LADY JANET STEWART, 1502–62. The illegitimate daughter of James IV by Lady Isabel Stewart, Lady Janet Stewart married Lord Malcolm Fleming, who died at the battle of Pinkie. A confidante of Mary of Guise, Lady Fleming accompanied her niece, the young queen, to France as governess but her affair with Henry II and subsequent pregnancy caused her to be sent home in disgrace.

  MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, 1542–87. Mary became queen at only six days old. Sent to France in 1548, she returned to Scotland in 1561, after the death of Francis II, her first husband. Her second marriage, to Lord Darnley, was a disaster. Suspected of involvement in his murder in 1567, her third marriage, to the earl of Bothwell, led to rebellion, abdication and imprisonment. Escaping in 1568, she fled into England. Drawn into plots against Elizabeth, Mary was executed in 1587.

  HENRY STEWART, LORD DARNLEY, 1545–67. The son of Matthew Stewart and Margaret Douglas, Darnley married Mary Queen of Scots in 1565. Despite the birth of a son, Prince James, the marriage collapsed as Darnley’s immaturity became apparent. Implicated in the murder of his wife’s favourite, David Riccio, in 1566, he was himself assassinated in Edinburgh the following year.

  THE SCOTTISH NOBILITY

  The Douglases

  ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS, FIFTH EARL OF ANGUS, c.1449–1513. A member of one of the leading Scottish families, the fifth earl of Angus was disloyal to both James III and James IV. Briefly chancellor in the 1490s, tensions between Angus and J
ames IV were probably heightened by the transfer of the affections of Janet Kennedy, the earl’s young mistress, to the king himself.

  ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS, SIXTH EARL OF ANGUS, c.1489–1557. The sixth earl of Angus married Margaret Tudor in 1514 and until 1528 he dominated Scotland. In exile in England for thirteen years, he returned in 1543 and discovered his Scottish patriotism. Success against the English at Ancrum Moor in 1545 underlined his prowess as a soldier. Disliking Mary of Guise, he retired from politics and was never reconciled to his daughter, Lady Margaret.

  JANET DOUGLAS, LADY GLAMIS, c.1504–37. The sister of the sixth earl, Lady Glamis was accused in 1537 of assisting Angus and of plotting to poison James V. The latter charge was almost certainly false but she was sentenced to death and burned immediately on Edinburgh’s castle hill, a victim of the king’s hatred of the Douglases.

  LADY MARGARET DOUGLAS, COUNTESS OF LENNOX, 1515–78. The only child of Margaret Tudor and the sixth earl of Angus, Lady Margaret Douglas was brought up by her uncle, Henry VIII, after her parents’ marriage disintegrated. In 1544 she married Matthew Stewart, earl of Lennox. The devoted couple’s dynastic ambitions upset Elizabeth I and their Scottish rivals. Shattered by the deaths of her son, Darnley, and her husband, she was eventually reconciled with Mary Queen of Scots.

  JAMES DOUGLAS, EARL OF MORTON, c.1516–81. Mary’s chancellor, who was involved in the murder of Riccio, earning him the queen’s hatred. His role in Darnley’s assassination remains unclear. Initial support for the Bothwell marriage evaporated quickly and he supported Moray when Mary escaped. Regent between 1572 and 1580, he fell from power and was executed in 1581.

  The Hepburns

  PATRICK HEPBURN, FIRST EARL OF BOTHWELL, c.1455–1508. Patrick supported James IV and the rebels against James III at Sauchieburn and played a major role in government in the early part of James IV’s reign. He represented the king at the proxy wedding to Margaret Tudor in London in 1502.

  JAMES HEPBURN, FOURTH EARL OF BOTHWELL AND DUKE OF ORKNEY, 1534/5–78. Mary Queen of Scots’ last husband was a Protestant but also a diehard opponent of English influence in Scotland. Violent and opportunistic, he arranged Darnley’s assassination and then decided to marry the queen himself, abducting and raping her in 1567. Mary’s third marriage brought about her downfall and Bothwell fled Scotland, dying in captivity in Denmark.

  The Gordons

  GEORGE GORDON, FOURTH EARL OF HUNTLY, 1513–62. Close to James V, the fourth earl of Huntly ruled the roost in northern Scotland. Being both pro-French and a staunch Catholic did not protect him from Queen Mary’s wrath when he fell out with her over the award of the earldom of Moray to her half-brother, Lord James Stewart. Huntly’s forces were defeated outside Aberdeen and he died of a stroke.

  GEORGE GORDON, FIFTH EARL OF HUNTLY, d.1576. Imprisoned by Queen Mary after his father’s revolt, but released in 1565, the fifth earl of Huntly converted to Protestantism and became a Marian loyalist, supporting her marriage to Bothwell even though the queen’s third husband had hastily divorced from his sister.

  THE SCOTTISH CLERGY

  JAMES BEATON, ARCHBISHOP OF ST ANDREWS, c.1473–1539. The chancellor of Scotland, who played a leading role in government after Flodden. Determined to maintain Scotland’s independence, he was a supporter of the regent Albany but also believed in peace with England. On uneasy terms with James V, he supported the career of his nephew, David.

  DAVID BEATON, CARDINAL OF SCOTLAND, ARCHBISHOP OF ST ANDREWS, c.1494–1546. Beaton was an accomplished diplomat, pro-French and opposed to the Anglophile Douglases. Powerful, wealthy and ambitious, he came into conflict with Arran following the death of James V but recouped his position. Created cardinal in 1538, he was a religious conservative. The English government condoned his murder.

  JOHN KNOX, RELIGIOUS REFORMER, c.1516–72. John Knox was the towering figure of the Scottish Reformation. Imprisoned in the French galleys in 1547, he lived in England after his release and was chaplain to Edward VI. During the 1550s his time in Germany and Switzerland hardened his virulent anti-Catholicism. An unsparing opponent of Mary Queen of Scots, his firebrand preaching helped establish the Scottish kirk.

  QUEEN MARY’S SECRETARIES

  DAVID RICCIO, c.1533–66. Born in Turin, Riccio came to Mary’s court as a musician. Appointed French secretary in 1564, he was resented by Darnley, who was manipulated by Morton and others who were fearful that parliament would forfeit them for rebellion. Riccio’s brutal murder in the queen’s private apartments was intended as a warning to the pregnant queen to desist.

  WILLIAM MAITLAND OF LETHINGTON, c.1528–73. A tolerant man of great intellect and diplomatic skill, William supported union with England. As Moray’s ally, he was Queen Mary’s secretary between 1561 and 1565. Involvement in the murders of Riccio and Darnley compromised him, though he married Mary Fleming, one of the ‘Four Marys’ – an unlikely love-match. Maitland deserted the queen in 1567, but later resumed his allegiance. He died in prison.

  THE MISTRESSES OF JAMES IV

  (with dates of their liaisons)

  MARION BOYD, 1492–5. The mother of Alexander Stewart and Lady Katherine Stewart.

  MARGARET DRUMMOND, 1495?–7. The mother of Lady Margaret Stewart. She died in 1502.

  JANET KENNEDY, c.1500–3. The mother of James Stewart, earl of Moray and two unnamed daughters, one of whom died young.

  LADY ISABEL STEWART OF BUCHAN, early 1500s. The illegitimate daughter of the earl of Buchan and distant cousin to James IV. Also the mother of Lady Janet Stewart (b.1502), Lady Fleming, governess to Mary Queen of Scots during her first years in France.

  THE MISTRESSES OF JAMES V

  (dates of liaisons unclear)

  ELIZABETH SHAW. The mother of James I Stewart (1529–57).

  ELIZABETH BEATON. The mother of Jean Stewart, countess of Argyll (1530–88).

  MARGARET ERSKINE (James V’s favourite mistress). The mother of James (II) Stewart, earl of Moray (1531–71).

  CHRISTIAN BARCLAY. The mother of James (III) Stewart (fl.1533), who died in infancy.

  KATHERINE CARMICHAEL. The mother of John Stewart (c.1531–63).

  EUPHEMIA ELPHINSTONE. The mother of Robert (I) Stewart (1533–93).

  ELIZABETH STEWART. The mother of Adam Stewart (d.1575).

  TWO UNKNOWN LADIES. The mothers of Margaret Stewart and Robert (II) Stewart (d.1580).

  THE ‘FOUR MARYS’

  (attendants to Mary Queen of Scots)

  MARY BEATON, MARY SETON, MARY LIVINGSTON AND MARY FLEMING (the daughter of Lady Janet Stewart) all accompanied Mary Queen of Scots to France, returned with her in 1561, and were much favoured by the queen.

  THE ENGLISH

  THE TUDORS

  EDMUND TUDOR, EARL OF RICHMOND, c.1430–56. The elder son of Queen Katherine of Valois by her second husband, Owen Tudor. Edmund and his brother, Jasper, were favoured by Henry VI, their half-brother. He married Margaret Beaufort but died of plague at Carmarthen shortly after his release from imprisonment by besieging Yorkist forces in the early years of the Wars of the Roses.

  LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT, COUNTESS OF RICHMOND AND DERBY, 1443–1509. Margaret was the great-great granddaughter of Edward III. Aged twelve, she married Edmund Tudor, was soon widowed and gave birth to a son, Henry. The two were kept apart by the confused politics of the Wars of the Roses. Astute and adaptive, Margaret never lost sight of her son’s interest, supported him in 1485 and remained close thereafter.

  HENRY VII, KING OF ENGLAND, 1457–1509. The first Tudor had spent half his life in exile before a second attempt at the English crown resulted in a surprising victory at Bosworth in 1485. Clever and resourceful, Henry’s policy of financially crippling opponents, rather than executing them, filled his coffers. He married the Yorkist heiress, Elizabeth, to secure his throne. Fond of his family, Henry was also a successful dynast.

  JASPER TUDOR, EARL OF BEDFORD, c.1431–95. Brother-in-law and protector of Margaret Beaufort when she gave birth to Henry VII in his stro
nghold of Pembroke Castle aged thirteen. A diehard opponent of the Yorkists, Jasper shared his nephew’s long exile in Brittany and France, fought with him at Bosworth and was given prominent office in the new Tudor regime.

  MARGARET TUDOR, QUEEN OF SCOTS, 1489–1541. The eldest daughter of Henry VII. In 1503, aged thirteen, she married James IV of Scotland. Only one of their six children, the future James V, survived. Her husband’s death at Flodden was a bitter blow and the queen’s two subsequent marriages were unhappy. Twice regent for her son, Margaret clashed with her brother, Henry VIII, but was unable to establish herself successfully in Scottish politics.

  HENRY VIII, KING OF ENGLAND, 1491–1547. The second son of Henry VII ascended the throne at the age of seventeen in 1509 and married his elder brother’s widow, Katherine of Aragon. Henry is best known for his six wives, the witness of his obsessive search for an heir, and for his break with Rome in the 1530s. A dominant presence in sixteenth-century England, his yearning to be a major European player is often overlooked, and can hardly be counted a success. Neither can his persistent interference in Scottish politics, despite three major military victories.

  EDWARD VI, KING OF ENGLAND, 1537–53. The son of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. Edward came to the throne aged nine in 1547. His government was directed first by his uncle, Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset and then by John Dudley, duke of Northumberland. Henry VIII wanted his son to marry Mary Queen of Scots, thereby uniting the two kingdoms, but most Scots opposed the match.

  MARY I, QUEEN OF ENGLAND, 1516–58. The elder daughter of Henry VIII was England’s first queen regnant. She fought for her throne when her half-brother, Edward VI, cut both her and her sister, Elizabeth, out of the succession in 1553. A staunch Catholic, Mary married the future Philip II of Spain. Her persecution of Protestants has overshadowed her domestic achievements. Relations with Scotland were uneasy during her reign.