James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (1531-23 January 1570) was Earl of Moray from 1562 to 1570, preceding Elizabeth Stewart, 2nd Countess of Moray. From 1567 to 1570, he served as regent of Scotland for his half-nephew, King James VI of Scotland, having sided with the Protestants during the Marian Civil War and played a role in the deposition of his Catholic half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots. He helped to suppress Catholic unrest across the country, but he was assassinated in 1570.
Biography[]
Moray in 1558
James Stewart was born in Scotland in 1531, the son of King James V of Scotland and his favorite mistress Margaret Erskine. In 1538, he was appointed Prior of St. Andrews in Fife to provide him with income, and, in 1553, his stepmother Mary of Guise considered appointing him regent of Scotland in the place of James Hamilton, Duke of Chatellerault. On 5 August 1557, Stewart launched a raid on northern England before Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland and his army approached the Scots near Fenton. In 1558, Stewart attended the wedding of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots to Dauphin Francis of France in Paris, but he became a supporter of the Reformation and converted to Calvinism. In June of 1559, he plucked down the images in several churches in Perth, and he became a leader of the Protestant Lords of the Congregation. However, upon his sister's return from France in 1561, Stewart became a main advisor to her. He was made Earl of Moray and Mar in 1562, and he was granted Darnaway Castle. In 1562, he defeated a rebellion by George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly at the Battle of Corrichie, but he opposed Mary's marriage to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley in 1565 and was outlawed after engaging in the Chaseabout Raid. He took refuge in England and remained there until the murder of David Rizzio back in Scotland, after which he was pardoned by the Queen and returned to being one of her main advisors. He fled to France after Lord Darnley's assassination in 1567 but returned after his sister's abdication that same year, and he served as regent for his nephew, King James IV of Scotland, from 1567 to 1570. In 1568, he defeated the forces loyal to his half-sister in the Battle of Langside, forcing Mary to flee to England. He then campaigned against Queen Mary's Catholic supporters, who continued to rebel against the Protestant monarchy. On 23 January 1570, he was assassinated in Linlithgow by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a supporter of Mary, sniped with a carbine rifle; he was the first head of government to be assassinated with a firearm.