Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn
Alexander Cunningham | |
---|---|
Earl of Glencairn, Lord Kilmaurs | |
Predecessor | William Cunningham, 4th Earl of Glencairn |
Successor | William Cunningham, 6th Earl of Glencairn |
Born | 1515 |
Died | 23 November 1574[1] |
Noble family | Cunningham |
Spouse(s) | Lady Janet Hamilton |
Issue | William Cunningham, 6th Earl of Glencairn |
Father | William Cunningham, 4th Earl of Glencairn |
Mother | Catherine Borthwick |
Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn (Born around 1515 and died 23 November 1574) was a Scottish nobleman and Protestant reformer, prominent in the Scottish Reformation.
Biography
Alexander Cunningham was the son of
By 1540, Cunningham, who was then styled as Lord Kilmaurs, was associated with the cause of reform, writing a satirical poem about the
In 1555, on the return of John Knox to Scotland, he resorted openly to hear him preach. When the Reformer, at the request of the Earl Marischal, addressed to the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise a letter in which he earnestly exhorted her to protect the reformed preachers, and to consent to a Reformation in the church, Glencairn had the boldness to deliver it to Her Majesty, who, after glancing carelessly over it, handed to James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow, and contemptuously said: "Please you, my lord, to read as pasquil!".
In 1556, he entertained Knox at his house of
In 1559, in consequence of the rigorous proceedings against Protestants by the Queen Regent, he and his relative,
In May of that year, when the Reformers at Perth found it necessary to protect themselves by force of arms, Glencairn joined them with 1,200 horse and 1,300 foot, which he had raised in the west of the country. After the Protestant religion had been established by parliament in 1560, the earl was nominated a member of Queen Mary's Privy Council.
He and the
Glencairn was amongst the nobles who opposed the marriage of
When
Succession
Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn was buried in the family crypt at the Glencairn Aisle in Kilmaurs, East Ayrshire.[3] He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, the Master of Glencairn: William Cunningham, 6th Earl of Glencairn.
Writings
A satirical poem against the Popish Party, entitled The Hermit of Allareit or Loretto, near Musselburgh, written by Lord Glencairn, and preserved in Knox's History of the Reformation, is also found in Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry.
Arms
Couché. A shakefork. Crest: on a helmet with coronet, a unicorn head. Supporters: two conies sejant.[4]
References
- ^ "Alexander Cunningham, 5th earl of Glencairn". Britannica. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
- ^ C. Rogers, History of the Chapel Royal of Scotland, (Edinburgh, 1882), p.ccxl: Herries, Historie of the Reigne of Marie Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 1836), p.97.
- ^ Murray, James (1907). Kilmacolm. A Parish History. Alexander Gardner. p. 219.
- ^ Macdonald, William Rae, Scottish Armorial Seals, (Edinburgh: W. Green, 1904), p 67
Sources
- Anderson, William, The Scottish Nation, Edinburgh, 1867, vol v, pp. 311-312.