George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly

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George Gordon
1st Marquess of Huntly
Tenure1599–1636
SuccessorGeorge Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Huntly
Other titlesEarl of Huntly
Born1562
Died(1636-06-13)13 June 1636 (aged 73–74)
Dundee
NationalityScottish
Spouse(s)Lady Henrietta Stewart
Issue6, including Anne and George
ParentsGeorge Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly
Anne Hamilton

George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly (1562 – 13 June 1636) was a Scottish nobleman who took a leading role in the political and military life of Scotland in the late 16th century, and around the time of the Union of the Crowns.

Biography

The son of

Queen Elizabeth I tried to challenge his right to the English throne; Huntly, always one of his favourites, was pardoned.[2][3]

The Scottish Justice Clerk, Lewis Bellenden wrote of Huntly in October 1587, alleged to be a promoter of the Catholic faith at court:

to the Earl of Huntly's lying in his majesty's chamber and preaching Papistry, truth it is I think he be a Papist, but not precise as he had not rather lie in a fair gentlewoman's chamber than either in the king's, or yet where he might have an hundred masses.[4]

Huntly married Henrietta Stewart, daughter of Esmé Stewart and Catherine de Balsac, on 21 July 1588. They had contracted to marry in 1581. James VI composed a poetic entertainment with speeches from Mercury, a group of nymphs, Agrestis, and some comedy.[5] This marriage increased Huntly's influence and connections within Scotland and also brought him closer to French Catholic influences.[6] He was the father of Mary Gordon, who married William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas.

In April 1589, Huntly raised a rebellion in the north. The Earl and his supporters met the king at the Bridge of Dee near Aberdeen on 17 April.[7] Huntly was obliged to surrender to Sir John Carmichael, captain of the king's guard, and Captain William Home at Terrisoul near Aberdeen. He was brought to Edinburgh to be warded in Robert Gourlay's house. After a short imprisonment in Borthwick Castle he was again freed.[8] On 18 October 1591 he was playing golf with the Duke of Lennox, and joined in an unsuccessful search for the rebel Earl of Bothwell in Leith.[9]

He then involved himself in a private war with the

The Bonnie Earl o' Moray, brought retribution on Huntly when his enemies ravaged his lands.[2][3]

In December the "

Romanism (Roman Catholicism) or go into permanent banishment. He submitted to the Kirk in June 1597, and was restored to his estates in December.[2][3]

On 7 April 1599, he was created a Marquess, and on 9 July, together with Lennox, appointed lieutenant of the north. He was treated with great favour by the king and was reconciled with Murray and Argyll. The Kirk still doubted the genuineness of his abjuration and, on 10 December 1606, he was confined to Aberdeen; on 19 March 1607 he was summoned before the privy council. Huntly thereupon went to England and appealed to James in person. He was excommunicated in 1608, and imprisoned in Stirling Castle until 10 December 1610, when he signed again the confession of faith.[10][3]

Accused of Romanist intrigues in 1616, he was ordered once more to subscribe the confession, which this time he refused to do; imprisoned at Edinburgh, he was set free by James's order on 18 June, and having joined the court in London was absolved from excommunication by Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury; this absolution, after a further subscription to the confession by Huntly, was confirmed by the Kirk.[11][3]

At the accession of King Charles I Huntly lost much of his influence at court. He was deprived in 1630 of his heritable sheriffships of Aberdeen and Inverness. The same year a feud broke out between the Crichtons and the Gordons, in the course of which Huntly's second son, Lord Melgum, was burnt to death either by treachery or by accident, while being entertained in the house of James Crichton of Frendraught. For the ravaging of the lands of the Crichtons Huntly was held responsible, and having been summoned before the privy council in 1635 he was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle from December till June 1636. He left his confinement with shattered health, and died at Dundee while on his journey to Strathbogie on 13 June 1636, after declaring himself a Roman Catholic.[11][3]

Family

He married Henrietta Stewart in 1588. Their children included:

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ "Huntly, Marquess of (S, 1599)". Archived from the original on 11 October 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 954.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Henderson 1890.
  4. ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1586–1588, vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1915), p. 491.
  5. ^ Allan Westcott, New poems by James I of England: from a hitherto unpublished manuscript (Columbia University Press, 1911), pp. 47–52.
  6. ^ R. Grant, 'Friendship, politics and religion' in M. Kerr-Peterson & S.J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power in Scotland 1578–1603 (Abingdon, 2017), 69–70.
  7. ^ Ruth Grant, 'The Brig o'Dee Affair', Julian Goodare & Michael Lynch, The Reign of James VI (East Linton: Tuckwell, 2000), pp. 93-4.
  8. ^ James Dennistoun, Moysie's Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1830), p. 76-7
  9. ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 578.
  10. ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 954–955.
  11. ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 955.

Attribution:

External links

Peerage of Scotland
New creation Marquess of Huntly
1576–1593
1597–1636 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Earl of Huntly
1599–1636
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