Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney

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Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney and

Eupheme Elphinstone.[1] Robert Stewart was half-brother to Mary, Queen of Scots and uncle to James VI and I
of Scotland and England.

Biography

Scottish royal arms
debruised by a ribbon, a symbol of bastardy, while the second and third quarters show the arms of the Earldom of Orkney

In 1539 Robert Stewart was made Commendator of Holyrood Abbey, and Commendator of Charlieu Abbey in France by 1557.[2] Clothes for "lord Robert of Halyrudhous" and his brothers were made by the king's tailor, Thomas Arthur.[3]

In 1550, after the conclusion of the war known the

Jacques de la Brosse, the French advisors of Mary of Guise who planned to have the Hamiltons charged with treason against his half-sister, Mary, Queen of Scots and France. Robert himself had signed some of the letters that were to be cited as evidence.[5]

Mary, Queen of Scots returned to Scotland on 19 August 1561, arriving unexpectedly at Leith at 10 o'clock in the morning with her entourage of 60 companions in two galleys. Lord Robert welcomed her at Holyrood Palace.[6] Robert, his half-brother Lord John, the Marquis of Elbeuf and others performed at the sands of Leith in a tournament in December 1561. There was "running at the ring" with two teams of six men, Robert's team dressed as women, the other as exotic foreigners in strange masquing garments.[7] Robert's team were the winners.[8] The ambassador of Savoy, Monsieur de Moret, watched the tournament at Leith, and he was lodged in Lord Robert's house at Holyrood.[9] There was a similar tournament in costume in August 1594 at the baptism of Prince Henry at Stirling Castle. Again, in March 1565, Robert Stewart took part in running at the ring at the sands of Leith,[10][11] and the contestants included a newcomer at court Lord Darnley.[12]

Robert Stewart was knighted as Sir Robert Stewart of Strathdon on 15 May 1565, as part of marriage celebrations of Mary, Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley.

William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney
.

Mary wrote a will at

Denmark-Norway, Frederick II declaring him sovereign of Orkney. His crimes included colluding with Shetland pirates. The Earl was imprisoned at Linlithgow Palace.[15] He was released in 1579. He built the Palace of Birsay on Orkney. On his death in 1593 the earldom passed to his son Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney
.

Family

On 13 or 14 December 1561 Robert Stewart married Lady Jean Kennedy, daughter of Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis, and Margaret Kennedy.[16] The English diplomat Thomas Randolph wrote that "Lord Robert consumethe with love for Cassillis' sister". At this time Lord Robert had a house near Holyrood Palace, but the marriage took place at the house of one of her family friends.[17] Their children included:

Robert Stewart also had a number of illegitimate children with several mistresses.[24]

Ancestors

Notes

  1. ^ James Balfour Paul and John Maitland Thomson, eds., The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, A.D. 1513-1546 (Edinburgh, 1883), 360-61 (no. 1620); Original Letters of Mr John Colville, 1582-1603 (Edinburgh, 1858), 337.
  2. ^ Joseph Robertson, Inventaires de la Royne d'Ecosse(Bannatyne Club, 1863), p. xxxviii.
  3. ^ James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 313.
  4. ^ Pamela Ritchie, Mary of Guise: A Political Career (Tuckwell: East Linton, 2002), p. 270.
  5. ^ Dickinson, Gladys, ed., 'Report by De La Brosse and D'Oysel,' in Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, IX (SHS: Edinburgh, 1958), pp. 98, 118–120.
  6. ^ Philip Yorke, Miscellaneous State Papers, vol. 1 (London, 1778), p. 176: Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 547 no. 1010.
  7. ^ Peter Anderson, Robert Stewart, Earl of Orkney Lord of Shetland (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 43.
  8. ^ Clare Hunter, Embroidering Her Truth: Mary, Queen of Scots and the Language of Power (London: Sceptre, 2022), p. 156: Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 576.
  9. ^ Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 580 no. 1052.
  10. ^ Morgan Ring, So High A Blood: The Life of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (Bloomsbury, 2017), p. 193.
  11. ^ Puttick & Simpson, Catalogue of a Very Important Collection of Royal Letters (London, 1859) pp. 12–13 no. 38.
  12. doi:10.2307/3816901
  13. ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 2, (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 161.
  14. ^ A. Labanoff, Lettres de Marie Stuart, vol. 1, 44; vol. 4, 361.
  15. ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 205–209, 277.
  16. ^ Gordon Donaldson, Scotland's History: Approaches and Reflections (Scottish Academic Press, 1995), p. 71.
  17. ^ Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 563 no. 1035, 580 no. 1051, 583 no. 1056.
  18. ^ Anderson, Peter, The Stewart Earls of Orkney, p. 36
  19. ^ Anderson, Peter. The Stewart Earls of Orkney, p. 36.
  20. ^ Anderson, Peter, The Stewart Earls of Orkney, p. 36.
  21. ^ Anderson, Peter, Stewart Earls of Orkney, p. 36.
  22. ^ Anderson, Peter, Stewart Earls of Orkney, p. 36.
  23. ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 19 (London, 1965), p. 193.
  24. ^ Paul, James Balfour, Scots peerage Vol 6 (Edinburgh : D. Douglas. 1909), Stewart, Earl of Orkney, pp. 573–7.
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
Recreated earldom
 Earl of Orkney
1581–1593 		Succeeded by
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