Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus

Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus

Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (* around 1489 ; † January 1557 at Tantallon Castle ) was a Scottish nobleman from the Douglas clan during the reigns of James V and Mary I.

In 1514 he married Margaret Tudor , widow of King James IV of Scotland and sister of King Henry VIII of England . Soon there was turmoil between the spouses and battles over the guardianship of the underage Jacob V. From 1525 to 1528 he led the reign and held the young king prisoner in order to secure his own power. After his fall, he went into exile in England from 1529 to 1542. After the king's death, he returned to Scotland and initially represented the interests of Henry VIII, but turned against the English invasion attempts from 1544.

Marriage to Margaret

He was the son of George, Master of Angus, who was killed in the Battle of Flodden Field . After the death of his grandfather, Archibald "Bell the Cat" Douglas (the Great Earl) , he inherited the dignity of Earl of Angus in 1514 .

In 1509 he married Margaret, daughter of Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell . After her death in 1514 he married the widow of King Jacob IV and Regent Margaret Tudor , the sister of Henry VIII of England . This marriage sparked conflicts within Scotland. The traditionally allied with France side won the battles and put John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany instead of Margaret Tudor as regent.

Douglas retired to his country estate while John Stewart besieged Margaret at Stirling Castle. The regent managed to bring the royal children under his control, and Margaret then fled to England. Douglas saw his wife again when she came to Scotland to make peace with John Stewart.

During the separation from his wife, Douglas had a relationship with the daughter of the Laird of Traquair . Margaret took revenge for her husband's neglect by unsupporting Douglas' power struggles and secretly advocating Douglas's divorce with the help of Stewart. In Edinburgh, Douglas held his own in an open street fight against James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran , who tried to extend the influence of the Hamilton family over James V.

Exile and seizure of power

From 1517 to 1520 Stewart stayed in France and ruled Scotland from there. Although Stewart let Margaret see her children only once during his reign, she allied with him against her husband. In December 1521 Douglas was accused of high treason by Stewart and exiled to France under house arrest. In 1524 he fled from there to London, where Henry VIII gave him support. On November 23, 1524 he tried to invade Edinburgh, but was taken under fire by Margaret's troops and had to retreat to Tantallon Castle. From there he organized a broad coalition of Scottish nobles, with whose troops he managed to conquer Edinburgh in February 1525. He convened a parliament from which he was given far-reaching powers.

Jacob's guardian

Douglas was granted guardianship over Jacob in March. When this expired in November, he refused to put it back, instead his troops chased Margaret to England. Douglas used his power to appoint his family members to public office. and made himself chancellor. Several attempts to free the king from his stepfather's tutelage. failed, Douglas defeated, among other things, an army of 10,000 men under the leadership of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox .

In 1528 Margaret managed to get her divorce from Douglas. She stayed with her lover Henry Stewart, whom she married immediately after the divorce, in Stirling, where they were promptly besieged by Douglas. A few weeks later, Jacob V managed to escape to his mother in Stirling, where he issued an order requiring all members of the Douglas family to keep seven miles from himself.

Exile in England

Douglas fled to his castle, Tantallon Castle . His lands were confiscated and all titles were revoked. Several attempts by Jacob to take the castle, however, failed. After a period of unsuccessful siege, Douglas gave up the castle in May 1529 in return for an armistice between Scotland and England and fled to Henry in England, where he stayed until 1542. Several times he took part in campaigns by the English against Scotland, also because members of his family who had not fled were expropriated of their property by Jacob V or even executed, so his sister Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis was burned as a witch in 1537.

Return to Scotland

When James V died in 1542, Douglas returned to Edinburgh and his lands and titles were restituted. Henry VIII ordered him to stop the marriage between Maria Stuart and Edward VI. to advance. In 1543 he negotiated the peace and marriage treaty between England and Scotland. In the same year he married Margaret, daughter of Robert, Lord Maxwell.

In 1545 Douglas was briefly imprisoned because of an argument with the regent James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran . The raids by English troops led by Edward Seymour , which also affected Douglas lands, made Douglas take the side of the Scots for the first time. He allied himself with Hamilton and supported attempts to marry Mary Stuart to Francis II . In July 1544 he was appointed commander of the troops on the border with England, and in 1545 his troops defeated the English at the Battle of Ancrum Moor.

Douglas still corresponded with Henry VIII, but nonetheless signed the law that suspended the peace and marriage treaty.

death

During the reign of Maria Stuart's mother Marie de Guise , his restless and ambitious character was a constant cause for concern, especially since he kept a very large number of men under arms. On August 21, 1547 he gave up his title of nobility, but received the right to inherit the title. Douglas died in January 1557. He left a legitimate daughter, Margaret Douglas , who married the Earl of Lennox and became the mother of Lord Darnley . Douglas' nephew David succeeded him as the 7th Earl of Angus.

Literary reception

Theodor Fontane wrote the ballad Archibald Douglas in 1854 .

The story of "Archibald Douglas" is historically guaranteed - at least almost. Fontane found out about it from Walter Scott (“Ministrelsy of the Scottish border”), who in turn probably got it from the Scottish historian David Hume (1558–1629). However, the historical role model of the ballad hero is probably not Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (1490–1557), as often mentioned, but Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie (1475–1536), his uncle.

The Earl of Angus was temporarily the guardian of James V, who was crowned at the age of 17 months, and had imprisoned the young king in order to secure his own power. The Earl had appointed his uncle, Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie, to supervise and care for the boy. Although the young king liked him, the 16-year-old banished everyone with the name Douglas from the country without exception after his escape in 1528. The earl went to England, but his uncle went to France. From there he made the attempt years later, which Fontane describes in his ballad - but he found no mercy.

literature

• Kenneth O. Morgan (Ed.): The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1984, ISBN 0-19-822684-5 , pp. 254ff.
• Simon Schama : A History of Britain. Volume 1: 3000 BC - AD 1603. At The Edge of The World? BBC Books, London 2003, ISBN 0-563-38497-2 , pp. 354ff.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alexander Bandilla: English and Scottish ballads from the pen of Theodor Fontane

predecessor	Office	successor
Archibald Douglas	Earl of Angus 1514-1557	David Douglas