George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly (* around 1532/34; † October 20, 1576 in Strathbogie ) was a Scottish nobleman .

Origin and family

He was born the second son of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly , and his wife Elizabeth Keith. The Huntly couple had a total of nine sons and three daughters.

His father was the eldest son of John Gordon, who died in 1517, Lord Gordon, son of the 3rd Earl of Huntly, and Margaret Stewart (* 1497), illegitimate daughter of Jacob IV. He followed his grandfather in 1524 in the Earldom of Huntly . Since his victory over the English at Haddon Rig in August 1542, the 4th Earl of Huntly had great influence in Scottish politics. He was Lord Chancellor of Scotland several times , and since 1549 Earl of Moray , and ruled the north-east of Scotland like an independent king. His mother was an energetic, resolute and literate woman and was considered the real head of the Gordon clan .

George Gordon, who later became the 5th Earl of Huntly, became sheriff of Inverness in 1556 . His parents' alliance policy led to George Gordon's marriage in 1558 to Lady Anne Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran , 1st Duke of Châtellerault .

The uprising of 1562

The fourth earl planned in 1561 to reinstate the Catholic mass in his sphere of influence. This led to a heated argument with Maria Stuart and her half-brother Lord James Stewart . In January 1562, the 4th Earl of Huntly fell out of favor with the Queen. She revoked the Earldom of Moray and named her half-brother the new Earl. Huntly was asked to surrender all of Huntly Castle's guns to the Queen. Thereupon the nobles of the north Huntly signaled their readiness to revolt against the Queen and especially against James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray.

In August 1562, Maria Stuart's troops moved north from Edinburgh. On September 11, 1562, the Queen ordered Huntly's eldest son, Alexander Gordon, to hand over Inverness Castle to her without a fight. Alexander Gordon refused to surrender, the royal troops stormed the fortress under the leadership of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, and the defeated Alexander Gordon was hanged on the same evening for high treason. The 4th Earl of Huntly then sent his second son George to his father-in-law James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, in the south of Scotland to ask for military assistance.

George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, lost the decisive battle of Corrichie to the royal troops on October 28, 1562 and died after the battle as a result of a stroke. In 1563 he was posthumously outlawed for high treason , with which the title of Earl of Huntly was forfeited and his lands were confiscated from the Crown. His sons were captured and the third oldest, John, was executed on November 2, 1562. George Gordon, who was his father's heir, did not take part in the battle, but was also arrested a few days later. The Queen sentenced George Gordon and his seventeen-year-old brother Adam to prison, despite the fact that their advisors recommended the execution of the Gordons. George Gordon spent his imprisonment at Dunbar Castle .

After the Battle of Corrichie, the Queen gave her half-brother James Stewart, 1st Earld of Moray, many more lands, titles and offices, so that the Scottish north was divided into two rival power blocs.

Earl of Huntly

Due to her marriage to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , a falling out broke out between the Queen and the Earl of Moray. In late July 1565, Moray began to rebel against Mary Queen of Scots. The Queen then released George Gordon on August 3, 1565, and restored him to the title of 5th Earl of Huntly in October 1565. The restoration initially only included the nominal title, the associated lands were only returned in 1567 after the restoration had been ratified by parliament . As a token of her reconciliation with the Gordons, Mary Queen of Scots arranged the wedding of Huntly's sister Lady Jean Gordon (1546–1629) to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell , on February 24, 1566 . Both clans were now among the queen's most important allies. In March 1566 the loyal Bothwell and Huntly led their troops together against the conspirators who u. a. also murdered Queen's influential secretary David Rizzio .

Huntly, now Scottish Lord Chancellor, had been privy to the plans that led to Darnley's assassination on February 10, 1567 since November 1566. However, no direct complicity could be proven. When the Queen had to leave Edinburgh a week after the murder of her husband, Huntly and Bothwell, who was one of the prime suspects in the assassination, took over the supervision of their son James ( James VI ) at Holyrood Castle .

On April 19, 1567, Bothwell invited twenty-eight nobles and prelates, including Huntly, to the Ainslie Tavern. The nobles should undertake to recommend Bothwell as Mary's husband. This would have meant that he would have been recognized as the King of Scots. Huntly signed the "Ainslie Bond" even though his sister Jean was still married to Bothwell. Jean Gordon, however, had no objection to a divorce, as their marriage was only concluded for political reasons. Bothwell and Maria Stuart were married on May 15, 1567. But a little later, because of this marriage, many followers loyal to the king switched to the opposing camp. Huntly therefore withdrew to Strathbogie in the north of Scotland and waited there for the political events.

On June 15, 1567, the rebels around James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton , defeated the royal troops led by Bothwell at Carberry Hill. The fleeing Bothwell was then ostracized. Huntly, whom Bothwell visited in Strathbogie, recognized the hopeless situation of his former brother-in-law and did not mobilize the troops of the north on behalf of the queen. On July 24, 1567, the Queen, imprisoned at Loch Leven Castle, was forced to abdicate and five days later her son was crowned king. For the barely one year old Jacob VI. the Earl of Moray took over the reign. Soon after, Huntly, who had to resign from the office of Lord Chancellor of Scotland, joined the regent's party.

In July 1569, the Scottish nobles in Perth voted forty to nine against the reinstatement of Maria Stuart as Queen of Scots. Huntly was one of the nine nobles who voted for Maria. Moray's position as regent seemed consolidated, mainly due to the increasing support of Queen Elizabeth I of England . After the regent's assassination on January 23, 1570, a civil war broke out in Scotland between the Queen's party led by William Maitland , and Huntly is now back in their ranks fought, and the king's party led by the incumbent regents Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox , and Morton. In 1572 Huntly recognized the hopelessness of Maria's politics and submitted to regent Morton. He withdrew from political life and died on October 20, 1576 in Strathbogie.

George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly, differed in several ways from the Scottish nobles of his day. He was a Protestant and still supported the Catholic Queen Mary. He regarded his faith as a personal matter, and he kept politics and religion strictly separate. He was unwilling or able to hide his clan's interests behind religious pretexts.

progeny

The following children were born from his marriage to Lady Anne Hamilton in 1558:

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Title restored
(until 1562 George Gordon ) 		Earl of Huntly
1565-1576 		George Gordon
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton Lord Chancellor of Scotland
1566–1567 		James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
personal data
SURNAME Gordon, George, 5th Earl of Huntly
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH around 1533
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 1576
Place of death Strathbogie