George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly

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George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly (* 1514 - † October 28, 1562 after the Battle of Corrichie) was a Scottish nobleman .

Origin and life

George Gordon's father John Gordon, Lord Gordon, was the eldest son of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly . In 1510 he married Margaret Stewart (* 1497), an illegitimate daughter of Jacob IV. The eldest son of John and Margaret was George Gordon. Her second son, Alexander Gordon, was destined for the ecclesiastical career and ended his career as Bishop of Galloway . The youngest son James Gordon later rose to become Chancellor of Moray .

After the early death of his father John Gordon on December 5, 1517, George Gordon became the childhood companion of the underage King James V and inherited the dignity of earls after the death of his grandfather on January 16, 1524 . On March 27, 1530 he married Elisabeth Keith, daughter of Robert Keith, Master of Marischal.

In August 1542, Huntly defeated the English at Haddon Rig as the commander of the Scottish troops. In December 1542 he was to become a member of the Regency Council for the minor Maria Stuart , instead he became an advisor to the regent James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran . At the end of 1543 Huntly joined the party of David Beaton and in 1546 he succeeded him as the Scottish Lord Chancellor . On September 10, 1547, Huntly fought the English at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. After the devastating defeat of the Scots, he fell into captivity of the English lord protector Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset .

Huntly was released a short time later, as he promised the Lord Protector that he would immediately stand up for the Protestant religion. But on his return to Scotland he allied himself with the Catholic and Pro-French Queen Mother Marie de Guise . In 1549 Huntly received the dignity of Earl of Moray and was able to expand his sphere of influence in the north of Scotland. In 1550 he accompanied Marie de Guise to France. During the reign of the Queen Mother Huntly switched to an anti-French policy and therefore had to go to prison from 1555 to 1557 on the orders of the regent. After his pardon, he was made lieutenant general of the kingdom. Despite his Catholic faith, Huntly joined the Protestant insurgents ( Lords of the Congregation ) in April 1560 . Huntly moved the treasury of Aberdeen Cathedral to his Strathbogie Castle. Whether he just wanted to keep the church treasure and protect it from looters or to enrich himself at the expense of the church can no longer be clarified today. Huntly served Mary Queen of Scots on the Privy Council from August 1561.

The uprising of 1562

The conflict with Maria Stuart

Since the 15th century, the Gordons ruled northeast Scotland like independent kings and had influential ties to the Stewart / Stuart dynasty. The Earls of Huntly consistently enforced the interests of their own clan. George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, was the leading Catholic magnate of Scotland and impressed his contemporaries with his sumptuous household. "Big and strong as a bear" , "an unreliable friend and dangerous enemy" , generous, patriarchal, hard drinking, irascible, sentimental, illiterate and constantly involved in any feuds or quarrels, Huntly was considered by many English, French or Scots from the Lowlands as the typical highlander . The Huntly couple had nine sons and three daughters. Lady Elisabeth Huntly was a smart, energetic, and resolute woman. She could read and write, which was a rarity in Scotland at the time, carried out her husband's correspondence and was considered the real head of the Gordon clan.

Huntly planned to reintroduce the Catholic Mass into his sphere of influence. Therefore, since September 1561, he had been in a dispute with Mary Queen of Scots and her half-brother and advisor Lord James Stewart . Huntly criticized Mary's policies toward Catholics and fell out of favor in January 1562. The Queen revoked Huntly's Earldom of Moray and in early February 1562 appointed Lord James Stewart, not yet officially, as the new Earl of Moray. Huntly was ostracized and asked to surrender all of the Huntly Castle's guns to the Queen. This action by the Queen in 1561/62 shows that she did not favor the Catholic religion in Scotland politically. On the face of it, Maria Stuart led a policy to secure her own crown and her claim to the English throne. The Queen's actions against Huntly enraged the nobles of the north. They signaled to Huntly their readiness to revolt against the Queen and especially against Lord James Stewart.

Sir John Gordon, Huntly's third son, was embroiled in a scandal in the summer of 1562. In doing so, he gave the queen a reason to begin her campaign against the Gordons. John Gordon inflicted serious injuries on Lord Ogilvie during a street battle in Edinburgh in June 1562 and was jailed for it. The conflict between John Gordon and Lord Ogilvie arose because Lord Ogilvie disinherited his own son James Ogilvie of Cardell at the instigation of his second wife and bequeathed his estates and castles to John Gordon. After James Ogilvie was disinherited, his stepmother became John Gordon's lover. But John Gordon was wrong, Lady Ogilvie didn’t bring him the land he had hoped for and he abandoned her because of it. A few weeks after his capture, John Gordon was able to flee to his father's domain. Totally overestimating its importance, he now wanted to kidnap the queen and then marry. Mary, Queen of Scots, did not intend to tolerate this behavior with impunity and decided to follow John Gordon north.

Maria Stuart's campaign in the north

Mary Queen of Scots , Lord James Stewart, William Maitland of Lethington and their troops left Edinburgh on August 11, 1562 and arrived in Aberdeen on August 27, 1562. There the Queen publicly announced the appointment of Lord James Stewart as the new Earl of Moray. Lady Elisabeth Huntly received the Queen and asked for understanding and mercy for her son John. But Mary Queen of Scots was not ready to forgive. John Gordon was supposed to surrender, but he fled to the highlands with 1000 riders. Because of his seditious activities and open disobedience, the Queen issued an arrest warrant for John Gordon.

Mary and her troops pursued John Gordon's horsemen. On September 11, 1562, the Queen's army arrived in Inverness . Alexander Gordon, Huntly's eldest son, was the administrator of Inverness Castle and, on the orders of his father, refused entry to the Queen. Inverness Castle belonged to the Queen, Huntly was only sheriff of Inverness as administrator of the castle. Therefore, the Queen Alexander had to regard Gordon's behavior as open treason. After Huntly learned that many of his previous supporters were switching to the Queen's side, he ordered his son to open the gates of Inverness Castle. Maria Stuart moved into Inverness Castle. Alexander Gordon was hanged a few hours later for resisting the Queen.

On September 20, 1562, Maria Stuart's army again reached Aberdeen. Maria and Moray requested 120 arquebuses, cannons and fighters like Lord Lindsay or William Kirkcaldy of Grange . Gordon sent his second son George, who later became the 5th Earl of Huntly, to his father-in-law James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, in the south of Scotland. To buy time, Huntly expressed a willingness to negotiate. He was ready to leave the fortresses of Findlater and Auchindoun to the queen. Mary Queen of Scots expected Huntly to appear alone, but Huntly only wanted to appear before the Queen with his entourage. But by now the Queen knew that John Gordon had captured 56 arquebuses from her troops. She ended the negotiations, on October 16, 1562 Huntly and his son John were declared eight. Lady Huntly was told to leave Aberdeen immediately.

The defeat of Corrichie on October 28, 1562

With his force of about 800 to 1,000 men, Huntly took up a dominant position on October 27, 1562 on the Hill of Fare above the field of Corrichie Hill. The royal gunners and arquebusiers began firing at Huntly's troops from the morning hours of the following day. They had to leave their positions on the hill because of this, but at the foot of the hill there was only swampy terrain. Huntly realized far too late that his troops were trapped and then slaughtered by Moray's forces. Huntly's sons, John and Adam, were defeated and captured. Due to the tragic outcome of the battle, Huntly suffered a stroke and fell dead from his horse in front of Mary and Moray.

John Gordon was executed on November 2, 1562. Moray forced the refusing queen to attend the execution. On the way to the scaffold, John gave a disturbing speech in which he confessed his love for the Queen. As a result, the queen suffered a nervous breakdown. Mary Queen of Scots pardoned Huntly's sons, Adam, who was only seventeen, and his brother George, to prison terms, although their advisors also called for their execution.

The Queen got the treasures of Aberdeen Cathedral. Moray received the sheriff's offices from Inverness, Forres, and Elgin. He was able to consolidate his power in the north of Scotland and was the real winner of the campaign. Huntly's fall was a grave loss to the Catholic religion and consequently a gain to the Protestant religion in Scotland. There has never been another Catholic magnate with Huntly's power in Scotland.

In May 1563 the embalmed body of Huntly was brought before Parliament , which was assembled in Edinburgh . After a brief trial, the remains were found guilty of high treason . The verdict was ostracism and thus loss of all previous rights and possessions, the title of Earl of Huntly was declared forfeit. Huntly's body had to be kept unburied in the Dominican monastery in Edinburgh. After the assassination of David Rizzio on March 9, 1566, Lady Elisabeth Huntly supported the Queen against the conspirators. In April 1566, Huntly's body was buried in the Gordons family crypt in Elgin Cathedral.

progeny

His marriage to Elisabeth Keith on March 27, 1530 resulted in nine sons and three daughters:

  • Alexander Gordon, Master of Huntly (around 1531 / 32–1562) ⚭ 1549 Barbara Hamilton (around 1534–1558), daughter of James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran ;
  • George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly (around 1532 / 34–1576) ⚭ 1558 Anne Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran ;
  • John Gordon of Deskford (around 1535–1562) ⚭ 1554 Elisabeth Gordon (* 1509), daughter of Adam Gordon;
  • William Gordon;
  • Patrick Gordon of Auchindoun (around 1538–1594) ⚭ around 1582 Agnes Beaton, daughter of Cardinal David Beaton ;
  • James Gordon (1543-1620);
  • Adam Gordon of Auchindoun (1545-1580);
  • Robert Gordon († 1572);
  • Thomas Gordon († before December 1585) ⚭ Jean Gordon, daughter of John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland ;
  • Elisabeth Gordon († before 1557) ⚭ John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl († 1579);
  • Margaret Gordon († 1606) ⚭ 1558 John Forbes, 8th Lord Forbes (1542-1606);
  • Jean (Jane) Gordon (1546–1629), ⚭ (1) 1566 James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell (1534–1578), divorced 1567, ⚭ (2) 1573 Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland (1552–1594 ), ⚭ (3) 1599 Sir Alexander Ogilvy (around 1530–1606).

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Alexander Gordon Earl of Huntly
1524-1562 		Title forfeited
(from 1565 George Gordon )
New title created Earl of Moray
1549-1560 		Revoked title
David Beaton Lord Chancellor of Scotland
1546–1562 		James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
personal data
SURNAME Gordon, George, 4th Earl of Huntly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Huntly, George Gordon, 4th Earl of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Member of the Scottish nobility
DATE OF BIRTH 1514
DATE OF DEATH October 28, 1562