John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun

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John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun

John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun (* 1598 - March 15, 1663 in Edinburgh ) was a Scottish politician and covenanter .

Life

John Campbell was the eldest son of Sir John Campbell of Lawers and his wife Jean, daughter of James, 1st Lord Coville of Culross . He was born in 1598 and after traveling abroad by King James VI. Knighted by Scotland . In 1620 he married Margaret Campbell, the eldest daughter of George Campbell, Master of Loudoun. With the death of her grandfather Hugh Campbell, 1st Baron Loudoun in December 1622, she became Baroness Loudoun, after which her husband was able to take her seat in the Scottish Parliament.

With a patent from May 12, 1633 he was named Earl of Loudoun , Lord Farrinyeane and Mauchline, but the appointment process was stopped due to his strong opposition to the episcopate .

John Campbell played a decisive role in the organization of the Covenant from 1637/1638. In 1639 he was the leader of the armed uprising in Scotland and in 1640 the Scottish envoy to King Charles I. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London , as a (unsent) request for help to the French king also bore his signature. When Campbell was released he went back to Scotland, where he immediately joined the Scottish Army in the August 1640 invasion and then fought in the Battle of Newburn . For the following negotiations he was again sent to London as envoy.

Following the peace treaty in August 1641, John Campbell was made Lord Chancellor of Scotland (September 30), which he remained until 1660, and the title of Earl of Loudoun has now been retrospectively awarded to him. In the years 1642–1647 he was a frequent representative of the Scottish Parliament with Charles I. On January 1, 1650 he took part in the coronation of Charles II in Scone , and later in the Battle of Dunbar , in which some of his letters to the king fell into Cromwell's hands.

After the Battle of Worcester (September 1651) he withdrew to the Highlands , but in 1653 he joined William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn and his revolt in favor of the King, but submitted to General George Monck when it became apparent that others would Resistance was futile.

John Campbell and his eldest son were then two of the exceptions to Cromwell's 1654 pardon. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Loudoun was stripped of chancellorship, although granted ad vitam aut culpam ; however, he continued to receive his pension.

At the first session of Parliament in 1661, he defended his friend Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll , who was charged with high treason. Argyll was executed and Campbell feared for some time that it would suffer the same fate. The following year he was fined Scottish pounds 12,000 by law that "made some exceptions to the Act of Indemnite".

He died in Edinburgh on March 15, 1663 and was buried in Loudoun Kirk a mile west of Loudoun Castle .

family

John Campbell and Margaret Campbell, who survived him, had two sons and two daughters. The older son, James Campbell , inherited the title. He died in Leiden in 1684 . His daughter Jean Campbell married George Maule, 2nd  Earl of Panmure .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Campbell, John, 1st Earl of Loudoun
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Loudoun, John Campbell, 1st Earl of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish politician and covenanter
DATE OF BIRTH 1598
DATE OF DEATH March 15, 1663
Place of death Edinburgh