John Maxwell, 7th Lord Maxwell

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John Maxwell, 1st Earl of Morton, 7th Lord Maxwell (born April 24, 1553 , † December 6, 1593 in Lockerbie ), was a Scottish nobleman .

Life

He was the younger of two sons of Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell from his marriage to Beatrix, a daughter of James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Morton . He was born about seven months after his father died. When his older brother Robert Maxwell, 6th Lord Maxwell, died underage in 1555, John inherited the title of 7th Lord Maxwell .

His maternal uncle James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, was the regent of the underage King James VI. but fell out of favor and was ostracized and executed on June 2, 1581 for high treason , and his titles and lands were revoked. Since the 4th and 3rd Earl of Morton only had daughters, Maxwell managed to get his uncle's lands transferred with a deed dated June 5, 1581, and the titles of Earl of Morton and Lord of Carlyle and Eskdaill on October 29, 1581 to get awarded. The Scottish Parliament confirmed the operation on November 29, 1581.

In 1585/86 his uncle's ostracism was lifted retrospectively. In this context, the lands acquired in 1581 were withdrawn from John on April 9, 1585 and finally awarded and transferred in 1586 to the cousin of his uncle Archibald Douglas, 8th Earl of Angus, who was restored to his uncle's title of 5th Earl of Morton. Although de facto its Earls rights stripped included the withdrawal of lands de iure not the October 29, 1581 conferred Earls title, which is why Maxwell continues as for example in his appointment as "Warden of the Marches" on July 28, 1592 "john maxwell, erllis of mortoun" was named. Subsequently, he was entrusted with this task several times, and he was also a member of the Privy Council .

As a devout Catholic , he rejected the Reformation and traveled to Madrid in 1587 , where he took part in the preparations for the attack by the Spanish Armada on England . Back in Scotland he was imprisoned as a traitor for this from 1588 to 1589.

As part of a long-standing feud against the Johnstone of Annandale family , Lord Maxwell was killed in 1593 in a skirmish at Dryfe Sands near Lockerbie.

His eldest son, John , tried unsuccessfully to obtain recognition of his earldom and associated rights. In 1620 the king had to admit to Maxwell's younger son Robert that there were two parallel Earldoms of Morton and ordered the renaming of the title created in 1581 to Earl of Nithsdale .

Marriage and offspring

Between February 13 and 17, 1571 (or 1572) he had married Elisabeth Douglas, daughter of David Douglas, 7th Earl of Angus . With her he had three sons and four daughters:

literature

  • David C. Harries: Maxwell, Earl of Nithsdale . In: James Balfour Paul (Ed.): The Scots Peerage . tape 6 : Marchmont-Oxfuird . David Douglas, Edinburgh 1909, p. 469–492 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive - here pp. 482–484, VIII. John, eighth Lord Maxwell).
  • George Way, Romilly Squire et al. (Eds.): Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia . Barnes & Noble Books, New York 1998, ISBN 0-7607-1120-8 .

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Robert Maxwell Lord Maxwell
1555-1593 		John Maxwell
New title created Earl of Morton
1581-1585 		Revoked title
personal data
SURNAME Maxwell, John, 7th Lord Maxwell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH April 24, 1553
DATE OF DEATH December 6, 1593
Place of death Lockerbie