John Maxwell, 8th Lord Maxwell

John Maxwell, 8th Lord Maxwell (* before 1586 - May 21, 1613 in Edinburgh ) was a Scottish nobleman .

Life

He was the eldest son of John Maxwell, 7th Lord Maxwell from his marriage to Elisabeth Douglas, a daughter of David Douglas, 7th Earl of Angus . When his father died on March 10, 1597, he inherited his title as 8th Lord Maxwell , but his de iure benfalss title of 2nd Earl of Morton was not confirmed to him either by the Crown or by Parliament.

His marriage, on August 9, 1597, to Margaret Hamilton, daughter of John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Hamilton , remained childless. Due to the bad treatment of his wife, who even the king noticed, and which probably led to her early death, he made the Hamilton family personal mortal enemies.

In 1605 he was reconciled with Sir James Johnstone, Laird of Johnstone, and seemed to end a more than 50-year-old feud with his clan Johnstone of Annandale, which originated from the times of Robert Maxwell, 4th Lord Maxwell , and which he was under his father had been killed. For this he began disputes with William Douglas, 10th Earl of Angus in 1607 , who led the title of Earl of Morton in place of his father and had held the associated lands since 1585. After some arguments, the Privy Council decided in August 1607 that it was too risky that Maxwell and Douglas would clash at Parliament and instructed Maxwell to travel home. Lord Maxwell appeared nonetheless and publicly challenged Douglas' claim to the title. Maxwell was then imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle , from where he fled in October and sought refuge in Dumfriesshire .

Through the mediation of a relative, there was another meeting on April 16, 1608 with the Laird of Johnstone, whom he shot from behind during this encounter and thus avenged his father's death . He fled to France and was condemned and ostracized to death by parliament in absentia as a traitor on June 24, 1609 , with which he lost all offices, dignities and possessions. He was arrested while attempting to return to Scotland in 1612. He refused all reconciliation offers from the families concerned, the Hamilton and Johnstone, which would have meant a forced marriage for him; so that he was executed by beheading on May 21, 1613 in Edinburgh .

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. 484–485, IX. John, ninth 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

• Maxwell, Lord (S, 1445-forfeited 1716). www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk(English). 
• John Maxwell, 8th Lord Maxwell on thepeerage.com

Remarks

1. ↑ A Scottish nobility list from April 10, 1589 calls him "three years old" at this time, but then he would have married at the age of 11. So probably born between 1572 and 1575.

predecessor	Office	successor
John Maxwell	Lord Maxwell 1597-1609	Title forfeited (from 1617: Robert Maxwell )