Mary Stewart of Scotland

Mary Stewart (* around 1451; † May 1488 ) was a Scottish princess, daughter of King James II and his wife Maria von Geldern .

Her first husband became Thomas Boyd of Kilmarnock around 1467. The marriage was very happy and the king made Thomas Earl of Arran with the handover of the Isle of Arran as a trousseau for his daughter. Thomas' father, Robert Boyd, 1st Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock , who had been Regent of Scotland since 1460, was ousted in 1469 and the family had to flee into exile in Burgundy. Mary returned to Scotland after the death of her husband in 1473. From her first marriage she had the following children:

• Margaret (before 1468 – after 1516), married first around 1488 to Alexander Forbes, 4th Lord Forbes , then secondly to David Kennedy, 1st Earl of Cassillis
• James Boyd (ca. 1469–1484), 2nd Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock

Her only son from the first marriage was murdered by the Montgomerie family in 1484, so her son from the second marriage became the heir of Arran.

In 1474 she married James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton , an elderly widower , in her second marriage . The papal dispensation for the marriage of relatives was issued in 1476 with the legitimation of the two already born children:

• Elizabeth (1474–1531), married Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox
• James (1475-1529), 1st Earl of Arran
• Robert (1480–1543), Seigneur d'Aubigny

This marriage was of great importance for the Hamilton family in the 16th and 17th centuries, as it made them several possible heirs to the throne in Scotland.

Web links

• Mary Stewart, Princess of Scotland, on thepeerage.com , accessed July 14, 2011.