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JAMES STEWART (d. 1595)

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 644 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JAMES See also:STEWART (d. 1595) , the See also:rival See also:earl of See also:Arran above referred to, was the son of See also:Andrew Stewart, 2nd See also:Lord See also:Ochiltree. He served in his youth with the Dutch forces in See also:Holland against the See also:Spanish, and returned to See also:Scotland in 1579. He immediately became a favourite of the See also:young See also:king, and in 158o was made See also:gentleman of the bedchamber and See also:tutor of his See also:cousin, the 3rd earl of Arran. The same See also:year he was the See also:principal accuser of the earl of See also:Morton, and in 1581 was rewarded for having accomplished the latter's destruction by being appointed a member of the privy See also:council, and by the See also:grant the same year, to the See also:prejudice of his See also:ward, of the earldom of Arran and the See also:Hamilton estates, on the pretence that the See also:children of his grandmother's See also:father, the 1st earl of Arran, by his third wife, from whom sprang the succeeding earls of Arran, were illegitimate. He claimed the position of second See also:person in the See also:kingdom as nearest to the king by descent. The same year he married See also:Elizabeth, daughter of See also:John Stewart, earl of See also:Atholl, and wife of the earl of See also:March, after both had been compelled to undergo the discipline of the See also:kirk on See also:account of previous illicit intercourse. He became the rival of See also:Lennox for the See also:chief See also:power in the kingdom, but both were deprived of See also:office by the See also:raid of See also:Ruthven on the 22nd of See also:August 1582, and Arran was imprisoned till See also:September under the See also:charge of the earl of See also:Gowrie. In 1583, however, he assembled a force of 12,000 men against the new See also:government; the See also:Protestant lords escaped over the border, and Arran, returning to power, was made See also:governor of See also:Stirling See also:Castle and in 1584 lord See also:chancellor. The same year Gowrie was captured through Arran's treachery and executed after the failure of the See also:plot of the Protestant lords against the latter's government. He now obtained the governorship of See also:Edinburgh Castle and was made See also:provost of the See also:city and See also:lieutenant-See also:general of the king's forces. Arran induced the See also:English government to refrain from aiding the banished lords, and further secured his power by the forfeitures of his opponents.

His tyranny and insolence, however, stirred up a multitude of enemies and caused his rapid fall from power. His See also:

agent in See also:England, See also:Patrick, See also:Master of See also:Gray, was secretly conspiring against him at Elizabeth's See also:court. On account of the See also:murder of Lord See also:Russell on the border in See also:July 1585, of which he was accused by Elizabeth, he was imprisoned at the castle of St See also:Andrews, and subsequently the banished lords with Elizabeth's support entered Scotland, seized the government and proclaimed Arran a traitor. He fled in See also:November, and from this See also:time his movements are furtive and uncertain. In 1586 he was ordered to leave the See also:country, but it is doubtful whether he ever quitted Scotland. He contrived secretly to maintain friendly communications with James, and in 1592 returned to Edinburgh, and endeavoured unsuccessfully to get reinstated in the court and kirk. Subsequently he is reported as making a voyage to See also:Spain, probably in connexion with James's intrigues with that country. His unscrupulous and adventurous career was finally terminated towards the See also:close of 1595 by his assassination near Symontown in See also:Lanarkshire at the hands of See also:Sir James See also:Douglas (See also:nephew of his victim the earl of Morton), who carried his See also:head in See also:triumph on the point of a See also:spear through the country, while hi§ See also:body was See also:left a See also:prey to the See also:dogs and See also:swine. He had three sons, the eldest of whom became Lord Ochiltree.

End of Article: JAMES STEWART (d. 1595)

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