View source for Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox

{{Short description|Scottish nobleman and politician}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox noble
| name         = Matthew Stewart
| title        = 4th [[Earl of Lennox]]
| image        = British (English) School - Matthew Stuart (1516–1571), 4th Earl of Lennox - 1129108 - National Trust.jpg
| caption      =  
| noble family = [[Stewart of Darnley]]
| father       = [[John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox]]
| mother       = Elizabeth Stewart
| spouse       = [[Lady Margaret Douglas]]
| issue        = [[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley]]<br />[[Charles Stuart, 5th Earl of Lennox]]
| issue-link   = #Issue
| issue-pipe   = more...
| birth_date   = 21 December 1516
| birth_place  = [[Dumbarton Castle]], Scotland
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1571|9|4|1516|9|21|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Stirling Castle]], Scotland
}}

'''Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox'''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/26497 |title=Oxford DNB login |website=Oxforddnb.com |access-date=14 October 2016}}</ref> (21 September 1516 – 4 September 1571) was a leader of the [[Catholic]] nobility in [[Scotland]]. He was the paternal grandfather of King [[James VI of Scotland]]. He owned [[Temple Newsam]] in [[Yorkshire]], England.

== Origins ==
He was the son of [[John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox]] (d.1526) by his wife [[Elizabeth Stewart, Countess of Lennox|Lady Elizabeth Stewart]], a daughter of [[John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl]].

== Conflict with Regent Arran (1543–1547) ==
Matthew Stewart succeeded as [[Earl of Lennox]] on the death of his father in 1526. His mother sent him and his younger brother John Stewart to France into the care of their great uncle Robert Stewart, 5th Lord of Aubigny, who enrolled them in the [[Garde Écossaise]].<ref>Lady Elizabeth Cust, ''Some Account of the Stuarts of Aubigny in France'' (London, 1891), pp. 67, 70.</ref> His sisters, Helen and Elizabeth Stewart, were members of the household of [[Mary of Guise]] at [[Linlithgow Palace]] in March 1539 and were bought French-style clothing.<ref>[[Rosalind K. Marshall]], ''Mary of Guise'' (London: Collins, 1977), p. 75: [[James Balfour Paul]], ''Accounts of the Treasurer'', 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 149.</ref>

When [[King James V]] of Scotland died in 1542, [[Cardinal Beaton]] urged Lennox to return to Scotland to rival [[James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran]]. Lennox arrived in March with two ships at his stronghold of [[Dumbarton Castle]] just days after Parliament had declared Arran as Regent and heir to the throne after the infant [[Mary Queen of Scots]]. Both Arran and Lennox had claims to the throne as descendants of [[Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran|Mary Stewart]], a daughter of King James II of Scotland, but Arran had the better claim as a grandson through a male line, while Lennox was a great-grandson through a female line.  Lennox however claimed that Arran was illegitimate because his father had failed to divorce his first wife before marrying Arran's mother.<ref>Gladys Dickinson, "Two Missions of de la Brosse", ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society'' (Edinburgh, 1942), pp. 7–8, 19: ''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol, 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 691–694.</ref>

=== Coronation at Stirling ===
Arran made the [[Treaty of Greenwich]] with England on 1 July 1543, which sought to betroth Mary to [[Edward VI of England|Prince Edward Tudor]], the son and heir of King [[Henry VIII of England]]. Regent Arran began to fortify [[Linlithgow Palace]], where Mary was held with her mother, [[Mary of Guise]], the dowager Queen of Scotland. Lennox allied himself with the pro-French [[Cardinal Beaton]], and their forces camped outside the palace, but lacked artillery for an assault.  The Cardinal's party signed a "[[Secret Bond]]" to resist the English marriage plan. Their representatives parleyed with Arran's men at [[Kirkliston]], near Edinburgh, and agreed that Arran would rule with the advice of a council, and Mary would be moved to [[Stirling Castle]]. Lennox escorted Mary to Stirling on 26 July 1543.<ref>R. K. Marshall, ''Mary of Guise'' (Collins, 1977), pp. 126–130: Marcus Merriman, ''The Rough Wooings'' (Tuckwell, 2000), pp. 124–126: Furgol, Edward M., The Scottish Itinerary of Mary Queen of Scots, ''PSAS'', vol. 107, (1989), pp. 119–231.</ref>

Mary was [[Coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots|crowned at Stirling]] on 9 September 1543. Lennox held the sceptre.<ref>Lucinda H. S. Dean, "In the Absence of an Adult Monarch", Kate Buchanan, Lucinda Dean, Michael Penman, ''Medieval and Early Modern Representations of Authority in Scotland and the British Isles'' (Routledge, 2016), pp. 148–149.</ref> Although Lennox had come to Scotland lured by the prospect of marriage to the widow Mary of Guise, by September he had been offered the chance to marry [[Lady Margaret Douglas]], daughter of the Dowager Queen [[Margaret Tudor]] (wife of King [[James IV of Scotland]] and sister of King Henry VIII), and half-sister of the deceased King James V. After Lennox had seized the French money and artillery that was sent to Mary of Guise, she offered the hand of her daughter Queen Mary in marriage.<ref>R. K. Marshall, ''Mary of Guise'' (Collins, 1977), pp. 139–140.</ref>

=== The Rough Wooing ===
When the [[Parliament of Scotland]] rejected the Greenwich treaty, Lennox changed sides and supported King Henry VIII's military efforts to secure a marriage between Queen Mary and his son Prince Edward, in the war now known as the [[Rough Wooing]]. In the summer of 1544, Lennox plundered the [[Isle of Arran]] and made himself master of the [[Isle of Bute]] and [[Rothesay Castle]], with the support of eighteen ships and 800 men supplied by King Henry VIII. At the [[Battle of Glasgow Muir]], his army managed to drive the first rank of Arran's more numerous forces back into the second rank and captured their cannon.<ref name="cleland">{{cite book |last=Cleland |first=James |author-link=James Cleland (statistician) |year=1816 |title=Annals of Glasgow, comprising an account of the public buildings, charities, and the rise and progress of the city |volume=1 |publisher=Printed by James Hedderwick |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsglasgowco01clelgoog |page=10}}</ref> However, the battle ended more favourably for the Regent Arran.<ref>{{cite book |last=Paterson |first=James |author-link=James Paterson (journalist) |year=1852 |title=History of the county of Ayr: with a genealogical account of the families of Ayrshire |volume=2 |publisher=J. Dick |url=https://archive.org/details/historycountyay02pategoog |page=174}}</ref> There were about 300 slain on both sides, and Lennox himself withdrew to Dumbarton Castle.<ref name="cleland"/>

After a consultation with his English officers, Lennox attacked [[Dunoon Castle]] and burnt the nearby village and church. He subsequently laid waste to a large part of [[Kintyre]], but as he had not succeeded in regaining possession of Dumbarton Castle, he retreated to his ships and sailed for England on about 28 May 1544. He stayed for a time at [[Wressle Castle]].<ref>Edmund Lodge, ''Illustrations of British History'', vol. 1 (London, 1791), pp. 109–110.</ref> He was granted a letter of [[denization]] by Henry VIII in July 1544.<ref>[https://www.englandsimmigrants.com/person/35665 England's Immigrants 1330–1550, Matthew (...) (35665)]. Retrieved 22 July 2022.</ref> [[Donald Dubh]] formed an alliance of Highland Isles landowners in support of Lennox, on 5 August 1545 swearing an oath of allegiance to Henry VIII and acknowledging the Lennox as the true regent of Scotland (rather than Regent Arran or Mary of Guise). Despite English support, [[Dubh's Rebellion]] was ineffective, due to disorganization and poor logistics.<ref>Pamela Ritchie, ''Mary of Guise in Scotland'' (Tuckwell: East Linton, 2002), p. 161.</ref>

Lennox joined the English invasion force in September 1547. When the main English army approached Edinburgh before the [[Battle of Pinkie]], far to the west, a diversionary invasion of 5,000 men was led jointly by [[Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton|Thomas Wharton]] and Lennox. They took [[Castlemilk]] and burnt [[Annan, Dumfries and Galloway|Annan]], after a bitter struggle to capture its fortified church.<ref>Patrick Fraser Tytler, ''History of Scotland'', vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1879), 63: ''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 19 no. 42.</ref>

== Later life ==
For a time Lennox and his family resided at [[Whorlton Castle]] in [[North Yorkshire]], which had been granted, with the estate, to him by King [[Henry VIII]]. Later, at some point in the late 16th century, a house was built there by the Lennox family adjoining the northwest end of the castle's gatehouse.

In August 1548 Lennox gave four promises to Mary of Guise in order for her assent to her daughter Queen Mary's marriage to King [[Francis II of France]]. These were as follows:  that he and his friends and retainers would preserve the Catholic faith in Scotland; that they would guard the [[Auld Alliance]]; that Guise would remain guardian of the Queen and that he would punish all who supported the King of England.<ref>''HMC 9th report part 2, [[Alfred Morrison]]'' (London, 1884), 414–5.</ref>

Lennox returned to Scotland upon the urging of Queen [[Elizabeth I of England]], during the marriage negotiations of Queen Mary of Scots in October 1564. He was given lodgings in [[Holyrood Palace]], and the queen's tapestry worker Pierre Martin refurbished a crimson velvet bed for him.<ref>Joseph Robertson, ''Inventaires de la Royne Descosse'' (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 150.</ref> Lennox gave Mary a "marvellous fair and rich" jewell, a clock, and a looking glass set with precious stones, and diamond rings to several courtiers and presents to the queen's four Maries.<ref>Joseph Bain, ''Calendar of State Papers Scotland'', vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), pp. 85–86.</ref> Lennox quickly took up his position as the most powerful lord in the [[Glasgow]] area and was later instrumental in the marriage of his elder son, Lord Darnley, to Queen Mary. Whether Queen Elizabeth I had intended this (in order to eliminate the threat of a continental marriage), as is sometimes conjectured, remains doubtful. The Queen of England reacted with disapproval and had Lennox's wife Margaret confined in the [[Tower of London]]. By August 1565 [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|William Cecil]] had heard that the insolence of his son Lord Darnley had driven Lennox from the Scottish court.<ref>Ellis, Henry, ''Original Letters'', second series, vol. 2 (London, 1827), p. 303, Cecil to Thomas Smith, 1 September 1565.</ref>

[[File:Memorial to Darnley.jpg|thumb|Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, his wife [[Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox|Lady Margaret Douglas]], his youngest son [[Charles Stuart, 5th Earl of Lennox|Charles]], the future 5th Earl of Lennox and his grandson, King [[James VI of Scotland and I of England|James VI]] praying and crying before an image of Christ on the Cross for the murder of his son [[Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley|Henry, Lord Darnley]]]]

After his elder son Lord Darnley was murdered early in 1567 Lennox was the most ardent pursuant of justice against the lords who had conspired in the murder. He also became the main witness against Queen Mary though her possible involvement in the murder thought to have been carried out by her later husband, [[James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell|Lord Bothwell]], is controversial.

== Death ==
In 1570 Lennox became [[regent]] for his grandson King James VI of Scotland, but Queen Mary's party declared war against him. He was shot dead next year in a skirmish when the Queen's party attacked [[Stirling]].<ref>David Calderwood, [https://archive.org/details/historyofkirkofs03cald/page/138/mode/2up ''History of the Kirk of Scotland'', 3 (Edinburgh, 1842), pp. 139–140]</ref> The raid on Stirling on 4 September 1571 was led by the [[George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly]], [[Claud Hamilton, 1st Lord Paisley|Claude Hamilton]], and the lairds of Buccleuch and Ferniehurst. Early reports said he was killed by his own party. [[William Kirkcaldy of Grange]] said the shot was fired by the Queen's party, and another account names David Bochinant as the assassin.<ref>''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1903), pp. 679–687.</ref>

Lennox is thought to have been buried within the [[Stirling Castle#Chapel Royal|Chapel Royal]] at [[Stirling Castle]], which was unusual.<ref>William Fraser, ''The Lennox'', 1 (Edinburgh, 1874), p. 417.</ref> The site of the burial has not been conclusively determined. A burial discovered by archaeologists in an old chapel site at the Castle, the Governor's Kitchen, dated by radiocarbon methods to the correct period, could have been Lennox's.<ref>Jo Buckberry & Nicola Battley, "The Post-medieval burial", Gordon Ewart and Dennis Gallagher, ''With Thy Towers High: The Archaeology of Stirling Castle and Palace'' (Historic Scotland, 2015), p. 145.</ref>

== Marriage and issue ==
In 1544 he married [[Lady Margaret Douglas]], daughter of [[Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus]], by his wife the Dowager Queen [[Margaret Tudor]], who had a claim to the English throne. By Margaret he had issue: 
* Henry Stuart (1544–1544)<ref>''The Lost Tudor Princess: A Life of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox'' – page 157: "given the fact the Lennoxes' second son had been given the same name as their deceased first son".</ref> who died shortly after birth;
* [[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley]] (1546–1567), born at [[Temple Newsam]], who married [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], daughter of [[King James V]]; his son was [[King James VI of Scotland and I of England]];
* Philip Stuart (1556);<ref>''The Lost Tudor Princess: A Life of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox'' – page 157: ''"which suggests that his brother, Philip born the previous year, was still alive".''</ref>
* [[Charles Stuart, 5th Earl of Lennox]] (1557–1576), who in 1574 married [[Elizabeth Stuart, Countess of Lennox|Elizabeth Cavendish]], a daughter of [[William Cavendish (courtier)|Sir William Cavendish]] by his wife [[Bess of Hardwick|Elizabeth Hardwick]]. His daughter was [[Lady Arbella Stuart]].

== Ancestry ==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes|align=center
|ref=<ref>Neil D. Thompson and Charles M. Hansen, ''The Ancestry of Charles II, King of England'' (American Society of Genealogists, 2012).</ref>
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= '''Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox'''
|2= [[John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox]]
|3= [[Elizabeth Stewart, Countess of Lennox|Elizabeth Stewart]]
|4= [[Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox]]
|5= [[Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Lennox|Elizabeth Hamilton]]
|6= [[John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl]]
|7= [[Eleanor Sinclair, Countess of Atholl|Eleanor Sinclair]]
|8= [[John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox]]
|9= [[Margaret Montgomerie, Countess of Lennox|Margaret Montgomerie]]
|10=[[James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton]]
|11=[[Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran|Mary of Scotland]]
|12=[[James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn]]
|13=[[Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scots|Joan Beaufort]]
|14=[[William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness]]
|15=[[Marjory Sutherland, Countess of Caithness|Marjory Sutherland]]
}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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{{succession box|title=Regent of Scotland|before=[[James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray|The Earl of Moray]]|after=[[John Erskine, Earl of Mar (died 1572)|The Earl of Mar]]|years=1570–1571}}
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{{s-start}}
{{s-reg|sct}}
{{succession box | title=[[Earl of Lennox]]  | before=[[John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox|John Stewart]]  | after=[[James VI]]<br /><small>(Merged with the Crown)</small>| years=1526–1571}}
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{{Earls of Lennox}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lennox}}
[[Category:1516 births]]
[[Category:1571 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobility from Renfrewshire]]
[[Category:16th-century Scottish peers]]
[[Category:16th-century regents]]
[[Category:Earls or mormaers of Lennox|Stewart, Matthew, 4th Earl]]
[[Category:Regents of Scotland]]
[[Category:Scottish pre-union military personnel killed in action]]
[[Category:House of Stewart of Darnley|Matthew]]
[[Category:Scottish people of the Rough Wooing]]