Stewart Scottish Roots

Stewart is the name of the Scottish royal family after 1371 and of the English Kings in the period 1603-1688. The latter, however, changed the spelling to Stuart (see James I and James II, of Great Britain and Ireland; Mary, Queen of Scots; Scotland, History; Stuart). In the male line, the family traces descent from a certain Alan, steward to an eleventh century bishop of Dol, in Brittany. Alan's Grandson, also named Alan, migrated to England in the reign of Henry I Beauclere, 1100-1135. During the reign of King Stephen, 1135-1154, this Alan's son Walter, moved to Scotland where he became steward to King David I, the Saint, 1124-1153. In 1158 the office title of steward was made hereditary in Walter's family. Hence the name "Steward" or "Stewart".

For two centuries after this, members of the Stewart family were prominent in the turbulent politics and endless wars of Scotland. The turning point in their fortunes came in 1315, when Walter the Steward married Marjorie, daughter of King Robert I the Bruce, 1306 - 1329. Their son, Robert, was able to assert successfully his claim to the throne and to found the Stewart Dynasty, 1371.

The reigns of the first two Stewarts, Robert II, 1371-1390, and his son, Robert III, 1390-1406, made no change in the pattern of Scottish history, the King remained weak, and the Barons strong, and the desultory warfare with England continued. In August, 1388, the Scots did win a notable victory at Otterburne (or Chevy Chase), celebrated in a famous ballad, but the battle proved to be of little military significance. When Robert III died, 1406, his son, James, (later James I), was a prisoner in England, and he was not released until 1423. During his absence, the country was governed until 1420 by his uncle, Robert Stewart, first Duke of Albany, and then by Albany's incompetent son, Murdock, until 1424. When James I finally returned to Scotland, 1424, a new chapter opened in the kingdom's history.

James I and II. The first King James, 1406-1437, was determined to be ruler of Scotland in fact as well as in name. While he did not venture to abolish the Scottish Parliament, he was able to strengthen the Crown by favoring the lesser nobles in that body against the greater. The great Barons were naturally alarmed and it is not surprising that they should have plotted against him. In February, 1437, a group of these conspirators, led by his uncle, Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, murders James. His heir, James II, 1437-1460, was a minor and until 1449, when he assumed the government in person, Scotland was again in a state of anarchy. After 1449, however, James II reestablished the policies of James I in supporting the lesseo lords in the parliament and thus breaking the power of the great noble families. He even slew with his own hand, 1452, the haughty William, eighth earl of Douglas. Unfortunately for Scotland, James' career was terminated by a cannon ball at the seige of Roxburgh, 1460.

James III, 1460-1488, was too young to rule until 1469. He proved to have have inherited little or none of the political and military talent of his father and grandfather. He aroused the hatred of the barons by surrounding himself with artists and men of lowly birth, and his reign soon became a nightmare of intriques and plots in which his own brothers were ringleaders. In June, 1488, he was defeated and wounded by his enemies at Sauchieburn. Legend has it that after the battle he was quietly murdered by one of his enemies disguised as a priest.

James IV. His successor, James IV, 1488-1513, was sixteen years of age when James III died, and he assumed the government at once. His reign, frequently styled the Golden Age of Scottish history, began with a war against Henry VII of England, which ended in 1497 and was followed by one of the most important marriages in history. In 1503, Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, became the bride of the Scottish King in consequence of which, a century later in 1603, a Stewart, James VI of Scotland, assumed also the crown of England as James I. In the interval of peace from 1497, James IV ruled firmly and well. Trade flourished and there was relative prosperity. Unfortunately. however, when Henry VIII ascanded the English throne, 1509, he renewed the wars with Scotland. James invaded England in 1513, but was defeated and slain on Flodden field, September 9th.

James V. The reign of James V, 1513-1542, witnessed bitter rivalry between his mother's pro-English faction and a pro-French faction led by certain great nobles. James' marriage to the French Mary of Guise, 1538, marked the triumph of the latter. In the war with England that ensued, James was defeated at Solway Moss, November 25, 1542, and died soon afterwards, leaving his crown to a newborn baby girl, Mary, "Queen of Scots".

Mary, Queen of Scots. During the period 1542-1560, Scotland was ruled by James Hamilton, 2nd earl of Arran, as regent, 1542-1554, and then by Mary of Guise, from 1554. At the age of six the child Queen of Scots was sent to the French Court as the betrothed of Francis, heir to the throne. In due course Francis became King, and Mary Queen of France, 1559. On December 5, 1560, however, Francis died, and in August, 1561, his widow returned to Scotland. Things had gone badly for her there, however, since many of the nobles had aspoused Protestantism and had, with English aid rebelled, 1559, against Mary of Guise, who obligingly died on June 10, 1560. Thus the devoutly Catholic Mary returned to a Scotland in which Calvinism had already triumphed.

The reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, was turbulent and tragic. In 1565 she married her cousin, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. Darnley became insanely jealous of his wife's secretery, David Rizzio (Riccio), and on March 9, 1566, had him brutally murdered. Thus alienated from Darnley, Mary fell in love with the loose-living James Hepburn, 4th earl of Bothwell. On February 10, 1567, under mysterious circumstances, a house in which Darnley was lying ill was blown up with gun powder, but he was not killed. On February 11, however, his body was found strangled in the garden. Of Bothwell's complicity there is little or no doubt, but Mary's was never proved. When, two months later, Bothwell and Mary were married, the Scots rose in rebellion. Mary's forces were defeated at Carbury Hill and she became a prisoner. On July 24, 1567, she was forced to abdicate in favor of the infant James, her son by Darnley.

The following Spring Mary escaped from prison, but her adherents were defeated at Longside and she fled to England. Here her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, imprisoned her. To good Catholics, however, Mary had much the better claim to the English throne than did Elizabeth, and for 18 years the Scottish Queen was the center of plots for the overthrow of Elizabeth, for whom the Babington Plot, 1588, was one too many. Tried and convicted on charges of high treason, Mary was condemned to die by beheading. On February 8, 1588, she met her fate with a dignity and fortitude that compel admiration.
To learn more about Mary, Queen of Scots, go to her biography page by clicking here.

James VI. Meanwhile, Mary's son was reigning in Scotland as James VI, 1567-1625. Brought up in the Protestant faith and given a first-rate education, James liberated himself, 1583, from the factions that had controlled him, and subsequently ruled in person. He proved to be an able king, and managed power of the Presbyterian Church. In 1603, on the death of Elizabeth, he acquired a second crown, becoming King James I of England.