Forfeiture
Bothwell was formally attainted by Act of Parliament, dated 21 July 1593. However, on Tuesday, 24 July, the Earl had been smuggled into Holyroodhouse and forced himself at last into the King's presence, in his bedchamber. Soon numerous Bothwell supporters also entered the room. The king accepted Bothwell's protestations of loyalty and an agreement for his pardon was reached. (It received the Royal, and other signatures on 14 August). So, just five days after his forfeiture, Bothwell and his accomplices received a blanket Act of Remission and Condonation.
On Friday, 10 August, a formal trial (described by Spottiswoode as "a farce") of Bothwell was entered into on the old witchcraft charges in order to deal with them once and for all. Bothwell made speeches and other argument on his own behalf. He was acquitted.
The King, however, was not yet finished, and when the Convention of Estates met at Stirling on 7 September he conspired with those opposed to Bothwell to recall his pardon and Royal messengers went to meet Bothwell on the 11th, at Linlithgow, with the news that the king proposed to modify his blanket pardon, and added a condition that Bothwell would have to go into exile.
It was thought at first that Bothwell had not taken this badly and would comply, but feeling betrayed he soon returned to his old ways and in the first days of October his partisans, the Earls of Atholl, Montrose, and Gowrie, had been seen in arms in the vicinity of Linlithgow. It is not clear whether Bothwell was with them. However a warrant was issued against Bothwell, and others, on 11 October. Failing to appear they were denounced rebels on the 25th.
The Privy Council issued a Proclamation for a muster at Stirling for the pursuit of Bothwell on 2 April 1594, following a collision between the King's forces and Bothwell's in the fields between Edinburgh and Leith, near Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, called in some books The Raid of Leith. There was not much bloodshed, the king remaining at the Burgh Muir, with Bothwell retiring to Dalkeith en route again to the Scottish Borders. Many thought had Bothwell pressed home he would have been the victor and had a warm welcome from the citizens of Edinburgh, as his Protestant cause was gaining popularity.
As a result of his poverty and lack of support, Bothwell had no option left to him but to change religious sides. A new Privy Council proclamation against him, dated 30 September 1594, states that he had "thrown off the cloik of religioun" (meaning Presbyterianism) and openly allied himself in a new confederacy with the Roman Catholic Lords (Huntly, Angus, Errol, et al.) against the king, who now proceeded north, against them. The confederacy collapsed and Huntly and Errol agreed to go abroad.
Read more about this topic: Francis Stewart, 5th Earl Of Bothwell