Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox - Conflict With Regent Arran 1543-1547

Conflict With Regent Arran 1543-1547

He spent most of his youth in exile in England, but returned to Scotland to assert his claims to the line of succession when James V died in 1542. At the time of the king's death in 1542, Lennox possessed a strong claim to the throne of Scotland should Mary, Queen of Scots, an infant, pass away childless. He was James V's second cousin once removed, being a great-grandson of Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran, James II's daughter, through her daughter, Elizabeth Hamilton. However, the Earl of Arran, James Hamilton, was descended from a son of the Countess of Arran, and thus held the stronger claim. As a result, Lennox was at best third in line of succession, and really behind Arran's sons. Arran was made Regent of Scotland In 1543, Lennox's supporters challenged Arran's claim and legitimacy by suggesting that his father's divorce and second marriage were invalid.

Lennox arrived at Dumbarton Castle with two ships in March 1543. He came to Edinburgh but refused to ratify Arran's position as second person and Regent. Arran was pushing towards alliance with England and made the Treaty of Greenwich on 1 July 1543 agreeing to a marriage between Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry VIII's son Edward, Prince of Wales. Arran began to fortify Linlithgow Palace where Mary was held with her mother Mary of Guise. Cardinal Beaton's and Lennox's supporters camped outside the palace but lacked artillery for an assault. Their representatives parleyed with the Arran's men at Kirkliston, near Edinburgh, and a settlement was reached. Henceforth Arran would rule with the advice of a council and the infant queen would be moved to Stirling Castle. Lennox escorted Mary to Stirling on 26 July 1543.

Although Lennox had come to Scotland lured by the prospect of marriage to Mary of Guise, by September Lennox had been offered the chance to marry Margaret Douglas, daughter of Margaret Tudor and half-sister of the deceased James V. After Lennox seized French money and artillery sent to Mary of Guise, she even offered the hand of her daughter in marriage. When the Parliament of Scotland rejected the Greenwich treaty, Lennox then changed sides and supported Henry VIII of England's military efforts to secure a marriage between in the War of the Rough Wooing. After the defeat of his supporters at the Battle of Glasgow Muir, he fled once more to England.

When the English army approached Edinburgh before the battle of Pinkie, far to the west a diversionary invasion of 5000 men was led by Thomas Wharton and Lennox on 8 September 1547. They took Castlemilk and burnt Annan after a bitter struggle to capture its fortified church.