Background
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was born James Stewart, or Stuart, in 1531 in Scotland, the illegitimate son of King James V.
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was born James Stewart, or Stuart, in 1531 in Scotland, the illegitimate son of King James V.
He was among the first of the Scottish nobility to embrace Protestantism, being converted by John Knox in 1555. Shortly after the outbreak of the Wars of the Congregation in 1559 he joined the Protestant party, of which he immediately became one of the leaders. He played a prominent part in the ultimate Protestant victory; during the war it was rumored that he was secretly aiming at the crown.
In April 1561 he went to France to persuade Mary Stuart to cooperate with the Protestant party when she returned. After the Queen's return he and William Maitland of Lethington became her chief ministers; in 1562 he was made earl of Moray. He and Maitland attempted to persuade Queen Elizabeth I of England to acknowledge Mary as her heir; they failed, and Mary resolved to strengthen her claim to the English throne by marrying Lord Darnley. Moray opposed the marriage, broke into rebellion, and was forced to flee to England (1565). He returned to Scotland in 1566, after the murder of Mary's secretary and confidant, David Rizzio, of which he almost certainly had foreknowledge.
It is not certain whether he knew in advance about the murder of Darnley (February 1567). After Mary's overthrow, accomplished while he was in France, Moray became regent for the boy King James VI (August 1567). In May 1568 Mary escaped and raised an army, which Moray routed at Langside. Mary fled to England, and Moray was compelled by Elizabeth to accuse Mary of complicity in Darnley's murder at the York-Westminster Conference (October 1568 - January 1569) and to reveal letters implicating Mary in the murder. He was assassinated by a political enemy, James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, in Linlithgow on January 23, 1570. In his public career Moray worked for the triumph of Protestantism and the Anglo-Scottish alliance; his skillful leadership of the Protestant section of the Scottish aristocracy did much to secure both.