Stuart, John, Earl of Atoll

John Stuart was the eldest son of James Stuart, The Black Knight of Lorne and Joan Beaufort , widow of the King of Scotland, James I.

During the minority period of King James III , the nephew of John Stuart, he led opposition to the Boyd rule. After their overthrow in 1469, Count Atoll became a member of the royal council of young Jacob III.

In the late 1470s, Atoll actively participated in the struggle between the mountain clans for power over the Scottish highlands . Attempts at reconciliation by the Atoll of the warring John MacDonald, the lord of the Islands , and his son Angus Og not only failed, but provoked an armed clash of the highlanders: in the Battle of Bloody Bay in 1481, Angus Og defeated at the cost of the death of a huge number of his adherents. After this battle, Earl Atoll secretly entered MacDonald’s possessions, on Islay Island, and kidnapped the son of Angus Og, three-year-old Donald Oak , who became a temporary guarantee of peace in the Scottish highlands.

By the early 1480s, tensions had intensified between King James III and his uncles, Atoll and Buchan . When the Lauder revolt of the Scottish barons against the king broke out in 1482, the Atoll immediately joined the rebels. Jacob III was arrested and placed under the control of the count in Edinburgh Castle . However, the fruits of the conspiracy took advantage of the Duke of Albany , who seized power in the country. Together with the Atoll, he played the siege of Edinburgh: the troops of the "loyal to the king" Duke of Albany surrounded the city and the Count Atoll was "forced" to "free" the king, passing it into the hands of the duke. This plot became the basis for the famous Scottish ballad "Lion and Mouse."

After the restoration of Jacob III in 1483, the Atoll was forbidden to approach the king at a distance of less than 6 miles. However, already in 1488, during the uprising against Jacob III of his eldest son , John Stewart supported the king and led the Highlanders at the Battle of Sochibern , which ended in the defeat and death of Jacob III.

John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atoll, passed away on September 15, 1512, and was buried in the Dunkeld Cathedral in Perthshire . He was succeeded by his eldest son from his second marriage, John Stuart, 2nd Earl of Atoll .

• (1459) Margarita Douglas (d. Circa 1474), daughter of Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas (1390-1439) and Efimia Graham. Children from first marriage:
• Lady Janet Stewart (1461 - October 27, 1510), married to Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntley (d. 1523/1524)
• Lady Elizabeth Stewart, husband Andrew Gray, 2nd Lord Gray (d. 1513/1514)
• Lady Christian Stewart, husband Neil Stewart of Garth.

In 1475, John Stewart remarried to Eleanor Sinclair (d. 1518), the daughter of William Sinclair , Earl of Orkney (1405 - until 1480) and Marjorie Sutherland. They had two sons and nine daughters:

• John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atoll (1478-1521), father's successor
• Andrew Stewart (1485–1542), Bishop of Caithnes (1517–1541)
• Lady Jean (or Janet) Stewart, husband from 1507 James Arbatnot of Arbatnot
• Lady Catherine Stewart, married Sir John Forbes, 6th Lord Forbes
• Lady Elizabeth (Elspeth) Stuart, married Sir Robert Innes, 2nd from Innermark
• Lady Marjorie Stewart (d. 1524), husband - Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchi (d. 1523).
• Lady Margaret Stewart, married Sir William Murray of Castleton, who was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513
• Lady Elizabeth Stewart, husband - Alexander Robertson from Strov
• Lady Elizabeth (or Isabelle) Stuart, husband - John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Lennox (c. 1490-1526)
• Lady Gene Stewart, married Robert Gordon (d. 1546)
• Lady Margaret Stewart, married Robert Robertson the Younger from Strov.

• The Peerage.com