Stuart, Esme, 1st Duke of Lennox

The only son of John Stuart (c. 1519 - May 31, 1567 ), 5th lord d'Aubigny ( 1543 - 1567 ), and Anna de La Coyay (d. C. 1579 ), daughter of Francois de La Coye, senora de La Coye , and Anna de Rogan , grandson of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Lennox .

Nephew of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and Regent of Scotland from 1570 to 1571 , making him the closest relative of King James VI's father, Lord Darnley .

Esme Stewart inherited in 1567 from his father the lord Obigny in France and spent his youth at the court of the French king. However, the death in 1576 of his cousin Charles, the 5th Earl of Lennox , without male heirs, opened up Esme to the possibility of acquiring Lennox County in Scotland, as the new Earl, Robert Stewart , was a sixty-year-old childless man. In September 1579, Esme returned to Scotland.

Thirty-seven-year-old Esme Stewart, well acquainted with the French and other European royal courts, quickly won the sympathy of the fourteen-year-old King James VI, who had never known his father's upbringing and was under the care of successive regents for a year old. Apparently, in the relationship of the king and Esme Stewart, there was also a sexual component. Be that as it may, it was Esme who became the first in a long line of favorites of King James VI. At the beginning of 1580, the king led Robert Stewart to cede the county to Lennox Esme, and in 1581 he elevated the favorite to the title of Duke of Lennox, handed him the Dumbarton Castle and included him in the Privy Council. The rise of Esme Stewart marked the end of the reign of Regent Morton : on December 31, 1580, the regent was arrested, and executed in June of the following year.

During the reign of Lennox in Scotland, two main political groups were finally formed that determined the country's future development: radical Protestant Presbyterians led by Count Angus and conservatives (sometimes referred to as the “Catholic Party”, although there were a minority of Catholics among them) headed by the count Huntley The former were guided by England and relied on the Scottish clergy, the latter sought union with France and Spain and represented the interests of the big nobility.

Lennox did not belong to any of these groups. However, he was closely associated with France and gave permission for Jesuits to work in Scotland, who in 1580-1581 came into contact with Scottish conservative leaders and discussed the prospects of Spanish intervention for the restoration of Catholicism in Scotland. It should be noted that Elizabeth I , Queen of England, preparing for war with Spain, did not interfere in the internal affairs of Scotland and did not oppose the rule of Lennox. Nevertheless, in Scotland itself, radical Protestants actively tried to organize the overthrow of the favorite. The Angus conspiracy in 1582 , however, failed, and the count was forced to flee to England. A more serious test for the regime was the sharp opposition of the Scottish clergy, requiring reform in the Presbyterian spirit and suspecting Lennox of sympathy for Catholicism. The refusal of the national church to cooperate with Lennox actually paralyzed royal power in religious affairs. The attempts of Jacob VI and Lennox to reassure the Protestants by approving in 1581 the Negative Confession of Protestantism, which denies Catholic dogmas, did not bring success.

The culmination of the confrontation between Lennox and the Protestants was the events of August 1582 . Suddenly, a rebellion of radical Presbyterians led by Count Goury , who managed to capture King James VI. Lennox was forced to flee from Scotland to France, where he soon died. Radical Protestants came to power in Scotland.

Around 1572, he married the French noblewoman Catherine de Balzac (? - c. 1631 ), the daughter of Guillaume de Balzac (d. 1555 ), the lord d'Antrages and Marcoussis, and Louise d'Yumviere. Children:

• Gabriel Stewart
• Henrietta Stewart (c. 1573–1642), wife of George Gordon (1562–1636), 1st Marquis Huntley (from 1599 )
• Louis Stewart (1574-1624), 2nd Duke of Lennox (1583-1624)
• Esme Stewart (1579-1624), 3rd Duke of Lennox (1624)
• Mary Stuart (c. 1582–1644), wife of John Erskine (c. 1558–1634), 18th Earl of Mara (1572–1634)

• Entry at ThePeerage.com