Mary (Stewart) Hamilton Countess of Arran
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Mary (Stewart) Hamilton Countess of Arran (bef. 1452 - abt. 1488)

Lady Mary Hamilton Countess of Arran formerly Stewart aka Boyd
Born before in Stirling Castle, Stirlingshire, Scotlandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Wife of — married about Apr 1467 in Scotlandmap
Wife of — married before 12 Jul 1474 in Scotlandmap
Descendants descendants
Died about after about age 36 in Hamilton, Clydesdale, Lanarkshire, Scotlandmap
Profile last modified | Created 18 Feb 2011
This page has been accessed 26,507 times.
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Scottish Nobility
Mary (Stewart) Hamilton Countess of Arran was a member of Scottish Nobility.
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Contents

Biography

Notables Project
Mary (Stewart) Hamilton Countess of Arran is Notable.

Family

Mary Stewart was the eldest daughter of James II of Scotland and Marie of Guelders, his queen-consort. [1] The exact date of her birth is unknown but thought to have been shortly before May 1452, which is the first time she is mentioned in a payment of her expenses at Falkland in May, 1452 on a journey from Stirling to St Andrews .[2][3] There are frequent references to her after this time.[4]

Mary had four brothers: James III of Scotland;[1] Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, Earl of March, and Lord of Annandale and Man;[1] David Stewart, Earl of Moray;[1] John Stewart, Earl of Mar and Garioch;[1] and one sister, Margaret Stewart.[1] Her father was killed on 3 August 1460 during the siege of Roxburgh Castle and her mother died three years later on 1 December 1463.[1] At the age of eleven, Mary found herself an orphan.

Marriage to Thomas Boyd

Robert Boyd, who had in 1466 kidnapped the young king and taken him to Edinburgh Castle where he would be under Boyd's control, later himself became the guardian of James III and his younger brothers and assumed the positon of Lord Chamberlain of Scotland.[5] In April 1467 Boyd arranged a marriage between Mary Stewart and his own eldest son, Thomas Boyd, thereby creating a stronger alliance between his family and the crown.[6] On 26 April of that same year, Thomas Boyd was created Earl of Arran.[7]

When, in July 1469, Thomas returned from a mission to Denmark escorting Princess Margaret (who was to be married to James III at Holyrood), it was to find that in his absence the king had been persuaded that his father and uncle were guilty of treason and Thomas himself was under suspicion.[8] His father, Lord Robert Boyd, managed to escape to England.[9] His uncle, Sir Alexander Boyd, was too ill to travel and confident that he would be able to successfully defend himself before parliament. He was not, however, allowed to produce evidence in his own defense but immediately taken to Castle Hill and beheaded.[9] Mary met her husband's ship, warned him of the danger he was in, and immediately set sail with her husband back to Denmark.[4] It is believed that they eventually travelled from Denmark through Germany and into France, where Thomas offered his services to Charles, the Duke of Burgundy,[10] who provided them with a home 'becoming their rank.'[9] Thomas and his father were both attainted 22 November 1469.[4]

Two children were born to Mary Stewart and Thomas Boyd while they lived in exile:

It has been said that James III, knowing of his sister's love for her husband and believing she would not willingly leave him, "....caused others to write to her and give her hope that his anger toward her husband might be appeased" if she were to return home and pleaded for him in person.[9] Accordingly, Mary returned to Scotland where, instead of allowing her to protest her husband's innocence, her brother detained her at Kilmarnock Castle and threatened to have her marriage annulled.[14] [see research notes]

Thomas Boyd, earl of Arran, died in Antwerp sometime before 1474.[4][15] The cause of his death is unknown, although some historians claim that he died of grief,[14][15] and the Duke of Burgundy erected a large monument in Antwerp in his memory.[14]

Marriage to James Hamilton

Mary's second marriage, arranged by her brother the king, was to James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton, who was 28 years older than she and one of her brother's most loyal supporters.[16] There were several charters granted to them and their heirs male dated 12 July 1474, which contained special provisions for any daughters born of their marriage.[17][18] A papal dispensation for their marriage was granted retroactively on 25 April 1476.[19] This dispensation was necessary because his (former) wife Euphame and Mary Stewart were related in the 3rd and 4th degrees of kindred; he had carnally known two women also related to Mary in the 3rd and 4th degrees of kindred; he had carnal relations with another woman in the 3rd degree of kindred; and he had also been married to another (unnamed) woman who was related to Mary in the 3rd and 4th degree of kindred.[1]

There were at least two children from this marriage:

Death

James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton, died 6 November 1479 and his widow, Mary Stewart, died about Whitsuntide 1488 at the age of 37.[1][17]

Research Notes

Were Mary and Thomas Boyd divorced?
  • There is major disagreement among historians regarding whether or not the king actually obtained a divorce and/or annullment of his sister's marriage. Most historians who believe that Mary's first marriage was annulled[11][12] cite Buchanan's History of Scotland as their source. Buchanan, however, wrote his history a century after these events happened and, as his main patron was the earl of Murray (an arch enemy of the Hamiltons) his account may not have been impartial.[14] Buchannan suggested that Hamilton married Mary in 1469 while Arran was still living ,and if a divorce or annullment was called into question, then the Hamilton family's connection to the throne would have been based on adultery. Hector Boece, who wrote A History of Scotland in 1536 (and whose translator, John Bellenden, was actually living during this time) said that "...the daughter of King James the second, after the death of Lord Boyd [earl of Arran], married the Lord Hamilton."[14] Mr. Scott,another historian who normally agreed with Buchanan, stated only that "...the king detained the Countess of Arran from returning to her husband and urged her to file for a divorce, to which she would not consent....and she remained a widow until her marriage to Hamilton."[14] It is also possible that the king actually intitiated a divorce that was never completed before the earl's death. Richardson states only that Mary was "....presumably removed from her husband" but does not mention any divorce.[1] James Balfour Paul contradicts himself, mentioning in one instance that the earl's marriage with the king's sister was "declared null and void"[12] and stating elsewhere that Lord Hamilton married Mary Stewart, "sister of King James III and widow of Thomas Boyd, earl of Arran."[16]
Robert Hamilton, Seigneur d'Aubigny, Incorrectly Identified as Son of James and Mary
  • Britain's Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy lists one additional son from the marriage of James Hamilton and Mary Stewart, who is not mentioned by either Richardson or Balfour Paul: Robert Hamilton, Seigneur d'Aubigny; d. 1543.[11] As a result, this second son has been cited not only in the peerage.com but in numerous family trees on ancestry and family search. This is an unfortunate error. "Seigneur d'Aubigny" was a title which belonged in the Stewart family (and was not used by the Hamiltons) and the fourth Seigneur d'Aubigny, who did indeed die in 1543, was Robert Stewart, the 4th son of John Stewart,earl of Lennox, and Margaret Montgomerie.[27] Accordingly, the profile of Robert Hamilton will be detached as a son of James Hamilton and Mary Stewart.

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 1, pp. 662-665 BRUS 13. James II of Scotland iii. Mary Stewart.
  2. Burnett, George (ed). Rotuli Scaccarii Regum Scotorum (Exchequer Rolls of Scotland). Edinburgh: General Register House (1883), vol. 6 (1455-1460), preface, pp.cxxvi-cxxvii, footnote 3.
  3. Burnett, George (ed). Rotuli Scaccarii Regum Scotorum (Exchequer Rolls of Scotland). Edinburgh: General Register House (1882), vol. 5 (1437-1454), p. 537.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1908), vol. 5, p. 148.
  5. Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1908), vol. 5, p. 143.
  6. Biographia Britannica. Boyde. London: W. Innys (1748), vol. 2, p. 875.
  7. Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1908), vol. 5, p. 147.
  8. Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1908), vol. 5, pp. 147-148.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Biographia Britannica. Boyde. London: W. Innys (1748), vol. 2, p. 876.
  10. Clarke, Seymour. The Boyds of Penkill and Trochrig. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and Sons (1909), p. 11.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families. London: The Bodley Head (1989), p. 234.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1908), vol. 5, p. 149.
  13. Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1908), vol. 5, pp. 149-150.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Biographia Britannica. Boyde. London: W. Innys (1748), vol. 2, p. 877.
  15. 15.0 15.1 Brydges, Sir Egerton. Collin's Peerage of England. London: J. Nichols and Co. (1812), vol. 1, p. 518.
  16. 16.0 16.1 Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1907), vol. 4, pp. 352-353.
  17. 17.0 17.1 Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1907), vol. 4, p.353.
  18. Anderson, John. Historical and Genealogical Memoirs of the House of Hamilton. Edinburgh: by the author (1825), p. 64.
  19. Reg. Mag. Sig.; Theiner, Vetera Monumenta, 477, cited in Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1907), vol. 4, p.353.
  20. Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 4, p. 355.
  21. Cokayne, George Edward. The Complete Peerage. London: George Bell and Sons (1892), vol. 4, p. 140.
  22. Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1907), vol. 4, p. 454.
  23. Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 3, p. 324 HOUSTON 15. James Hamilton.
  24. Historic MSS Commission. Manuscripts of the Duke of Hamilton. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode (1887), pp.51-52. Marriage banns Hamilton-Beaton.
  25. Miscellany of the Maitland Club. The Hamilton Papers. Glasgow: W. Eadie & Co. (1847), vol. 4,pt1, p. 199, no, 181
  26. Greig, Elaine Finnie. Hamilton, James, first earl of Arran. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (23 Sep 2004), available online by subscription.
  27. Paul, SIr James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), Vol. 5, pp. 349-350.
See Also:
  • Armstrong, C.A.J. (ed). A Letter of James III to the Duke of Burgundy. Miscellany of the Scottish Historical Society, 3rd series (1953), vol. 43, pp. 19-32.
  • Brown, P. Hume. A Short History of Scotland. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd (1908), pp. 251-254.
  • Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands, Scotland, Kings. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Medieval Lands database, chapter 6, Stewart.
  • Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1908), vol. 5, p, 348. (Stewart, Duke of Lennox)
  • Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry

Acknowledgements

Click the Changes tab to see edits to this profile. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this profile.

Magna Carta Project

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This profile is in a trail badged by the Magna Carta Project.
This profile was revised by Jen Stevens in October and November 2020 and approved for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 10 November 2020.
Mary Stewart appears in Magna Carta Ancestry in badged Richardson-documented trails from Gateway Ancestor Patrick Houston to Magna Carta Surety Barons Gilbert de Clare, Richard de Clare and Robert de Vere. The trail is set out in the Magna Carta Trails section of the Gateway's profile.
See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".




Comments: 10

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Please see research notes. If there are no objections, Robert Hamilton, Seigneur d'Aubigny, will also be detached from this profile.

Jen

posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
[deleted]
Reliable proof was requested showing that the Robert of this profile was actually a son of James Hamilton and Mary Stewart.

"Britains's royal families : the complete genealogy" by Weir, Alison states that this Robert Hamilton-12677 was actually a son of James Hamilton Hamilton-7026 and Mary (Stewart) Hamilton Countess of Arran (bef.1452-abt.1488) .

https://archive.org/details/britainssroyalfa0000weir/page/234/mode/1up?q=d%27Aubigny

Robert Hamilton, Seigneur d'Aubigny, son of James 1st Lord of Hamilton, 6th Lord of Cadzow and Mary Stewart Princess of Scotland Countess of Arran

(Image presented has been provided with permission from the author of the book, Alison Weir.)

posted by [deleted]
Robert was detached as Mary's son in Nov 2020.
posted by Traci Thiessen
edited by Traci Thiessen
Unless anyone knows of a single reliable source indicating that Mary Stewart and James Hamilton ever had a son named Robert who held the prebendary of Kincardine, Robert Hamilton is going to be detached from this profile. Anyone?

Jen

posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
[deleted]
Reliable proof was requested showing that the Robert of this profile was actually a son of James Hamilton and Mary Stewart.

"Britains's royal families : the complete genealogy" by Weir, Alison states that this Robert Hamilton-12677 was actually a son of James Hamilton Hamilton-7026 and Mary (Stewart) Hamilton Countess of Arran (bef.1452-abt.1488) .

https://archive.org/details/britainssroyalfa0000weir/page/234/mode/1up?q=d%27Aubigny

Robert Hamilton, Seigneur d'Aubigny, son of James 1st Lord of Hamilton, 6th Lord of Cadzow and Mary Stewart Princess of Scotland Countess of Arran

(Image presented has been provided with permission from the author of the book, Alison Weir.)

posted by [deleted]
I am going to be updating this profile on behalf of the Scotland Project and the Magna Carta Project. If anyone knows of additional information and sources which should be added, please message me or post here. Thanks!

Jen

posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
This profile is in a Richardson-documented trail between Gateway Ancestor Patrick Houston and Magna Carta surety barons Richard de Clare and Gilbert de Clare that needs development by the Magna Carta Project. I will soon be adding the project as co-manager of this profile and will add a project box and project section to the biography. This profile still needs to be developed against the project's checklist. Thanks!
posted by Traci Thiessen
That painting seems to be from a very different period!
posted by Andrew Lancaster
Please add to categories Forsyth de Fronsac Fraud and Charles Henry Browning Fraud
posted by Sunny (Trimbee) Clark