John Gordon DD (abt. 1544 - 1619)

Born about 1544 in Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Antoinette (Marolles) Gordon — married 1576 in France

Husband of Genevieve Pétau — married 1594 in France

Descendants

Died 3 Sep 1619 at about age 75 in Leweston House, Dorset, England

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Biography

Birth and Parents

John Gordon DD is a member of Clan Gordon.

John was the illegitimate son of Bishop Alexander Gordon and Barbara Logie. He was born in about 1544.^[1][2][3] His parents married some two years after his birth^[3] and in 1553 he and his sister Barbara were formally legitimised by Mary, Queen of Scots.^[1][2]

Earlier Life

John studied at St Andrew's University,^[1][2][3] and then (with a pension from Mary, Queen of Scots) in France, possibly at Paris and Orléans. In March 1566 he was briefly a Gentleman-in-Waiting to Charles IX of France.^[3]

In 1568 he received the Bishopric of Galloway, which had been held by his father. In March that year he became tutor of Louis, Prince of Condé. By the autumn of that year he was in the employ of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk. The next year Thomas Howard was sent to prison, and John Gordon gained a post with Mary, Queen of Scots, which he held until 1572: it was reported by the British ambassador to Scotland that John wrote a defence of Mary, condemning those who opposed her.^[3]

In 1572, when the household of Mary Queen of Scots was dissolved, John returned for a short time to Scotland^[4] and then went back to France, where he served as a Gentleman of the Chamber to Kings Charles IX, Henri III, and Henri IV.^[1][2][3] A note of 1572/3 in the Cecil Papers shows that he was regarded by William Cecil, Lord Burghley, as an opportunist.^[4]

In 1573 John wrote to William Cecil to defend himself against a charge that he was the author of a "bruit lately made in French, containing infamy against you and my Lord Keeper," adding:

"If I had been a participant thereof, it should have carried some mark of greater learning; if it shall be found hereafter that I have done contrary to this my declaration, let it be accounted as treason."^[5]

First Marriage

In 1576 John married Antoinette de Marolles,^[1][2] daughter of René de Marolles. Through his wife he became Sieur de Longorme.^[3] They had four children, none of whom survived him:

• Armand Claude,^[3] who died en route to Scotland^[6]
• George, who died while studying at Beauvais^[3][6]
• two daughters who died young^[6]

Antoinette died in 1591.^[3][6]

Transfer of See of Galloway

By 8 July 1586 John resigned the bishopric of Galloway in favour of his brother George. He had never been more than titular bishop: the revenues had gone to either his father or to George.^[3]

Second Marriage

John remarried in 1594, his second wife being Genevieve Pétau. The Scots Peerage,^[7] Richardson^[1][2] and Fasti Ecclesiae Scotianae^[6] name her father as Gideon Pétau, first President of the Brittany Court of Parliament. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says it is uncertain whether her father was Gideon, and regards it as more likely that she was the daughter of François Pétau, a Brittany official.^[3] John and Genevieve had one child:

• Louise/Lucy, who married Robert Gordon^[1][2][3][6]

Subsequent Life

In 1600 John wrote a panegyric for Pope Clement VIII, but he was not a firm Catholic. Three years later he wrote a Protestant-leaning panegyric addressed to James VI/I, following James's accession to the English throne. This may have helped him gain the favour of James I, and in January 1604 John formally took up the position of Dean of Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire. He was a frequent preacher at James's court,^[3] and James described him as "a man well travailled in the ancients."^[6] He was given English denization by royal letters patent on 18 January 1604, conferring on him a number of rights not normally enjoyed by non-citizens.^[8] On 3 May 1604 he was granted the "first fruits" of the deanery of Salisbury.^[9]

In June 1605, during a royal visit to Oxford, John was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree. In 1608 his ecclesiastical income was increased when he was granted the livings of Burton and Upton Lovel, Wiltshire and Stoke Charity, Hampshire. In 1611 he was granted the barony of Glenluce, Scotland, by royal charter,^[3] following the death of his brother Lawrence.^[6]

John wrote a number of religious and other works after he settled in England.^[6] In some of these he supported the union of Scotland and England as being in accord with divine providence.^[3][10]

Death and Burial

John died on 3 September 1619 at Leweston House, Dorset^[1][2][3] and was buried at Salisbury Cathedral^[11] on 6 September.^[3]

Research Notes

Children

Douglas Richardson states that John Gordon had no children by his first marriage.^[1][2] Both the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography^[3] and Fasti Ecclesiae Scotianae^[6] disagree, and ascribe four children to the marriage.

John and his first wife Antoinette de Marolles have previously been shown on WikiTree as parents of Catherine Gordon who married John Munro. As stated in the bio, sources state that John and Antoinette's daughters died young. ThePeerage.com names Catherine's father as a different John Gordon, John Gordon of Embo,^[12] who may be John Gordon of Embo.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol.I, p. 100, BARCLAY 16, Google Books
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. I, p. 244, BARCLAY 17
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Alexander Gordon, revised by David George Mullan, for 'Gordon, John (1544-1619)', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} 'Cecil Papers: February 1573', in Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House: Volume 2, 1572-1582 (London, 1888), pp. 44-47, entry for February 1572/3, British History Online, accessed 7 June 2021
5. ↑ 'Addenda, Queen Elizabeth - Volume 23: February 1573', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Elizabeth, Addenda, 1566-79, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1871), pp. 443-445, entry for 18 February 1573, British History Online, accessed 6 June 2021
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9} H E W Scott. Fasti Ecclesiae Scotianae, new edition, Vol. VIII, Oliver and Boyd, 1928, pp.344-345, Internet Archive
7. ↑ James Balfour Paul (ed.). The Scots Peerage, Vol. IX, David Douglas, 1914, p. 110, Internet Archive
8. ↑ 'James I: Volume 6, January-March, 1604', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James I, 1603-1610, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1857), pp. 64-90, British History Online, accessed 6 June 2021
9. ↑ 'James I: Volume 8, May, 1604', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: James I, 1603-1610, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1857), pp. 103-140, British History Online, accessed 6 June 2021
10. ↑ John Gordon. Henotikon, 1604
11. ↑ Wiltshire Memorial Inscription Index, ref. 43703, FindMyPast
12. ↑ ThePeerage.com, Catherine Gordon daughter of John Gordon of Embo

• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for ‘’Royal Ancestry’’.
• Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author, 2011. See also WikiTree's source page for "Magna Carta Ancestry".
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Alexander Gordon, revised by David George Mullan, for 'Gordon, John (1544-1619)', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 22, pp. 212-214, entry for 'GORDON, JOHN, D.D. (1544–1619)', Wikisource
• Scott, H E W. Fasti Ecclesiae Scotianae, new edition, Vol. VIII, Oliver and Boyd, 1928, pp.344-345, Internet Archive
• Wikipedia: John Gordon (Bishop)

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 6 June 2021 and approved by Thiessen-117.

John Gordon DD appears in Magna Carta Ancestry in a Richardson-documented trail from Gateway Ancestors Robert Barclay and John Barclay to Magna Carta Surety Barons Gilbert de Clare and Richard de Clare (vol. I, pages 94-101 BARCLAY). This trail was re-developed in 2021 by Michael Cayley and was badged by the Magna Carta Project on 22 June 2021. See the Magna Carta Trails on Robert Barclay's profile to view the profiles in that trail.

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".