James (Stewart) Stewart Black Knight of Lorn (abt. 1395 - aft. 1451)

Born about 1395 in Innermeath, Argyllshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Joan (Beaufort) Queen Dowager of Scots — married before 21 Sep 1439 in Scotland

Descendants

Died after 17 Aug 1451 after about age 56 in North Sea

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James (Stewart) Stewart Black Knight of Lorn was an inhabitant of Medieval Scotland. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Magna Carta Surety Baron Descendant (see text). Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

James Stewart is a descendant of Magna Carta surety barons Richard de Clare and Gilbert de Clare (see text below).

Note: This profile is not King James (James I) of Scotland, who also married Joan Beaufort (February 1424 in St. Andrew's, Fifeshire, Scotland). This profile is of James "the Black Knight of Lorn", who married the same Joan (about 1439) after the death of King James Stewart of Scotland.

Biography

James (Stewart) Stewart Black Knight of Lorn is a member of Clan Stewart.

James (Stewart) Stewart Black Knight of Lorn is Notable.

This profile is part of the Stewart Name Study.

"Black Knight of Lorn"

Family

James was the fourth son of John Stewart of Innermeath, lord of Lorn, and his wife Isabel MacDougall.^[1][2] The exact date of his birth is unknown, but estimated to have been no later than 1395, as it seems likely his younger brother, Alexander, was born no later than 1396 (Alexander was of age in 1414 when he received a charter for the lands of Garnetully, Kyltullyth, and Aberfeldy^[3] and was married by 1416).^[4][5] (see Research Notes)

James received the nickname "The Black Knight of Lorn" because in battle, as well as in sporting events, he always wore black armour.^[6]

Marriage and Children

James married in (most likely in the summer of) 1439 Joan Beaufort, Queen Mother of Scotland.^[7][1] They were granted a papal dispensation on 21 September 1439 to remain married despite being in the third and fourth degrees of kindred,^[1] which stipulated that any children born or to be born from the marriage were legitimate but that the survivor of the two of them would never be permitted to remarry.^[8]

There were three children from this marriage:

• John Stewart, 1st earl of Atholl, lord of Balvany; b. c.1440;^[9][10] m (1) bef. 25 Mar 1460 Margaret Douglas;^[9][10] m(2) bef. 19 Apr 1475 Eleanor Sinclair;^[9][10] d. 15 Sep 1512^[9][10]

• James Stewart of Auchterhouse, High Chamberlain of Scotland, earl of Buchan; m. bef. 19 Apr 1457 Margaret Ogilvy;^[11][12] d. bef. 23 Jan 1499/1500^[11][12]

• Andrew Stewart, lord of the Privy Seal, bishop of Moray; b. c.1443;^[13]d. 29 Sep 1501^[14][13]

Joan, the dowager queen,found herself increasingly in need of a protector who would prevent her children (including the young king) from being peremptorily removed from her custody, and she also needed to solidify her position in Perthshire where most of her own lands were.^[15] Sir James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn, was a younger son of a family with extensive lands and influence in Perthshire.^[16] Unfortunately their marriage made Joan's situation much worse. Alexander Livingston, governor of Stirling Castle, was so alarmed by the marriage that he used it as an excuse to seize the Queen Mother and her new husband and imprison them in the castle for a month (throwing Sir James and his brother Alexander into the dungeon and placing them in chains),^[17][15] until Joan was forced to sign a formal document giving sole custody of her son (James II) to himself, giving up her own dowry to be used for her son's maintenance, and forfeiting Stirling Castle (which was to be the young king's residence).^{[7][18] [19]}

Death

In June 1445, with her supporters under attack, Joan Beaufort was forced to take refuge in Dunbar Castle where she died the following month on 15 July 1445.^[19][20] Joan, Queen Dowager of Scots, was buried beside King James I at the Charterhouse of the Carthusian Priory at Perth.^[1]

Sir James Stewart, Black Knight of Lorn, escaped to England with their three young sons.^[1][19] In 1447 letters of safe conduct were issued to him and to two of his sons, John and James, by King Henry VI of England.^[21][22] He and his sons received an additional safe conduct on 17 August 1451.^[23] This was the last time Sir James Stewart appeared in any written records. He is believed to have been captured by a Flemish ship sometime after August, 1451, and have been put to death.^[1][24]

Research Notes

James Stewart's birth date:

The Stewart Society gives James's birthdate as 1399 but provides no sources or rationale for this.^[25] If that date is correct, James's younger brother would have been born no earlier than 1400, which would make him only fourteen years of age when he received a fairly large land grant and sixteen years of age when he married. This is certainly not impossible, but seems less likely than the earlier date which has been used in this profile. Hopefully more records will be discovered in the future which will shed further light on this question. Stevens-17832 21:30, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 5, p. 41 STEWART 12. James Stewart.
2. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 5, p. 2.
3. ↑ Fraser, William. The Red Book of Grandtully. Edinburgh (1868), p. lxii.
4. ↑ MacGregor, Gordon. The Red Book of Scotland. Scotland: by the author (2020) vol. 9, p. 421.
5. ↑ Stewart, Duncan. A Short Historical and Genealogical Account of the Royal Family of Scotland.... Edinburgh: W. Sands (1739), reprinted by ECCO, p. 183.
6. ↑ MacGregor, Gordon. The Red Book of Scotland. Scotland: by the author (2020), vol. 9, p. 399.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Burnett, George (ed). Rotuli Scaccarii Regum Scotorum The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1878), vol. 5, pp. lii-liv.
8. ↑ Bain, Joseph. Notes on a Dispensation for the Marriage of Johanna Beaufort with the Black Knight of Lorn. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. 16 (1881-2), pp. 174-175.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 5, pp. 42-44 STEWART 13. John Stewart, Knt.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 1, pp. 440-442.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 5, pp. 41-42 STEWART 12.ii. James Stewart.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 4, pp.266-267.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 1, p. 441.
14. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 5, p. 42 STEWART 12.iii. Andrew Stewart
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Mackenzie, Agnes Mure. The Rise of the Stewarts. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, Ltd. (1935, reprt 1957), p. 190
16. ↑ Downie, Fiona. She Is But A Woman: Queenship in Scotland 1424-1463. Edinburgh: John Donald Pub (2006), p. 144.
17. ↑ Thomson, Thomas (ed). The Auchinleck Chronicle (from the Asloan Manuscript). Edinburgh: private printing (1819), p. 34.
18. ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 196.
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1 19.2} Brown, M.H. Joan [née Joan Beaufort]. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (23 Sep 2004), available here by subscription.
20. ↑ Thomson, Thomas. Annales of Scotland in The Auchinleek Chronicles. Edinburgh: The Library at Auchinleck, Ayrshire (1819), A.D. 1446, pp. 174-175.
21. ↑ Bain, Joseph. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1881), vol. 4, p. 240, no. 1181; p. 244, no. 1203.
22. ↑ Hardy, Thomas D (ed). Syllabus (in English) of the Documents Relating to England and other Kingdoms (Rymer's Fœdera). London: Longmans, Green (1869), vol. 2, p. 678 (22 Nov 1447)
23. ↑ Hardy, Thomas D (ed). Syllabus (in English) of the Documents Relating to England and other Kingdoms (Rymer's Fœdera). London: Longmans, Green (1869), vol. 2,p. 682 (17 Aug 1451).
24. ↑ Burnett, George (ed). Rotuli Scaccarii Regum Scotorum The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1878), vol. 5, pp. lxvii-lxviii.
25. ↑ James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn. The Stewart Society.

See also:

• Boardman, S.I. Stewart, John, first earl of Atholl. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (23 Sep 2004), available here by subscription.

• Cawley, Charles. Foundation for Medieval Lands database: Scotland, John Stewart.

• Henderson, Thomas F. Stewart, John (1440? - 1512). Dictionary of National Biography online edition.

• Kekewich, M.L. et al. The Politics of Fifteenth Century England. (1995), pp. 183–85.

• Kimber, Edward & John Almon. The Peerage of Scotland. London: Piccadilly (1767), p. 340. [Note: this book can be found here but has only 248 pp and no listing for James Stewart in the index].

• McAndrew, Bruce A. Scotland's Historic Heraldry. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press (2006), p. 205.

• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 1, p. 657 BRUS 12. James I of Scotland.

• 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), volume IV, pages 102-107] STEWART.

• Sinclair, Alexander. Dissertation Upon "Heirs Male"... Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons (1837), pp. 117-118 (available here).

• Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families London: The Bodley Head (1999), p. 230.

• Wikipedia: James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn

• Wikidata: Item Q6143629, en:Wikipedia

Acknowledgements

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Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project by Jen Hutton on 27 February 2023.

James Stewart appears in a project-approved/badged trail (reviewed in 2023 by a Magna Carta project member) from Gateway Ancestor Alexander Spotswood to Magna Carta Surety Barons Gilbert de Clare and Richard de Clare. The trail can be viewed 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".