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Ludovic
Stuart (1574-1624), 2nd Duke of Lennox, was born into the
“Auld Alliance” between Scotland and France and came to maturity in
the “new alliance” between Scotland and England.
Ludovic was the son
of Esmé
Stuart, 6th Seigneur d’Aubigny.
Esmé was
first cousin to Henry Stuart Lord Darnley, the unfortunate husband of
Mary Queen of Scots and father of King James VI of Scotland and I of
England. (For those who
like to trace lines of descent: Ludovic’s grandfather was John Stuart,
5th Seigneur d’Aubigny, brother to Matthew
Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox, father of Darnley and therefore
James VI & I’s grandfather.)
It was not unusual for prominent Scottish families to have ties
to both Scotland and France. This
was a direct result of the “Auld Alliance.”
The “Auld Alliance” was based on a need, shared by Scotland and
France, to contain English expansion.
A long-standing connection, it was formally established by treaty
in 1295, renewed by Robert the Bruce in 1326, and cemented by Scottish
King James I (1394-1437) who sent Scottish forces to fight for the
French King Charles VII (and Joan of Arc) against the English.
During
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the countries assisted each other
against the English on several occasions.
The “Auld Alliance” was primarily a military and diplomatic alliance but there were cultural
associations as well, with French influence being felt in Scottish
architecture and law. One significant aspect of the "Auld Alliance" was the existence
of French titles and lands held by Scots nobles.
The
first Scottish “Seigneur d’Aubigny” was Sir John Stewart, knight
of Scotland, who entered the service of France in 1419 and rose to the
position of Constable of the Scottish forces
in France. Later
“Seigneurs d’Aubigny” of Scottish origin had included a
Chamberlain of the King of France, a Captain of the Scottish Archers who
later became Grand Constable of Sicily and Jerusalem, and a Marshal of
France.
Esmé
Stuart, 6th Seigneur
d’Aubigny, father of Ludovic, was born and raised in France,
where he married and had children.
In 1579, he was sent to Scotland as an emissary of the powerful
Guise family (King James’ grandmother was Mary of Guise, wife to James
V). Esmé arrived just
after the 13th birthday of young King James.
James was emerging from an extremely unpleasant childhood. As a pawn of powerful
families and an extremist Protestant Kirk, he had been threatened and
browbeaten and regularly kidnapped as soon as he had begun to bond with
his guardians, and raised to believe his mother (Mary Queen of Scots,
imprisoned in England) was an adulteress who had murdered his father.
When James, isolated and lonely, met his tall, handsome,
sophisticated, worldly, 30-something French cousin, he came down with a
case of hero worship from which he never recovered.
James showered his cousin with lands and power, naming him Duke
of Lennox in 1581. Esmé,
however, abused James’ trust by engaging in some highly impolitic and
rather ineffective plotting, rousing the anger of the nobility and the
Kirk. The wildly unhappy
King was forced to send Esmé
back to France. A year
later, Esmé died. In 1583,
James (by now 18 years old and in charge of his own destiny) had his
hero’s 10-year-old son, Ludovic, brought from France to Scotland to be
raised at his court.
James immediately began to lavish a succession of wealthy estates and
influential lordships on his young cousin; he named Ludovic Duke of
Lennox (by which name he will be hereafter known), a Gentleman of the
Bedchamber and Great Chamberlain for life, among other honors and
offices, and asked him to carry the crown to the opening session of the
Scots Parliament in 1584. Lennox
repaid his king and cousin with lifelong loyalty.
In 1589, at the age of 15, Lennox was named to the Scottish Privy
Council and began to take an active role in national affairs.
When James VI left the country in 1589/90 to claim his Danish
bride Anne, Lennox acted as governor of the kingdom and president of the
Scottish Privy Council, roles which he carried out with meticulous
responsibility and notable success.
As Chamberlain, Lennox headed the ceremonial celebrations
surrounding the arrival of Queen Anne and her subsequent coronation.
He continued to serve as a patron of the arts, sponsoring his own
troupe of actors (known as the Duke of Lennox’s Men) and performing in
court masques.
In 1601, Lennox was sent as an ambassador to France, unofficially
renewing the “Auld Alliance,” which had been in abeyance since 1560
when Scotland, having officially become a Protestant nation, signed the
Treaty of Edinburgh with equally Protestant England.
On Lennox’s return journey from France to Scotland, he made his
first visit to London, spending several weeks being entertained at the
court of Elizabeth I before heading north.
In 1603, Lennox returned to London in the company of James VI of
Scotland, who had succeeded Elizabeth as James I of England.
James immediately appointed Lennox a member of the English Privy
Council, First Gentleman of the English Bedchamber and Lord Steward of
the household. (On Lennox’s death, the position of Lord Steward, a highly
influential position with considerable political importance, was given
to another signer of the Peirce Patent, James Hamilton, 2d Marquis of
Hamilton.) Lennox continued
to accumulate honors and lordships in England; his titles eventually
included Duke of Richmond and Earl of Newcastle upon Tyne.
For the remainder of his life, Lennox was based in London
although he continued to serve at intermittent intervals as James’
ambassador to France and periodically returned to Scotland where he
continued to maintain extensive holdings and lordships.
Lennox’s Scottish territorial holdings were largely in the west and it
is not surprising that his first colonial venture was across the North
Channel of the Irish Sea. James,
having crushed an Irish rebellion in 1607, decided to “plant” loyal
Scots in Ireland, a venture known as the “Colonization of Ulster.”
Under his direction, Ulster was divided into lots and offered to
“Purchasers.” Fifty-nine
Scots received shares of 81,000 acres of land.
Lennox was given a significant grant of lands in Donegal, known
as the Portlough Patent. The
actual settlers were then carefully chosen and located on the lands.
It is estimated that, by 1640, there were 40,000 Scots settled in
the north of Ireland. The
repercussions of this first English colonial experiment echo even today.
As one of the most powerful members of James’ Privy Council, Lennox
was involved with the business regarding plantations that came before
the Council. He played a dominant role in supporting the New England
Company but his interest was, on the whole, remote.
He certainly was no friend to religious dissenters of a Puritan
persuasion and had, in fact, been excommunicated at one time by the Kirk
on suspicions of an excessive leaning towards Catholicism.
His motivation seems to have been the support of any effort that
would stabilize the finances of the crown and extend England’s
political influence and power. Lennox’s
loyalty was to his king and his habit was to avoid confrontation.
Lennox
married three times. His
first marriage was the romantic elopement of a 17-year old carried out
to the displeasure of his guardian, King James.
Lennox’s bride, Sophie Ruthven, daughter of the Earl of Gowrie,
died after a year of marriage. At
the age of 24, Lennox married Lady Jean Campbell.
They had two children, who both died young; the couple quarreled
violently and separated by 1607. Jean
died in 1612. Lennox took a
third wife, Frances Howard Seymour, in 1621.
Frances was the granddaughter of Thomas Howard, 3rd
Duke of Norfolk, and the widow of Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, who
was 1st cousin to Queen Elizabeth I.
Lennox died in 1624; he had no surviving children.
He and Frances (who died in 1639) are both buried in Westminster
Abbey in the Henry VII chapel. Their
hefty tombs can be seen today, in a small dark chapel to the south of
the tomb of Henry VII.
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