Agnes Keith, Countess of Moray
Encyclopedia
Agnes Keith, Countess of Moray (c. 1540 – 16 July 1588) was a Scottish noblewoman having been the eldest daughter of William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal
. She was the wife of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray
, Regent
of Scotland and the illegitimate half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots, making her a sister-in-law of the Scottish queen. As the wife of the regent, Lady Moray was the most powerful woman in Scotland from 1567 until her husband's assassination in 1570.
She was married secondly to Sir Colin Campbell
, heir presumptive to the earldom of Argyll. When he succeeded his brother as the 6th earl in 1573, Agnes was henceforth styled Countess of Argyll. During her second marriage, Lady Argyll became embroiled in a litigation over Queen Mary's jewels which had earlier fallen into her keeping. It was her refusal to hand the jewels over to the Scottish Government that sparked a feud between the Earl of Argyll and the Regent Morton
.
Lady Agnes Keith was born in Dunnottar Castle
, Aberdeenshire
, Scotland
in about 1540, the eldest daughter of William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal
and Margaret Keith. Her paternal grandparents were Robert Keith, Master of Marischal, and Lady Elizabeth Douglas
, and her maternal grandparents were Sir Wiliam Keith and Janet Gray. Agnes was a descendant of King James I of Scotland
and his consort Jane Beaufort
, who was in her turn the great-granddaughter of King Edward III of England
.
She had two brothers, William Keith, Master of Marischal (died 1580), and Hon. Robert Keith, 1st Lord Altrie (died 1596); and six younger sisters. These were Elizabeth, wife of Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum; Alison, wife of Alexander, Lord Salton; Mary, wife of Sir John Campbell of Calder; Beatrice, wife of John Allardice of Allardice; Janet, wife of James Crichton of Frendraght; and Margaret, wife of Sir John Kennedy of Balquhan. Her aunt was Elizabeth Keith
, wife of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly
who would lead an unsuccessful rebellion against Mary, Queen of Scots in 1562. Her first cousin was Lady Jean Gordon
, the first wife of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who himself would become the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Agnes's father was a member of Queen Mary's Privy Council
; he had fought at the Battle of Pinkie when she was about seven years old. He died in 1581.
Agnes was also known as Annabel or Annas.
At St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh
on 8 February 1562, Agnes was married to James Stewart, the illegitimate half-brother and chief adviser of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been created Earl of Mar the previous day. The ceremony was magnificent, attended by many of the nobility, with John Knox
having preached the sermon. The lavish wedding was followed by three days of festivities and banqueting at Holyrood Palace
, the frivolity of which was subsequently denounced by Knox with the words: "the vanity used thereat offended many godly". Queen Mary made much of the new Lady Mar and regarded her as a close member of her family. Having been well-educated, Lady Mar was described by author Antonia Fraser
as having had "genuine intelligence and spirit". Keith M. Brown, Professor of Scottish History at the University of St. Andrews, called her "clever, acquisitive and steely".
The Earl and Countess of Mar together had three daughters:
The queen had secretly given her half-brother the title of Earl of Moray
in January 1562. This title belonged to George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, himself married to Lady Mar's aunt, Elizabeth. James later agreed to give up the title of Earl of Mar, it being an Erskine family perquisite, but retained the earldom of Moray. This provoked the Earl of Huntly to lead a rebellion in the Scottish Highlands
against the queen. The rebellion was encouraged by Agnes's aunt. Huntly and his rebels were soundly defeated by James's troops at the Battle of Corrichie on 22 October 1562. Some of Huntly's forfeited belongings were sent to furnish the Morays' new castle of Darnaway.
The Earl of Moray and his half-sister became enemies following Mary's marriage to Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley in 1565, a man to whom Moray was fiercely opposed. It does not appear, however, that his wife shared the same hostility towards the queen. Due to her advanced stage of pregnancy, Lady Moray was unable to join her husband, who was in exile in England. This was in consequence of Moray having been declared an outlaw
following his rebellion, known as the "Chaseabout Raid
", against his sister in August that same year. She remained behind at their home at St. Andrew's Priory; on an unknown date late in 1565, Lady Moray gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth. Upon recovery from her confinement, she resumed the successful management of the Moray estates. Her husband returned to Scotland following the murder of Queen Mary's secretary David Rizzio
in March 1566 and was pardoned by the queen.
It was recorded that in August 1566 following the birth of Prince James, the future King James VI of Scotland
, Lady Moray was one of the ladies with whom the queen kept the most company. In early February 1567, Lady Moray suffered a miscarriage, which provided her husband with an excuse to hastily depart from Edinburgh; thus he was away when Lord Darnley was murdered at Kirk o'Field.
of Scotland for the infant King James VI on 22 August 1567 following the abdication of Queen Mary on 24 July. While her husband held the regency, the Countess of Moray was the most powerful woman in Scotland. She was a very intelligent and intimidating politician, and many people were afraid of incurring her wrath. In May 1568, before the Battle of Langside
, she coldly informed her frightened cousin, George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly
, "ye haf mad me angary". Huntly had indicated that he would support Mary rather than Regent Moray.
Moray was assassinated at Linlithgow
in January 1570, by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a supporter of Queen Mary. Hamilton, using a pistol, fired at James from a window as the latter was passing in a cavalcade
in the main street below, fatally wounding him; and making James Stewart, Earl of Moray, the first recorded person in history to be assassinated by a firearm. Lady Moray was pregnant at the time of her husband's murder and delivered a daughter, Margaret, shortly afterwards. She spent the two years following his assassination managing the family estates and fighting a series of legal battles in which she sought to obtain financial compensation for the time he acted as regent.
While the Countess was at Dunnotar, her mother-in-law, Margaret Erskine
, looked after her second eldest daughter, Annabell at the New House
of Lochleven Castle. Although Annabell was described as 'merry and lusty' in April 1570, some months later Margaret had to write to Agnes describing her death. She told Agnes that, 'God sall send your Ladyschip barnis efter this, for ye ar young aneuch.'
, and Lady Margaret Graham, and heir presumptive
to the earldom of Argyll, by whom she had another three children:
Agnes was excommunicated by the Church
on 25 April 1573 for non-adherence to her husband. He was, in fact, said to have been "much advised by Agnes"; in another document it was recorded that Sir Colin was "overmuch ledd by his wyf".
Upon the death of her brother-in-law Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll
on 12 September 1573, Agnes, as the wife of Sir Colin who had succeeded his childless brother as the 6th earl, was henceforth styled as Countess of Argyll. It was noted by scholar Jane E. A. Dawson of the University of Edinburgh
that Annas (Agnes) and her husband had been journeying to Darnaway Castle
in Moray where they had planned to spend the winter when news reached them of the 5th earl's death. They stopped instead at Dunnottar Castle and made alternative plans.
soon after Moray's assassination on 28 March 1570 regarding these jewels. Mary wanted them sent to her in England including a piece made up of diamonds and rubies called the "H". This was the "Great Harry", a diamond given to Mary on the occasion of her first marriage by her father-in-law, King Henry II of France
. The Earl of Huntly
asked for the jewels on Mary's behalf on 1 November 1570, and Mary herself wrote again for them on 27 January 1571. However, the Regent Lennox had also asked for them on 13 September 1570. Facing a dilemma between handing the jewels over to Mary or the Scottish government, (knowing also that Moray had sold some of the crown jewels to Elizabeth I of England
to fund the civil war), Agnes chose to hang onto the jewels.
It was Lady Argyll's desire to hold onto these valuable jewels which provoked a feud between her second husband and the Regent Morton
, who demanded their return on behalf of King James VI of Scotland
, threatening the couple with arrest if they failed to deliver the jewels which he insisted belonged to the Scottish Crown. When Lady Argyll and her husband failed to hand them over, they were both "put to the horn" (declared rebels) on 3 February 1574. Lady Argyll appealed to the Scottish Parliament
, and wrote several articulate, formal letters to Queen Elizabeth requesting her intervention which would permit Lady Argyll to retain the jewels. This resulted in a lengthy litigation with the Regent over the custody of the precious stones, that ended on 5 March 1575, when the earl, in his own name and that of Lady Argyll, surrendered them to the Regent.
The Earl of Argyll would later be partly responsible for Regent Morton's fall from power and loss of the Regency in 1578.
Lady Argyll was believed to have been the power behind the throne during her second husband's tenure as the 6th Earl of Argyll and through the important political offices he held as Lord Chancellor of Scotland
and Lord Justice General from 1579 until his death. She continued to enjoy this surreptitious influence over the King when her son Archibald succeeded his father as the 7th earl in 1584.
Through her eldest daughter Elizabeth, 2nd Countess of Moray, Lady Agnes Keith was an ancestress of Diana, Princess of Wales
; and by extension, The Duke of Cambridge, second in the line of succession to the British throne, descends from her.
painted portraits of Agnes and her first husband, the Earl of Moray in 1562 to commemorate their marriage.
William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal
William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal was a Scottish nobleman and politician.-Family background and career:Keith was born on 24 July 1506, the son of Robert Keith, Master of Marischal and Lady Elizabeth Douglas....
. She was the wife of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray , a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V, was Regent of Scotland for his nephew, the infant King James VI of Scotland, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570...
, Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Scotland and the illegitimate half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots, making her a sister-in-law of the Scottish queen. As the wife of the regent, Lady Moray was the most powerful woman in Scotland from 1567 until her husband's assassination in 1570.
She was married secondly to Sir Colin Campbell
Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll
Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He was appointed to the Lord Chancellorship of Scotland.-Biography:...
, heir presumptive to the earldom of Argyll. When he succeeded his brother as the 6th earl in 1573, Agnes was henceforth styled Countess of Argyll. During her second marriage, Lady Argyll became embroiled in a litigation over Queen Mary's jewels which had earlier fallen into her keeping. It was her refusal to hand the jewels over to the Scottish Government that sparked a feud between the Earl of Argyll and the Regent Morton
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
James Douglas, jure uxoris 4th Earl of Morton was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he did manage to win the civil war which had been dragging on with the supporters of the exiled Mary, Queen of...
.
Family
Dunnottar Castle
Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th–16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been an early fortress of the Dark Ages...
, Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in about 1540, the eldest daughter of William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal
William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal
William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal was a Scottish nobleman and politician.-Family background and career:Keith was born on 24 July 1506, the son of Robert Keith, Master of Marischal and Lady Elizabeth Douglas....
and Margaret Keith. Her paternal grandparents were Robert Keith, Master of Marischal, and Lady Elizabeth Douglas
Clan Douglas
Clan Douglas is an ancient Scottish kindred from the Scottish Lowlands taking its name from Douglas, South Lanarkshire, and thence spreading through the Scottish Borderland, Angus, Lothian and beyond. The clan does not currently have a chief, therefore it is considered an armigerous clan.The...
, and her maternal grandparents were Sir Wiliam Keith and Janet Gray. Agnes was a descendant of King James I of Scotland
James I of Scotland
James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...
and his consort Jane Beaufort
Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland
Joan Beaufort was the Queen Consort of Scotland from 1424 to 1437 as the spouse of King James I of Scotland. During part of the minority of her son James II , she served as the Regent of Scotland....
, who was in her turn the great-granddaughter of King Edward III of England
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
.
She had two brothers, William Keith, Master of Marischal (died 1580), and Hon. Robert Keith, 1st Lord Altrie (died 1596); and six younger sisters. These were Elizabeth, wife of Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum; Alison, wife of Alexander, Lord Salton; Mary, wife of Sir John Campbell of Calder; Beatrice, wife of John Allardice of Allardice; Janet, wife of James Crichton of Frendraght; and Margaret, wife of Sir John Kennedy of Balquhan. Her aunt was Elizabeth Keith
Elizabeth Keith, Countess of Huntly
Elizabeth Keith, Countess of Huntly, was a Scottish noblewoman and the wife of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, Scotland's leading Catholic magnate during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. In 1562, Elizabeth encouraged her husband to raise forces against Queen Mary which led to his being...
, wife of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly was a Scottish nobleman.-Biography:He was the son of John Gordon, Lord Gordon, and Margaret Stewart, daughter of James IV. George Gordon inherited his earldom and estates in 1524 at age 10...
who would lead an unsuccessful rebellion against Mary, Queen of Scots in 1562. Her first cousin was Lady Jean Gordon
Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell
Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell was a wealthy Scottish noblewoman and the first wife of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell who became, after his divorce from Lady Jean, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Lady Jean herself had a total of three husbands...
, the first wife of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who himself would become the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Agnes's father was a member of Queen Mary's Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
; he had fought at the Battle of Pinkie when she was about seven years old. He died in 1581.
Agnes was also known as Annabel or Annas.
First marriage
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
on 8 February 1562, Agnes was married to James Stewart, the illegitimate half-brother and chief adviser of Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been created Earl of Mar the previous day. The ceremony was magnificent, attended by many of the nobility, with John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
having preached the sermon. The lavish wedding was followed by three days of festivities and banqueting at Holyrood Palace
Holyrood Palace
The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The palace stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle...
, the frivolity of which was subsequently denounced by Knox with the words: "the vanity used thereat offended many godly". Queen Mary made much of the new Lady Mar and regarded her as a close member of her family. Having been well-educated, Lady Mar was described by author Antonia Fraser
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...
as having had "genuine intelligence and spirit". Keith M. Brown, Professor of Scottish History at the University of St. Andrews, called her "clever, acquisitive and steely".
The Earl and Countess of Mar together had three daughters:
- Elizabeth Stewart, 2nd Countess of Moray (late 1565 – 18 November 1591), on 23 January 1581 married James Stewart of Doune, by whom she had five children including James Stewart, 3rd Earl of Moray.
- Annabell Stewart (1568/69 – 1570), according to the Diurnal of Occurents, Annabell was born at Stirling around 22 May 1568.
- Lady Margaret Stewart, (born posthumously late January/18 April 1570 – before 3 August 1586), in 1584 married Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Errol. The marriage was childless.
The queen had secretly given her half-brother the title of Earl of Moray
Earl of Moray
The title Earl of Moray has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland.Prior to the formal establishment of the peerage, Earl of Moray, numerous individuals ruled the kingdom of Moray or Mormaer of Moray until 1130 when the kingdom was destroyed by David I of Scotland.-History of the...
in January 1562. This title belonged to George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, himself married to Lady Mar's aunt, Elizabeth. James later agreed to give up the title of Earl of Mar, it being an Erskine family perquisite, but retained the earldom of Moray. This provoked the Earl of Huntly to lead a rebellion in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
against the queen. The rebellion was encouraged by Agnes's aunt. Huntly and his rebels were soundly defeated by James's troops at the Battle of Corrichie on 22 October 1562. Some of Huntly's forfeited belongings were sent to furnish the Morays' new castle of Darnaway.
The Earl of Moray and his half-sister became enemies following Mary's marriage to Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley in 1565, a man to whom Moray was fiercely opposed. It does not appear, however, that his wife shared the same hostility towards the queen. Due to her advanced stage of pregnancy, Lady Moray was unable to join her husband, who was in exile in England. This was in consequence of Moray having been declared an outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
following his rebellion, known as the "Chaseabout Raid
Chaseabout Raid
The Chaseabout Raid was a rebellion by James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray against his half sister, Mary, Queen of Scots, on 26 August 1565, over her marriage to Lord Darnley.-Background:...
", against his sister in August that same year. She remained behind at their home at St. Andrew's Priory; on an unknown date late in 1565, Lady Moray gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth. Upon recovery from her confinement, she resumed the successful management of the Moray estates. Her husband returned to Scotland following the murder of Queen Mary's secretary David Rizzio
David Rizzio
Davide Rizzio, sometimes written as Davide Riccio or Davide Rizzo , was an Italian courtier, born close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts de San Paolo et Solbrito, who rose to become the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots...
in March 1566 and was pardoned by the queen.
It was recorded that in August 1566 following the birth of Prince James, the future King James VI of Scotland
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, Lady Moray was one of the ladies with whom the queen kept the most company. In early February 1567, Lady Moray suffered a miscarriage, which provided her husband with an excuse to hastily depart from Edinburgh; thus he was away when Lord Darnley was murdered at Kirk o'Field.
Most powerful woman in Scotland
Moray was proclaimed RegentRegent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Scotland for the infant King James VI on 22 August 1567 following the abdication of Queen Mary on 24 July. While her husband held the regency, the Countess of Moray was the most powerful woman in Scotland. She was a very intelligent and intimidating politician, and many people were afraid of incurring her wrath. In May 1568, before the Battle of Langside
Battle of Langside
The Battle of Langside, fought on 13 May 1568, was one of the more unusual contests in Scottish history, bearing a superficial resemblance to a grand family quarrel, in which a mother fought her brother who was defending the rights of her infant son...
, she coldly informed her frightened cousin, George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly , was Lord Chancellor of Scotland and major conspirator of his time.-Biography:...
, "ye haf mad me angary". Huntly had indicated that he would support Mary rather than Regent Moray.
Moray was assassinated at Linlithgow
Linlithgow
Linlithgow is a Royal Burgh in West Lothian, Scotland. An ancient town, it lies south of its two most prominent landmarks: Linlithgow Palace and Linlithgow Loch, and north of the Union Canal....
in January 1570, by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a supporter of Queen Mary. Hamilton, using a pistol, fired at James from a window as the latter was passing in a cavalcade
Cavalcade
Cavalcade may refer to:*Cavalcade, a horseback procession, parade, or mass trail ride*A huge parade*A huge procession*Suzuki GV1400 Cavalcade, a Suzuki luxury touring motorcycle available from 1985 to 1988 in North America...
in the main street below, fatally wounding him; and making James Stewart, Earl of Moray, the first recorded person in history to be assassinated by a firearm. Lady Moray was pregnant at the time of her husband's murder and delivered a daughter, Margaret, shortly afterwards. She spent the two years following his assassination managing the family estates and fighting a series of legal battles in which she sought to obtain financial compensation for the time he acted as regent.
While the Countess was at Dunnotar, her mother-in-law, Margaret Erskine
Margaret Erskine
Lady Margaret Erskine was a mistress of King James V of Scotland.She was a daughter of John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine and Margaret Campbell.James V had a number of mistresses in his time, but some accounts describe her as his favourite...
, looked after her second eldest daughter, Annabell at the New House
Kinross House
Kinross House is a late 17th-century country house overlooking Loch Leven, near Kinross in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Construction of the house was begun in 1686, by the architect Sir William Bruce as his own home. It is regarded as one of his finest works, and was called by Daniel Defoe "the...
of Lochleven Castle. Although Annabell was described as 'merry and lusty' in April 1570, some months later Margaret had to write to Agnes describing her death. She told Agnes that, 'God sall send your Ladyschip barnis efter this, for ye ar young aneuch.'
Second marriage and excommunication
Between 13 January 1571 and 26 February 1572, the Dowager Countess of Moray became the second wife of Sir Colin Campbell, the son of Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of ArgyllArchibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll
Gillespie Roy Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll was a Scottish nobleman and politician.-Biography:He was the eldest son of Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll and Jean Gordon, daughter of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly...
, and Lady Margaret Graham, and heir presumptive
Heir Presumptive
An heir presumptive or heiress presumptive is the person provisionally scheduled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir or heiress apparent or of a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question...
to the earldom of Argyll, by whom she had another three children:
- Hon. Colin Campbell of Lundie (died before 15 May 1619), married Maria Campbell, by whom he had issue.
- Lady Jane Campbell, married Sir Donald Campbell
- Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of ArgyllArchibald Campbell, 7th Earl of ArgyllArchibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll , also called "Gillesbuig Grumach", was a Scottish politician and military leader.-Biography:...
(1575 – 1638), married firstly Lady Agnes DouglasAgnes Douglas, Countess of ArgyllAgnes Douglas, Countess of Argyll was a Scottish noblewoman and the first wife of Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll. She was the mother of three of his children, including his heir, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, the de facto head of the government in Scotland throughout most of...
by whom he had three children, including Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of ArgyllArchibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of ArgyllArchibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...
; he married secondly Anne Cornwallis, by whom he had issue.
Agnes was excommunicated by the Church
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
on 25 April 1573 for non-adherence to her husband. He was, in fact, said to have been "much advised by Agnes"; in another document it was recorded that Sir Colin was "overmuch ledd by his wyf".
Upon the death of her brother-in-law Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll was one of the leading figures in the politics of Scotland during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the early part of that of James VI.-Biography:...
on 12 September 1573, Agnes, as the wife of Sir Colin who had succeeded his childless brother as the 6th earl, was henceforth styled as Countess of Argyll. It was noted by scholar Jane E. A. Dawson of the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
that Annas (Agnes) and her husband had been journeying to Darnaway Castle
Darnaway Castle
Darnaway Castle is located in Darnaway Forest, southwest of Forres in Moray, Scotland. This was Comyn land, given to Thomas Randolph along with the Earldom of Moray by King Robert I. The castle has remained the seat of the Earls of Moray ever since. Rebuilt in 1810, it retains the old...
in Moray where they had planned to spend the winter when news reached them of the 5th earl's death. They stopped instead at Dunnottar Castle and made alternative plans.
Queen Mary's jewels
Lady Argyll had obtained most of Queen Mary's jewels which were left behind in the Earl of Moray's custody when the queen was removed to Lochleven Castle in 1567. Mary, Queen of Scots, had written to Agnes from Tutbury CastleTutbury Castle
Tutbury Castle is a largely ruinous medieval castle at Tutbury, Staffordshire, England, in the ownership of the Duchy of Lancaster. It is a Grade I listed building...
soon after Moray's assassination on 28 March 1570 regarding these jewels. Mary wanted them sent to her in England including a piece made up of diamonds and rubies called the "H". This was the "Great Harry", a diamond given to Mary on the occasion of her first marriage by her father-in-law, King Henry II of France
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
. The Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly
George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly was a Scottish nobleman who took a leading role in the political and military life of Scotland in the late 16th century and around the time of the Union of the Crowns.-Biography:...
asked for the jewels on Mary's behalf on 1 November 1570, and Mary herself wrote again for them on 27 January 1571. However, the Regent Lennox had also asked for them on 13 September 1570. Facing a dilemma between handing the jewels over to Mary or the Scottish government, (knowing also that Moray had sold some of the crown jewels to Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
to fund the civil war), Agnes chose to hang onto the jewels.
It was Lady Argyll's desire to hold onto these valuable jewels which provoked a feud between her second husband and the Regent Morton
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton
James Douglas, jure uxoris 4th Earl of Morton was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he did manage to win the civil war which had been dragging on with the supporters of the exiled Mary, Queen of...
, who demanded their return on behalf of King James VI of Scotland
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, threatening the couple with arrest if they failed to deliver the jewels which he insisted belonged to the Scottish Crown. When Lady Argyll and her husband failed to hand them over, they were both "put to the horn" (declared rebels) on 3 February 1574. Lady Argyll appealed to the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
, and wrote several articulate, formal letters to Queen Elizabeth requesting her intervention which would permit Lady Argyll to retain the jewels. This resulted in a lengthy litigation with the Regent over the custody of the precious stones, that ended on 5 March 1575, when the earl, in his own name and that of Lady Argyll, surrendered them to the Regent.
The Earl of Argyll would later be partly responsible for Regent Morton's fall from power and loss of the Regency in 1578.
Lady Argyll was believed to have been the power behind the throne during her second husband's tenure as the 6th Earl of Argyll and through the important political offices he held as Lord Chancellor of Scotland
Lord Chancellor of Scotland
The Lord Chancellor of Scotland was a Great Officer of State in pre-Union Scotland.Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower status with the title of Keeper of the Great Seal...
and Lord Justice General from 1579 until his death. She continued to enjoy this surreptitious influence over the King when her son Archibald succeeded his father as the 7th earl in 1584.
Death and legacy
Lady Argyll died on 16 July 1588 in Edinburgh and was buried in St. Giles Cathedral inside the tomb of her first husband, James Stewart, Earl of Moray. The tomb is located in St. Anthony's aisle and was carved by John Roytell and Murdoch Walker. Her will was probated on 9 August 1591.Through her eldest daughter Elizabeth, 2nd Countess of Moray, Lady Agnes Keith was an ancestress of Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
; and by extension, The Duke of Cambridge, second in the line of succession to the British throne, descends from her.
Depiction in art
Celebrated Flemish artist Hans EworthHans Eworth
Hans Eworth was a Flemish painter active in England in the mid-16th century. Along with other exiled Flemings, he made a career in Tudor London, painting allegorical images as well as portraits of the gentry and nobility. About 40 paintings are now attributed to Eworth, among them portraits of...
painted portraits of Agnes and her first husband, the Earl of Moray in 1562 to commemorate their marriage.
Ancestry
Further reading and sources
- Cosmo, Innes, ed., The Book of the Thanes of Cawdor, Spalding Club, Edinburgh (1859) numerous references to Agnes as 'Countess of Argyle.'