James Livingston, 1st Earl of Callendar
Encyclopedia
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...
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Livingston was the third son of Alexander Livingston, 1st Earl of Linlithgow and was probably born during the 1590s. Around 1616 he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Dutch army under the command of his brother, Sir Henry Livingston. By 1629 he was an experienced soldier and lieutenant-colonel of one of the three regiments of the Scottish brigade. By 1633 he was a full colonel in the Dutch army. During the same period he also served both James VI
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...
and Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
receiving both a pension and a knighthood for his services to the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
. During a royal visit to Scotland, Livingston was created Lord Livingston of Almond on 19 June 1633 by Charles I.
During the opening phases of the Bishops' War, Livingston at first appeared to support the King by supporting a rival to the National Covenant called the King's Covenant, but then declared that it too upheld Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
. Pleading the need to go abroad for treatment of gallstone
Gallstone
A gallstone is a crystalline concretion formed within the gallbladder by accretion of bile components. These calculi are formed in the gallbladder, but may pass distally into other parts of the biliary tract such as the cystic duct, common bile duct, pancreatic duct, or the ampulla of...
s (something he had first suffered in 1637), he avoided any further entanglement in the war. After consulting his surgeon it was decided he did not need an operation, but instead of returning to Scotland he went to Holland and took command of his regiment.
During the Second Bishops' War Livingston served as lieutenant-general of the Covenanters' army and played a leading role during the invasion of England, but he opposed the policies of the Earl of Argyll
Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
Archibald 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...
and his faction, and signed the Cumbernauld Bond
Cumbernauld Bond
Cumbernauld Bond was a pledge between eighteen Scottish noblemen who met at Cumbernauld in August 1640 to defend Scotland against extreme Presbyterians and to defend the National Covenant for the public good against those who used it predominantly for private gain...
along with the Earl of Montrose
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose was a Scottish nobleman and soldier, who initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed...
and others. After the Cumbernauld Bond was discovered by Argyll, the Committee of Estates
Committee of Estates
The Committee of Estates governed Scotland during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms when the Parliament of Scotland was not sitting. It was dominated by Covenanters of which the most influential faction was that of the Earl of Argyll....
considered the matter but in the end it was hushed up and Livingston retained the lieutenant-generalship.
Livingston's support for the Covenanters' caused lost him his Dutch command at the request of Charles I. However during negotiations between Charles I and the Covenanters Charles hoped to persuade Livingston to be sympathetic to his proposals by offering Livingston the position of Treasurer of Scotland; however Livingston declined, putting the public good before private gain.
Livingston was involved in a planned Royalist coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
known to history as "The Incident
The Incident (conspiracy)
The Incident was a Royalist plot to kidnap a group of Scottish nobles. The Incident took place in 1641 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and the plot's targets were all prominent members of the Presbyterian Covenanter faction who opposed Charles I's attempts to control the Scottish Church...
". It was alleged that a conspiracy to arrest the Earl of Argyll and the Marquess of Hamilton
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton
General Sir James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton KG was a Scottish nobleman and influential Civil war military leader.-Young Arran:...
was discussed in Livingston's house, and that Livingston would have played a leading part in the arrests. However it suited neither the King or the Covenanters to investigate the conspiracy too rigorously as they were close to an agreement; as part of the settlement Livingston was created Earl of Callendar
Earl of Callendar
The title Earl of Callendar was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1641 for James Livingston, 1st Lord Livingston of Almond, a younger son of the 1st Earl of Linlithgow, along with the subsidiary title Lord Livingston and Almond. from his uncle, with which title the Earldom of Callendar was...
on 6 October 1641.
Livingston declined the offer of a high position in the army raised by Charles, and instead led a division of the Scottish forces into England in 1644 and helped Earl of Leven
Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven
Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven was a Scottish soldier in Dutch, Swedish and Scottish service. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of a Dutch captain, a Swedish Field Marshal, and in Scotland became lord general in command of the Covenanters,...
to capture Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1645 Livingston, who often imagined himself slighted, left the army, and in 1647 he was one of the promoters of The Engagement for the release of King Charles I.
In 1648, when the Scots marched into England in the Campaign of Preston, Livingston served as lieutenant-general under the Duke of Hamilton, but Hamilton found him as difficult to work with as Leven had done previously, and his advice was mainly responsible for the defeat at the Battle of Preston
Battle of Preston (1648)
The Battle of Preston , fought largely at Walton-le-Dale near Preston in Lancashire, resulted in a victory by the troops of Oliver Cromwell over the Royalists and Scots commanded by the Duke of Hamilton...
. After Preston, Livingston escaped to Holland. In 1650 he was allowed to return to Scotland, but in 1654 his estates were seized and he was imprisoned (See Cromwell's Act of Grace
Cromwell's Act of Grace
Cromwell's Act of Grace or more formally the Act of Pardon and Grace to the People of Scotland, was proclaimed at the mercat cross in Edinburgh on 5 May 1654...
). He came into prominence once more at the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
.
When Livingston died in March 1674, leaving no children, according to a special remainder, he was succeeded in the earldom
Earl of Callendar
The title Earl of Callendar was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1641 for James Livingston, 1st Lord Livingston of Almond, a younger son of the 1st Earl of Linlithgow, along with the subsidiary title Lord Livingston and Almond. from his uncle, with which title the Earldom of Callendar was...
by his nephew Alexander Livingston, the second son of Alexander Livingston, 2nd Earl of Linlithgow.