James Stewart, Earl of Moray (c. 1500–1544) was the illegitimate son of James IV of Scotland

James IV of Scotland

James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...

 and his mistress Janet Kennedy

Janet Kennedy

Janet Kennedy , the first daughter of John Kennedy, 2nd Lord Kennedy, became a mistress of King James IV of Scotland.Through her father, she was a great-great-granddaughter of King Robert III...

. He was created 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 1501, and was young enough to avoid fighting at the disastrous Battle of Flodden Field

Battle of Flodden Field

The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field or occasionally Battle of Branxton was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey...

 in 1513. He went on to have a varied relationship with his half-brother James V

James V of Scotland

James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...

, and was imprisoned for a time. He married Lady Elizabeth Campbell, daughter of Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll

Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll

Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll was a Scottish nobleman and soldier. He was the son of Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll and Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. In 1506/07 he married Lady Jean Gordon, the eldest daughter of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly...

, in August 1529. They had one daughter, Lady Mary Stewart, who was married to John Stewart, Master of Buchan, from whom she got divorced on September 12, 1560. She died childless.

He should not be confused with two better-known 16th century Earls of Moray who were also called James Stewart: his nephew

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...

, who was 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...

 during the minority of 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 this nephew's son-in-law

James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray

James Stewart , 2nd Earl of Moray was a Scottish nobleman, the son of James Stewart, 1st Lord Doune. The 2nd Earl was murdered by George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly, as the culmination of a vendetta...

, who was The Bonny Earl of Murray

The Bonny Earl of Murray

"The Bonnie Earl O' Moray" is a popular Scottish ballad, probably written as far back as the 17th century, and has been catalogued under the name "Bonny Earl O'Murray" as Child Ballad No. 181....

of the famous ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

.