Morays Karma: Assassination[edit] Assassination of the Regent Moray. Victorian stained glass window in St. Giles Kirk, Edinburgh. On Thursday 19 January 1570 Moray was at Stirling Castle where he had invited the English diplomat Sir Henry Gate, Marshal of Berwick, and the soldier Sir William Drury for dinner in the Great Hall. Later in his bedchamber he told the English visitors he would meet with them and certain Scottish nobles at Edinburgh on Monday or Tuesday to discuss the rendition of English rebels. Moray was troubled by the problem of Dumbarton Castle, which was held against him by supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots.[20] On 21 January, he sent letters to summon Morton, Lindsay and Home to the meeting in Edinburgh.[21] Moray was assassinated in Linlithgow on 23 January 1570 by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a supporter of Mary. As Moray was passing in a cavalcade in the main street below, Hamilton fatally wounded him with a carbine shot from a window of his uncle Archbishop Hamiltons house.[22] The belief that a second shot killed Lady Mondegreen, who was in the street, watching the cavalcade is an urban myth. It was the first recorded assassination by a firearm.[23] The Regents body was shipped to Leith then taken to Holyrood Abbey.[24] Moray was buried on 14 February 1570 in St. Anthonys aisle at St. Giles, Edinburgh. Seven earls and lords carried his body; William Kirkcaldy of Grange held his standard, and John Knox preached at the funeral.[25] Knoxs own prohibition of funeral sermons (on the grounds that they glorified the deceased and displayed distinctions between rich and poor) was waived for the occasion.[26] Morays tomb was carved by John Roytell and Murdoch Walker, with a brass engraved by James Gray.[27] His wife, Agnes Keith, was buried inside his tomb when she died in 1588.[28] Moray was succeeded by his eldest daughter and heir, Elizabeth Stewart, 2nd Countess of Moray, whose husband, James Stewart of Doune acquired the earldom on their marriage.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:58:16 +0000
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