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Biography of Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox 1542-1583

Paternal Family Tree: Stewart

1580 Earldoms of Lennox and March Swapped

1582 Raid of Ruthven

Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox were married.

In 1542 Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox was born to John Stewart Duke Orkney and Anne Queuille Lady Aubigny.

Around 1573 [his daughter] Henrietta Stewart Marchioness Huntly was born to Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox (age 31) and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox.

On 29th September 1574 [his son] Ludovic Stewart 2nd Duke Lennox 1st Duke Richmond was born to Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox (age 32) and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox.

In 1579 [his son] Esmé Stewart 3rd Duke Lennox was born to Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox (age 37) and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox.

Earldoms of Lennox and March Swapped

On 5th March 1580 [his uncle] Robert Stewart 1st Earl Lennox 1st Earl March (age 58) resigned Earl Lennox. On the same day he was created 1st Earl March. Elizabeth Stewart Countess Arran Countess Lennox and March (age 31) by marriage Countess March.

On the same day Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox (age 38) was created 1st Earl Lennox by King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 13) for being his favourite. Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox by marriage Lord Aubigny.

On 21st July 1581 [his son-in-law] George Gordon 1st Marquess Huntly (age 19) and [his daughter] Henrietta Stewart Marchioness Huntly (age 8) were married. She by marriage Countess Huntley. She the daughter of Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox (age 39) and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox. He the son of George Gordon 5th Earl Huntley and Anne Hamilton Countess Huntley. They were third cousin once removed.

On 5th August 1581 Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox (age 39) was created 1st Duke Lennox. Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox by marriage Duchess Lennox.

Around 1582 [his daughter] Mary Stewart Countess Mar was born to Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox (age 40) and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox.

Raid of Ruthven

22nd August 1582. The Raid of Ruthven was a plot by several nobles led by William Ruthven 1st Earl Gowrie (age 39) to kidnap the fifteen years old King James VI of Scotland (age 16), son of Mary Queen of Scots (age 39), (before he became King of England) to reform the government of Scotland.

The nobles included [his future son-in-law] John Erskine 19th Earl of Mar (age 20), Thomas Lyon Master of Glamis, Robert Boyd 5th Lord Boyd (age 65), Patrick Lindsay 6th Lord Lindsay of the Byres (age 61), and David Erskine Commendator of Dryburgh.

They were opposed by Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox (age 40) and James Stewart 1st Earl Arran who controlled the government.

King James VI of Scotland was captured whilst hunting near Ruthven Castle.

The rebels were joined by Francis Stewart 5th Earl Bothwell (age 19) and James Cunningham 7th Earl Glencairn (age 30).

Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox was exiled; he died a year later in Paris. James Stewart 1st Earl Arran was imprisoned.

On 26th May 1583 Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox (age 41) died. His son [his son] Ludovic (age 8) succeeded 2nd Duke Lennox, 2nd Earl Lennox.

All About History Books

The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.

[his father] John Stewart Duke Orkney and [his mother] Anne Queuille Lady Aubigny were married. He the son of [his grandfather] John Stewart 3rd Earl Lennox and [his grandmother] Isabel or Elizabeth Stewart Countess Lennox.

[his daughter] Gabrielle Stewart was born to Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox.

Royal Ancestors of Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox 1542-1583

Kings Wessex: Great x 14 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England

Kings Gwynedd: Great x 11 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd

Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 17 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth

Kings Powys: Great x 12 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys

Kings England: Great x 5 Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Kings Scotland: Great x 13 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland

Kings Franks: Great x 11 Grand Son of Louis VII King Franks

Kings France: Great x 10 Grand Son of Philip V King France I King Navarre

Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 19 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine

Royal Descendants of Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox 1542-1583

Diana Spencer Princess Wales

Ancestors of Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox 1542-1583

Great x 3 Grandfather: Alan Stewart of Darnley

Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Lennox Countess Évreux

Great x 2 Grandfather: John Stewart 1st Earl Lennox 10 x Great Grand Son of King John of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: William Seton Master of Seton 9 x Great Grand Son of King John of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Catherine Seton 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Janet Dunbar 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England

Great x 1 Grandfather: Matthew Stewart 2nd Earl Lennox 11 x Great Grand Son of King John of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Montgomerie Countess Lennox

Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Boyd 5th of Kilmarnock

Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Boyd

GrandFather: John Stewart 3rd Earl Lennox 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: James Hamilton

Great x 2 Grandfather: James Hamilton 1st Lord Hamilton

Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Hamilton Countess Lennox 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: King James I of Scotland 5 x Great Grand Son of King John of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: King James II of Scotland 2 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Mary Stewart Countess Arran 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Arnold Egmont Duke Guelders

Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary of Guelders Queen Consort Scotland 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Catherine La Marck 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England

Father: John Stewart Duke Orkney 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Stewart of Innermeath

Great x 3 Grandfather: John Stewart of Innermeath 3rd of Lorn

Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Holkettle

Great x 2 Grandfather: James "Black Knight of Lorn" Stewart

Great x 3 Grandmother: Isabel Macdougall

Great x 1 Grandfather: John Stewart 1st Earl Atholl 2 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: John of Gaunt 1st Duke Lancaster Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: John Beaufort 1st Marquess Somerset and Dorset Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Joan Beaufort Queen Consort Scotland Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Holland 2nd Earl Kent Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Holland Duchess Clarence 2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Fitzalan Countess Kent 2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England

GrandMother: Isabel or Elizabeth Stewart Countess Lennox 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Sinclair 2nd Earl Orkney

Great x 2 Grandfather: William Sinclair 3rd Earl Orkney 1st Earl Caithness 6 x Great Grand Son of King John of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: William "Nithsdale" Douglas

Great x 3 Grandmother: Egidia "Fair Maid of Nithsdale" Douglas Countess Orkney 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Princess Egidia Stewart 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England

Great x 1 Grandmother: Eleanor Sinclair Countess Atholl 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Marjory Sutherland Countess Orkney and Caithness

Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Mother: Anne Queuille Lady Aubigny