Everything about Margaret Douglas totally explained
Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (
October 8,
1515 –
March 7,
1578) was the daughter of
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and
Margaret Tudor,
queen dowager of
Scotland.
Margaret was born at
Harbottle Castle in
Northumberland. Because of her nearness to the English crown, Lady Margaret Douglas was brought up chiefly at the English court in close association with the future
Queen Mary I of England, who remained her fast friend throughout life. She was high in the favour of her
uncle,
King Henry VIII of England, but was twice disgraced; first for an attachment to
Lord Thomas Howard, who was imprisoned because of his misalliance with Margaret, and died in the
Tower of London in 1537, and again in 1541 for a similar affair with Thomas Howard's half-nephew
Charles Howard, the half-brother of queen
Catherine Howard.
In 1544 she married a
Scottish exile,
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox (1516-1571), who was
regent of Scotland in 1570-1571. During Mary's reign, the Countess of Lennox had rooms in
Westminster Palace; but on the accession of Queen
Elizabeth I, she moved to
Yorkshire, where her home at
Temple Newsam became a centre for
Roman Catholic intrigue. She succeeded in marrying off her son,
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, to his cousin
Mary, Queen of Scots, thus uniting their claims to the English throne.
In 1566 she was sent to the
Tower of London, but after the murder of Darnley in 1567 she was released. She denounced Mary, Queen of Scots but was eventually reconciled with her daughter-in-law. In 1574 she again aroused
Elizabeth I's anger by the marriage of her other son,
Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox, with
Elizabeth Cavendish, stepdaughter of the
Earl of Shrewsbury. She was sent to the Tower, unlike
Lady Shrewsbury, but was pardoned after her son's death in 1576.
Margaret's diplomacy largely contributed to the future succession of her grandson,
James VI of Scotland, to the English throne. After the death of her son, Charles, she helped care for his daughter,
Arbella Stuart. However, she didn't outlive him by very long. A few days before her death, she'd dined with
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and this led to rumours that she'd been poisoned. There is no historical evidence for this. Although she died in debt, she was given a grand funeral in
Westminster Abbey, at the expense of Queen Elizabeth I.
The
Lennox jewel, made for Lady Lennox as a memento of her husband, was bought by Queen
Victoria in 1842.
Representation in fiction
Margaret Douglas plays a significant role in the historical fiction series the
Lymond Chronicles by
Dorothy Dunnett.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Margaret Douglas'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://margaret_douglas.totallyexplained.com">Margaret Douglas Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
