James Hepburn Bothwell
James Hepburn Bothwell - A Famous Scot
James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney, 4th Earl of Bothwell (~1535 - April 14, 1578) Most famous for being the third husband of Mary Queen of Scots (and probable murderer of her second husband, Lord Darney). Bothwell was the son of Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell. He was educated by Bishop Hepburn of Moray who his grand-uncle and in 1556, at the age of 21, James Hepburn succeeded his father as as earl of Bothwell and hereditary lord high admiral of Scotland.
In 1560 he visited Copenhagen where he met Anna Christophersdatter Trond Rustung, the daughter of (Norwegan - the importance of which you will read later!) Christopher Trond Rustung, the Admiral of the Danish Navy. He became engaged to Anna and was given a huge dowry of 40,000 Talar by her father. He left with her to return to Scotland, when they reached Holland, Bothwell abandoned his bride to be and fled with the dowry!
After the return of Mary Queen of Scots from France in 1561 Bothwell became a member of the Privy Council. The following year an old enemy, James Hamilton (The Earl of Arran), accused him of plotting to kidnap Mary. After a spell imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle he left for France, along the way being imprisoned by the English for a year.
In 1565 Mary Queen of Scots recalled Bothwell from France to assist her against a revolt by her half brother (The Earl of Moray). Mary became very reliant upon Bothwell for advice. Mary's husband, Lord Darney, had alienated himself from the majority of the Scottish Nobles due to is arrogance and general behaviour. In 1566 he was involved with a group that murdered the Queen's secretary (David Rizzio). This surely disgusted the heavily pregnant Mary as it was committed at Holyrood Palace in her very presence! It was only a few months later that she gave birth to the future James VI.
Following the birth of her son it would appear that the relationship between Mary and Bothwell became closer. Only a few weeks after the birth Mary had rushed 25 miles to visit him at Hermitage Castle. Bothwell had been badly injured during a clash with border reivers and Mary had heard that he would probably die. After finding that the injuries were not as severe as first thought Mary rode the 25 miles back home, the rumours of romantic involvement increased (even though earlier that year Bothwell had married Jean Gordon, sister of the earl of Huntly).
On 9 February 1567 Lord Darnley was murdered and it was clear to most that Bothwell was heavily implicated and he was put on trial in Edinburgh. By all accounts the trial was deeply flawed. There was a suggestion that prosecution witnesses were intimidated into not appearing, even the chief prosecutor failed to appear! Bothwell was acquitted. Bothwell was made duke of Orkney and Shetland by the queen.
In April of that year Bothwell proposed marriage to Mary and, upon rejection, he seized and carried her off to Dunbar. On 3rd May 1567 Bothwell's wife, Jean, divorced him on the grounds of adultery with her servant (Bessie Crawford). On the 12th May Bothwell was created Duke of Orkney and on the 15th May, only 12 days after his divorce and only 3 months after the death of her husband, Bothwell and Queen Mary were married at Holyrood.
The marriage was extremely unpopular and many of the Scottish Nobles were clearly going to revolt. Mary and Bothwell fled to Borthwick Castle for safety but . the rival forces met at Carberry Hill on 15 June 1567. Bothwell's army was no match for the dissidents and gave up without struggle and Bothwell fled. The nobles converged on Borthwick Castle where Mary surrendered and was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle.
Meantime Bothwell had fled to Europe in the hope of raising an army in support of Mary who had, by then, been forced to abdicate the throne. However Bothwell's choice of destination, Scandinavia, had been very unwise. He was captured near the Norwegan coast and was imprisoned, in Norway, by King Frederick pending his repayment of the dowry of Anna Trond Rustung who he had jilted in Holland seven years earlier and had decided to pursue the case.
Anna demanded a high monthly pension which Bothwell could not afford as his and titles and estates were forfeit for treason after the abdication of Mary. Bothwell was moved to the notorious jail at Dragsholm Castle, Denmark. Following a failed escape attempt he was supposedly jailed under appalling conditions, chained to a pillar, where he remained for the next ten years and eventually died insane on April 14, 1578. His mummified body could supposedly( the identity of the body has never been conclusively proven) be seen in Fårevejle, in the church near the castle, until it was buried at the request of Bothwell's descendents in the 1980s.
Back to