Andrew Stewart (c. 14201488) was

Lord Chancellor of Scotland The Lord Chancellor of Scotland, formally the Lord High Chancellor, was a Great Officer of State in the Kingdom of Scotland. Holders of the office are known from 1123 onwards, but its duties were occasionally performed by an official of lower st ...

from 1460 to 1482 and one of the leading servants of King

James III of Scotland James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburgh ...

Early life

Andrew Stewart was born c. 1420 and "appears to have been the eldest son of Walter Stewart (c.1392–1425), second son of

Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany ( gd, Muireadhach Stiubhart) (136224 May 1425) was a leading Scottish nobleman, the son of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, and the grandson of King Robert II of Scotland, who founded the Stewart dynasty. In 1389, h ...

(c.1362–1425), and

Isabella, Countess of Lennox Isabella of Lennox (d.1458) was the ruler of Lennox, from 1437–1458, and last in the line of Mormaers or native Scottish rulers. As the wife of Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany (d.1425), she was also Duchess of Albany (1420–1425), but ...

(d. 1458/9)... Andrew, together with brothers Arthur and Walter, obtained letters of legitimation from James III in 1472, repeated in 1479."Alan R. Borthwick, 'Stewart, Andrew, Lord Avondale (c.1420–1488)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 27 June 2016
/ref> His grandfather

was executed for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

in 1425 by King

James I of Scotland James I (late July 139421 February 1437) was King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III and Annabella Drummond. His older brother David, Duke of Ro ...

.James Beag Stewart at Stewarts of Balquhidder webpage
Retrieved 26 November 2010Nelker, p.19 Andrew Stewart was raised at the court of his paternal grandmother

. It may be that Isabella, having seen her own children and husband executed by

, took pity on her dead son's children and brought them to her own court. Andrew attended a university in England, in which country he was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed before 12 July 1437 with his brother Murdoch. As well as Murdoch and Marion, two other siblings, Arthur and Walter, are known.

Return to Scotland

Returning to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

by 1440, he attended the general council held at

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

in August of that year. He held office in royal household of King James II and was granted lands, including Avandale and Strathavon, which had been forfeited by

William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, 2nd Earl of Avondale (1425 – 22 February 1452) was a late Medieval Scottish nobleman, Lord of Galloway, and Lord of the Regality of Lauderdale, and the most powerful magnate in Southern Scotland. He was kil ...

. He was also made warden of the march and keeper of the castle of Lochmaben. By 11 June 1457, he had been granted the title Lord Avandale.

Lord Chancellor of Scotland

In 1460, Avandale was made Chancellor of Scotland, a position he retained into the next reign. He served as one of the

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

s, during the minority of King

. He then served as governor of

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

and as an ambassador and diplomat, taking a leading role in the negotiations which led to the marriage of James and Margaret of Denmark in 1469. In 1471 he was granted the rents of the

Earldom of Lennox The Earl or Mormaer of Lennox was the ruler of the region of the Lennox in western Scotland. It was first created in the 12th century for David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon and later held by the Stewart dynasty. Ancient earls The first earl ...

for life.

Replacement as Lord Chancellor

During the crisis of 1482, James III declared war on England for protecting his brother

Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany (7 August 1485), was a Scottish prince and the second surviving son of King James II of Scotland. He fell out with his older brother, King James III, and fled to France, where he unsuccessfully sought help. In 1 ...

, who had rebelled and was given sanctuary by the

Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

, who later became

King Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Batt ...

. When Albany and his English allies invaded Scotland, Lord Avandale was one of the faction who refused to fight and then proceeded to arrest the King. Albany then proclaimed himself King Alexander IV of Scotland and immediately began to alienate the nobles—especially the powerful

George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly (died 8 June 1501) was a Scottish nobleman and Chancellor of Scotland from 1498 to 1501. Life George was the son of Alexander (Seton) Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly and his second wife Elizabeth Crichton, daughter ...

—by his harsh policies. On Alexander's orders, Lord Avandale was then stripped of the Chancellorship because he had captured Albany's castle of

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

for the King in 1479. He was replaced as Lord Chancellor by John Laing, the

Bishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of th ...

. Because of Alexander's treatment of the nobles, James III had been able to gain back most of their support and in 1483 with help from the Earl of Huntly, James was able to call a Parliament that condemned Albany as a traitor and forced him into exile for a second and final time. Avandale had been present at the Parliament and the following year he was one of the ambassadors sent to

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revo ...

. After this he appears to have largely withdrawn from public business. He died in 1488 and was succeeded by his brother Walter's son Alexander. Alexander died c. 1500 and the title Lord Avandale passed to his son, Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avandale.

Ancestry

References

* Retrieved 26 November 2010 *Boardman, Steve, ''The Campbells 1250–1513''. *Nelker, Gladys P, ''The Clan Steuart'', Genealogical Publishing (1970)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avandale, Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Andrew, 1st Lord Avandale Lord chancellors of Scotland 1426 births 1488 deaths Peers created by James II of Scotland