Arms of Stewart, Earl of Atholl (1596 creation)

Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, Strathearn and Caithness (c. 1360 – 26 March 1437) was a Scottish nobleman, the son of

Robert II of Scotland Robert II (2 March 1316 – 19 April 1390) was King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, he was the first monarch of the House of S ...

. Stewart advocated for the ransom and return to Scotland of the future king in exile,

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

, in 1424. In 1425 he served as a member of the jury of 21 which tried and executed his nephew

Murdoch Stewart, 2nd 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, he ...

. Eventually, however, Atholl turned against the King and conspired in his assassination in 1437. He was tried for murder and was executed after three days of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts ...

Early life

Stewart was a son of

by his second wife

Euphemia de Ross Euphemia de Ross (1329–1386), a member of Clan Ross, was Queen of Scots as the second wife of Robert II of Scotland. Life Euphemia was a daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross, and Margaret de Graham, Hugh's second wife and daughter of Sir John de Gr ...

, daughter of Aodh, Earl of Ross. He was also a younger half-brother of

Robert III of Scotland Robert III (c. 13374 April 1406), born John Stewart, was King of Scots from 1390 to his death in 1406. He was also High Steward of Scotland from 1371 to 1390 and held the titles of Earl of Atholl (1367–1390) and Earl of Carrick (1368&ndas ...

and an uncle of the above-mentioned James I of Scotland. Stewart married first, sometime before 1378, Margaret Barclay, Lady of Brechin, by whom he had two sons: * Alan Stewart, 4th Earl of Caithness (d. 1431) * David Stewart, Master of Atholl (d. bef. 1437) In 1390, Stewart's niece Euphemia resigned to him the Earldom of Caithness. In 1404, he was created

Earl of Atholl The Mormaer or Earl of Atholl was the title of the holder of a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl (''Ath Fodhla''), now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is repor ...

Ransom and return of James I of Scotland

Stewart was energetic in retrieving his nephew James I from the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On ...

, which was accomplished in 1424, and was a member of the jury which tried his half nephew,

, and culminated in the execution of Albany and two of his sons. Stewart was made Great Justiciar of Scotland and Earl of Strathearn, with such title being taken from Malise Graham, who subsequently became the

Earl of Menteith The Mormaer or Earl of Menteith was the ruler of the province of Menteith in the Middle Ages. The first mormaer is usually regarded as Gille Críst (or Gilchrist), simply because he is the earliest on record. The title was held in a continuous ...

in 1427. He resigned Caithness to his son Alan in 1428 but regained it on Alan's death without issue in 1431. The depth of Stewart's loyalties to James is unclear. The chronicler Buchanan (1582) saw in his efforts to return James to Scotland and support him against Albany and his children a deep-laid plan for those two branches of the

House of Stewart The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...

to destroy each other – and clear his own way to the throne, reviving the old charge of illegitimacy against his half-brother Robert III. Others aver that it was the imprisonment and subsequent death of his son David that turned him against the king.

Assassination of James I

Whatever the cause of Stewart's rage against the King, he joined with his grandson Robert Stewart, Master of Atholl, and

Sir Robert Graham Sir Robert Graham of Kinpont (died 1437) was a Scottish landowner, and one of the key conspirators in the assassination of King James I of Scotland in 1437. Family Robert Graham was the third son of Patrick Graham of Kincardine. He attended the Un ...

in a conspiracy against James I, which assassinated the king on 20 February 1437. Robert Stewart unbarred the doors to the royal apartments, permitting assassins to enter the King's lodging at the Dominican Blackfriars in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. The King hid under the floorboards, only to be discovered by Sir Robert Graham, who personally murdered the monarch. However, Atholl found little popular support for his cause, and the conspirators were swiftly apprehended. They were

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and heredit ...

and put to death in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

by a series of tortures remarkable and hideous even for that era. Walter was tortured over a period of three days. On the first, he was put in a cart with a crane, hoisted up, dropped, and jerked violently to a stop to stretch his joints. He was then placed in a

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the sto ...

and "crowned with a diadem of burning iron" McAndrew, Bruce A., p.181, ''Scotland's Historic Heraldry''Retrieved November 2010 bearing the inscription "King of all Traitors". On the second day, he was bound to a hurdle and dragged along the high street of Edinburgh (some claim he was also blinded and tortured with red-hot iron pincers on this day, but Buchanan speaks only of the hurdle). On the third and final day, he was disembowelled while alive, his entrails burnt before his face, and his heart was torn out and burnt. Finally, his corpse was beheaded and quartered, and the quarters displayed around the realm.

Notes

References

Anonymous, p.277., ''Notes and Queries'', London (1867)
Retrieved November 2010
Rerum Scoticarum Historia

George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...

History of Scotland The recorded begins with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the province of Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. North of this was Caledonia, inhabited by the ''Picti'', whose uprisings forced Rome ...

* Campbell, Alastair, ''A History of Clan Campbell''Retrieved November 2010 * McAndrew, Bruce A., ''Scotland's Historic Heraldry''Retrieved November 2010 * Riddell, John, p. 201, ''Tracts, Legal and Historical: with other Antiquarian Matters'' (1835)Retrieved November 2010 , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Atholl, Walter Stewart, 1st Earl Of 14th-century births 1437 deaths 15th-century murderers Scottish regicides Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl Stewart, Walter Walter People executed for treason against Scotland Stewart, Walter, Earl of Atholl 14th-century Scottish earls 15th-century Scottish peers Executed Scottish people Scottish torture victims People executed by Stuart Scotland Torture in Scotland People executed by the Kingdom of Scotland by hanging, drawing and quartering 15th-century executions Medieval assassins Earls of Atholl Earls of Caithness Sons of kings