Andrew Stewart (c. 14201488) was

Lord Chancellor of Scotland The Lord Chancellor of Scotland, formally titled Lord High Chancellor, was an Officer of State in the Kingdom of Scotland. The Lord Chancellor was the principal Great Officer of State, the presiding officer of the Parliament of Scotland, the K ...

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 Roxburg ...

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 () (1362 – 25 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 became Justicia ...

(c.1362–1425), and

Isabella, Countess of Lennox Isabella of Lennox (died 1458) was the ruler of Lennox, at least from 1437 to 1458, and last in the line of Mormaers or native Scottish rulers. As the wife of Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany (died 1425), she was also Duchess of Albany (1 ...

(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 (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

in 1425 by King

James I of Scotland James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was List of Scottish monarchs, 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 of Scotland, Robert III and ...

.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 a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

by 1440, he attended the general council held at

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

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 ki ...

. 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 In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

s, during the

minor Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

ity of King

. He then served as governor of

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

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 ea ...

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 curre ...

, who later became

King Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

. 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—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 (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

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 Catholic Church, the title was restored by Pope ...

. 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" (), 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 revolt known as the ...

. 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 1420s births 1488 deaths Nobility from West Dunbartonshire Andrew, 1st Lord Avandale Lord chancellors of Scotland Peers created by James II of Scotland