John Maxwell, 4th Lord Maxwell (died 9 September 1513) was a Scottish nobleman and patriarch of the

Border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

Family / House / Clan of

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

Origins

Maxwell was the eldest son and heir of John Maxwell, 3rd Lord Maxwell (died 1484) and Janet, the daughter of George Crichton, 1st Earl of Caithness.Sir James Balfour Paul, '' The Scots Peerage'', volume VI (David Douglas, Edinburgh, 1909), at page
477-479
/ref> The Maxwells were an ancient House / Family from the Scottish Borders, whose chief seat was at Caerlaverock Castle near Dumfries.

Career

Maxwell was infefted in his grandfather's lands at Carnsalloch on 8 May 1485 and was served heir to his father in the lands of Maxwell on 29 April 1486. In 1486 he was also appointed

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

of the West Marches. In October 1488 he attended the first

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

. The most notorious incident of Maxwell's career was his violent assault on 30 July 1508 on Robert Crichton, 2nd Lord Crichton of Sanquhar outside the court-house in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

, where Crichton was holding assizes. The Maxwells and Crichtons had long competed for influence in Nithsdale and, accompanied by William Douglas of Drumlanrig, Maxwell led a considerable force into the town from the south. Bishop Lesley provided the following summary of subsequent events: "Lord Creychton was chaissit with his company frae Drumfries, and the Laird of Dalyell and the young laird of Cranchlay slain, with divers uthers, quhairof thair appeared greit deidly

feid Salomón Villada Hoyos (born 19 August 1992), better known by his stage names Feid and Ferxxo, is a Music of Colombia, Colombian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Medellín, Colombia, he has worked with several well-known singer ...

and blushed". It appears that Maxwell went largely unpunished for his part in this episode. Maxwell was one of the many Scottish nobles killed in the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and resulted in an English victory ...

on 9 September 1513.

Family

Maxwell married (in 1491 or 1492) Agnes, the daughter of Sir Alexander Stewart of Garlies.Alan R. Borthwick (2004)
John Maxwell (c.1455-1513)
under "Maxwell, Herbert, first Lord Maxwell", ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' She was still living on 25 July 1530. They had at least nine children: *

Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell (1493 – 9 July 1546) was a member of the Council of Regency (1536) of the Kingdom of Scotland, Regent of the Isle of Arran and like his father before him patriarch of the House of Maxwell/Clan Maxwell. A distingui ...

Regent of the

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; ) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Counties of Scotland, Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the ...

, Warden of the West Marches. Lord High Admiral,

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

of Edinburgh, Extraordinary Lord of Session and one of the members of the

council of Regency 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 Interregnum, throne is vacant and a new monarch has not y ...

* Herbert Maxwell, ancestor of the Maxwells of Clowden * John Maxwell, who was Abbot of Dundrennan in 1524 * Edward Maxwell, who was still living on 6 June 1540 * Mary Maxwell, who married James Johnstone of that Ilk * Agnes Maxwell, who married Robert Charteris of Amisfield * Isobel Maxwell, who married Laird Robert Porterfield * Katherine Maxwell, who married Ninian Glendoning of Parton. * Elizabeth Maxwell, who married Sir Alexander Jardine of Applegirth Maxwell is also known to have had two illegitimate sons, Henry and John.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, John Lords of Parliament (pre-1707) Nobility from Dumfries and Galloway History of the Scottish Borders Deaths at the Battle of Flodden 1513 deaths Year of birth unknown