John Spens, Lord Condie (1520?–1573) was a Scottish lawyer and judge who became

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

Life

The son of James Spens of Condie and Joanna Arnot, he was born about 1520, and educated at

St Salvator's College, St Andrews St Salvator's College was a college of the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. Founded in 1450, it is the oldest of the university's colleges. In 1747 it merged with St Leonard's College, St Andrews, St Leonard's College to form Un ...

, where he became a determinant in 1543. In 1549 he was, with eight other advocates, chosen by the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

to plead before them in all cases. On 21 Oct. 1555 he was appointed joint

Queen's Advocate The King's Advocate (or Queen's Advocate when the monarch was female) was one of the Law Officers of the Crown. He represented the Crown in the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England, where cases were argued not by barristers but by advo ...

Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

with David Lauder, after whose death in 1560 he was made a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

; but he continued to hold the post of queen's advocate, which he shared with Robert Crichton from 8 February 1560. When

John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...

, on account of his letter about the

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, was in 1563 accused of

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 ...

, Spens came to him privately, and expressed the opinion that Knox had not been guilty of anything punishable by law. Knox stated that when Spens was commanded to accuse him before the queen, he did so, but "very gently". He adhered to the queen's party after her marriage to

Henry Darnley Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1546 – 10 February 1567) was King of Scotland as the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, from 29 July 1565 until his murder in 1567. Lord Darnley had one child with Mary, the future James VI of Scotland and I ...

; and he was officially entrusted with the prosecution of the murderers of

David Rizzio David Rizzio ( ; ; – 9 March 1566) or Riccio ( , ) was an Italian courtier, born in Pancalieri close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts di San Paolo e Solbrito, who rose to bec ...

. He also attended officially at the indictment of

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney and 4th Earl of Bothwell ( – 14 April 1578), better known simply as Lord Bothwell, was the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was accused of the murder of Mary's second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord ...

for the murder of Darnley. In 1566 Spens was appointed one of a commission for the revision of the laws. He remained in office after the imprisonment of the queen. Mary escaped from

Lochleven Castle Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1 ...

in May 1568. At

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

she gave her oath that she had made her abdication under duress. John Spens of Condie drafted a strongly-worded revocation of her demission, denouncing the

Earl of Morton The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton. ...

, the

Earl of Moray The title Earl of Moray, or Mormaer of Moray (pronounced "Murry"), was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until ...

, the

Earl of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. Th ...

, and many others.William Fraser
''Memoirs of the Earls of Haddington'', vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1889), pp. 268-77.
/ref> He died in 1573.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Spens, John 1520s births 1573 deaths Lord advocates Alumni of the University of St Andrews Members of the Faculty of Advocates 16th-century Scottish judges