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 List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie Bruce, Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, h ...

. 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� ...

, 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 () (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 Justiciar o ...

. 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 including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

Early life

Stewart was a son of

by his second wife Euphemia de Ross, daughter of Aodh, Earl of Ross. He was also a younger half-brother of

Robert III of Scotland Robert III ( – 4 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 (1368–1390 ...

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 the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

, 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 continuou ...

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 spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, 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 ...

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 The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

, and Sir Robert Graham in a conspiracy against James I, which resulted in the assassination of 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 list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. The King hid under the floorboards, only to be discovered by Sir Robert Graham, who personally murdered the monarch.

Execution of Walter Stewart

Stewart had little popular support for his cause, and the conspirators were swiftly apprehended. They were attainted and put to death in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

by a series of tortures remarkable and hideous even for that era. He was tortured over a period of three days. :On the first day – he was put in a cart with a crane, hoist up, dropped, and jerked violently 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, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

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 (; 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." His ideology of re ...

History of Scotland The recorded history of Scotland begins with the Scotland during the Roman Empire, arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, when the Roman province, province of Roman Britain, Britannia reached as far north as the Antonine Wall. No ...

* 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 14

Walter Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

People executed for treason against Scotland Stewart, Walter, Earl of Atholl 14th-century Scottish earls 15th-century Scottish peers Executed Scottish royalty Scottish torture victims Executed regicides 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

701 __NOTOC__ Year 701 ( DCCI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 701st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 701st year of the 1st millennium, the 1st year of the 8th century, and the ...

Sons of kings