Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox

He was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox (d.1526) by his wife Lady Elizabeth Stewart, a daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl.

Matthew Stewart succeeded as Earl of Lennox on the death of his father in 1526. His mother sent him and his younger brother John Stewart to France into the care of their kinsman Robert Stewart, 4th Lord of Aubigny, who enrolled them in the Garde Écossaise.[2]

When King James V of Scotland died in 1542, Cardinal Beaton urged Lennox to return to Scotland to rival James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran. Lennox arrived in March with two ships at his stronghold of Dumbarton Castle just days after Parliament had declared Arran as Regent and heir to the throne after the infant Mary Queen of Scots. Both Arran and Lennox had claims to the throne as descendants of Mary Stewart, a daughter of King James II of Scotland, but Arran had the better claim as a grandson through a male line, while Lennox was a great-grandson through a female line. Lennox however claimed that Arran was illegitimate because his father had failed to divorce his first wife before marrying Arran's mother.[3]

Arran made the Treaty of Greenwich with England on 1 July 1543, which sought to betrothe Mary to Prince Edward Tudor, the son and heir of King Henry VIII of England. Regent Arran began to fortify Linlithgow Palace, where Mary was held with her mother, Mary of Guise, the Dowager Queen of Scotland. Lennox allied himself with the pro-French Cardinal Beaton, and their forces camped outside the palace, but lacked artillery for an assault. Their representatives parleyed with Arran's men at Kirkliston, near Edinburgh, and agreed that Arran would rule with the advice of a council, and Mary would be moved to Stirling Castle. Lennox escorted Mary to Stirling on 26 July 1543.[4]

Although Lennox had come to Scotland lured by the prospect of marriage to the widow Mary of Guise, by September he had been offered the chance to marry Lady Margaret Douglas, daughter of the Dowager Queen Margaret Tudor, wife of King James IV of Scotland, sister of King Henry VIII and half-sister of the deceased King James V. After Lennox had seized the French money and artillery that was sent to Mary of Guise, she offered the hand of her daughter Queen Mary in marriage.[5] When the Parliament of Scotland rejected the Greenwich treaty, Lennox changed sides, and supported King Henry VIII's military efforts to secure a marriage between Queen Mary and his son Prince Edward, in the War of the Rough Wooing.

In the summer of 1544 Lennox plundered the Isle of Arran, and made himself master of the Isle of Bute and Rothesay Castle, with the support of eighteen ships and 800 men supplied by King Henry VIII. At the Battle of Glasgow Muir, his army managed to drive the first rank of Arran's more numerous forces back into the second rank, and captured their cannon.[6] However, the battle ended more favourably for the Regent Arran.[7] There were about 300 slain on both sides, and Lennox himself withdrew to Dumbarton Castle.[6] After a consultation with his English officers Lennox attacked Dunoon Castle and burnt the nearby village and church. He subsequently laid waste to a large part of Kintyre, but as he had not succeeded in regaining possession of Dumbarton Castle, he retreated to his ships and sailed for England on about 28 May 1544.

When the English army approached Edinburgh before the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, far to the west, a diversionary invasion of 5,000 men was led jointly by Thomas Wharton and Lennox on 8 September 1547. They took Castlemilk and burnt Annan, after a bitter struggle to capture its fortified church.[8]

For a time Lennox and his family resided at Whorlton Castle in North Yorkshire, which had been granted, with the estate, to him by King Henry VIII. Later, at some point in the late 16th century, a house was built there by the Lennox family adjoining the northwest end of the castle's gatehouse.

In August 1548 Lennox gave four promises to Mary of Guise in order for her assent to her daughter Queen Mary's marriage to King Francis II of France. These were as follows: that he and his friends and retainers would preserve the Catholic faith in Scotland; that they would guard the Auld Alliance; that Guise would remain guardian of the Queen and that he would punish all who supported the King of England.[9]

Lennox returned to Scotland upon the urging of Queen Elizabeth I of England, during the marriage negotiations of Queen Mary of Scots in October 1564. He was given lodgings in Holyrood Palace, and the queen's tapestry worker Pierre Martin refurbished a crimson velvet bed for him.[10] Lennox gave Mary a "marvellous fair and rich" jewell, a clock, and a looking glass set with precious stones, and diamond rings to several courtiers and presents to the queen's four Maries.[11] Lennox quickly took up his position as the most powerful lord in the Glasgow area and was later instrumental in the marriage of his elder son, Lord Darnley, to Queen Mary. Whether Queen Elizabeth I had intended this (in order to eliminate the threat of a continental marriage), as is sometimes conjectured, remains doubtful. The Queen of England reacted with disapproval and had Lennox's wife Margaret confined in the Tower of London. By August 1565 William Cecil had heard that the insolence of his son Lord Darnley had driven Lennox from the Scottish court.[12]

After his elder son Lord Darnley was murdered early in 1567 Lennox was the most ardent pursuant of justice against the lords who had conspired in the murder. He also became the main witness against Queen Mary though her possible involvement in the murder, thought to have been carried out by her later husband, Lord Bothwell, is controversial.

In 1570 Lennox became regent for his grandson King James VI of Scotland, but Queen Elizabeth's party declared war against him. He was shot dead next year in a skirmish, when the Queen's party attacked Stirling. The raid on Stirling on 4 September 1571 was led by the George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly, Claude Hamilton, and the lairds of Buccleuch and Ferniehurst. Early reports said he was killed by his own party. William Kirkcaldy of Grange said the shot was fired by the Queen's party, and another account names David Bochinant as the assassin.[13]

In 1544 he married Lady Margaret Douglas, daughter of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus by his wife the Dowager Queen Margaret Tudor, who had a claim to the English throne. By Margaret he had issue:

• Henry Stuart (1544–1544)[14] who died shortly after birth;
• Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1545–1567), born at Temple Newsam, who married Mary, Queen of Scots, daughter of King James V; his son was King James VI of Scotland and I of England;
• Philip Stuart (1556);[15]
• Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox (1557–1576), who in 1574 married Elizabeth Cavendish, a daughter of Sir William Cavendish by his wife Elizabeth Hardwick. His daughter was Lady Arbella Stuart.