George Gordon, fourth earl of Huntley, had…
1562 CE
George Gordon, fourth earl of Huntley, had returned in 1548 to Scotland after his capture by the English the previous year while running from the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh.
He has spent the past dozen years secretly maneuvering for his own sake and that of England, but has aroused the suspicions of both his queen and John Knox, head of the newly established Scottish Kirk.
Having openly attempted to wed his son to Mary, Huntly may have participated in 1562 in his son’s plot to abduct the queen.
Mary travels to the north later in the year to punish him and overwhelms his Scottish rebels when they engage her troops at Corrichie near Aberdeen.
Huntly falls victim to an apparent fatal stroke; his son, Sir John, is executed, and the earldom is forfeited to the Scottish crown.