Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, had…

Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, had spent most of his youth in exile in England, but had returned in 1542 when James V died to assert his claims to the line of succession.

Lennox possesses a strong claim to the throne of Scotland should the infant Mary pass away without an heir.

He is James V's second cousin once removed, being a great-grandson of Princess Mary, James II's daughter, through her daughter, Elizabeth Hamilton.

However, the Earl of Arran is descended from a son of Princess Mary, and thus holds the stronger claim.

As a result, Lennox is third in line of succession.

Lennox's supporters challenge Arran's claim and legitimacy in 1543 by suggesting that his father's divorce and second marriage were invalid.

Cardinal Beaton is released from custody in April.

Arran, a Protestant and a member of the pro-English party, on July 1, 1543, enters into the Treaty of Greenwich with Henry VIII of England.

Under the treaty, Mary is promised to Henry's son, Edward.

The union of the thrones of England and Scotland envisaged by the treaty is controversial: many who prefer to continue the Auld Alliance with France resist the treaty's Anglo-centric policy from the outset.

The leaders of the Scottish-French party, when about to remove Mary from Linlithgow Palace to Stirling Castle, on July 24, enter into a “secret bond” drawn up by Beaton in which they pledge themselves to resist the realm being "swbdewit till our awld enymyis of Ingland".