A formative time in France
Esmé Stuart is a French-Scottish noble born in the 1540s in Aubigny-sur-Nère (France), a town that belonged to the Stuarts since the fifteenth century. Educated as a Catholic soldier, he had a long carrier in the French army followed by the French court during the religious wars. Gentleman of the chamber for the kings Charles IX and Henry III, Esmé was in the inner circle of the kings and built an important network of influential French catholic nobles. This court experience made him understood the importance of the king’s entourage.
A troubled Scottish journey
In 1579, he is invited by his cousin James VI and his privy council to Scotland to visit the young king. Esmé Stuart arrived as a French Catholic in Scotland, a Presbyterian kingdom and more inclined to England than to France. Rapidly he became the king’s favourite, receiving many gifts and the love of James VI. Being the favourite of the king led Esmé to be suspected of corrupting the king physically and intellectually by some members of the Kirk of Scotland and some Presbyterians nobles. Thanks to the royal favour he became Duke of Lennox, the only dukedom of the kingdom and grew through the court hierarchy. A court that he modelled to place his precious allies close to the king.
At the same time, he was plotting with Philip II of Spain, Gregory XIII, the Duke of Guise and Mary Queen of Scots to free the latter and reinstating Catholicism in Scotland and England. The Conspiration of Sens never saw the light of the day despite his efforts.
His actions were not to the taste of many nobles in Scotland. After the Raid of Ruthven in August 1582, the conspirators summoned him to leave the kingdom hoping to stop his influence on the monarch. Esmé died few months later in Paris where he continued plotting with his allies. At the crepuscule of his life, he asked his allies to send his heart to James VI as a last proof of his loyalty and love.
A discreet legacy
His importance in history is limited however the three years spent in Scotland helped him to rise from a small French noble to the most important noble in the Scottish kingdom and for James VI. It also placed him at the heart of the Catholic connection, making him an important asset for the Catholic powers of the 1580s. His legacy can be seen through the poetry of James VI (his poem An Metaphoricall Invention of a Tragedie Called Phoenix) and the organisation of his court. It also lived through the friendship that his children shared with James VI during the rest of his reign.
This article was written by Dr. Elisabeth Rébeillé-Borgella (University of Edinburgh) after a talk at the French Institute of Scotland where she presented the results of the research she has made for her doctoral diploma, writing the first complete biography of Esme Stuart d’Aubigny
