Gregory Railton

Last updated

Gregory Railton or Raylton (died 1561) was an English administrator and Clerk of the Signet. As a Protestant, Railton went into exile during the reign of Mary I of England.

Career

Gregory Railton was for many years Ralph Sadler's servant and "inward man". [1]

During the war known as the Rough Wooing, Railton was Treasurer of the Wars in the North (1549–1551). [2] Railton was the accountant and courier of large sums of money for the English garrisons in Scotland. In August 1549, he wrote to the Earl of Rutland that he was unable to cross the flooded Tweed at Wark with his tired horses to bring money to the camp at Stichill. [3]

In 1552, Railton requested a licence to eat meat on fast days as he was ill from a "sore ague" contracted at Chichester. [4] He attended the funeral of Edward VI with the other clerks including William Honnyng. [5]

Railton was a Marian exile in Frankfurt during Mary's reign. [6] He wrote from Basel to William Petre, Mary's secretary, on 19 November 1554, apologising for his absence due to illness which left him unable to travel. [7]

On his return to England, Railton was posted to Berwick-on-Tweed to work as Sadler's secretary. During the crisis of the Scottish Reformation, he deciphered coded letters, [8] and was a correspondent of John Knox. He was involved in negotiations with the Duke of Châtellerault, one of the Protestant leaders in Scotland. [9]

The English ambassador Nicholas Throckmorton in Paris and the diplomat Thomas Randolph organised the rescue and secret journey of Châtellerault's son, the Earl of Arran, from France to Scotland via Switzerland. [10] James Croft sent Railton to meet the Earl, who was travelling under the alias Monsieur Beaufort, at Alnwick. [11] Randolph, who used an alias Barnaby, wrote from Hamilton to Sadler at Berwick in cipher, with a pleasantry referring to their codework "desiring no less pleasure to Mr Railton in deciphering his own new invented orthography than I have in writing of it". [12] William Cecil asked Sadler to tell Railton to keep the ciphered letters short and "write no more than needeth" to save labour reading them. [13]

In the same month, October 1559, Knox wrote to Railton describing the inception of his The History of the Reformation in Scotland . [14] He also wrote to describe a silver gilt seal and a "trim staff" or sceptre sent to Scotland for Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland. [15] [16] It was engraved with disputed heraldry that asserted the claim of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the throne of England. [17] The heraldry was also displayed in various locations in France and observed by Throckmorton and his colleagues on their dinner plates during a royal banquet. [18] Michel de Seure, the French ambassador in London, wrote to Mary of Guise about the friction caused by the controversial heraldry. [19]

Gregory Railton died in 1561. Nicholas Throckmorton recommended John Somers for his position as Clerk of the Signet. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary of Guise</span> Queen of Scotland from 1538 to 1542

Mary of Guise, also called Mary of Lorraine, was Queen of Scotland from 1538 until 1542, as the second wife of King James V. She was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. As the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, she was a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked mid-16th-century Scotland, ruling the kingdom as queen regent on behalf of her daughter from 1554 until her death in 1560.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran</span> Scottish earl and regent (1537–1609)

James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran (1537–1609) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier who opposed the French-dominated regency during the Scottish Reformation. He was the eldest son of James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault, sometime regent of Scotland. He was of royal descent, and at times was third or fourth in succession to the Scottish crown; several royal marriages were proposed for him, but he eventually never married. He went to France with Mary, Queen of Scots, where he commanded the Scots Guards. After returning to Scotland, he became a leader of the Protestant party against Mary and her French supporters. However, he went insane in 1562 and was confined for the rest of his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lords of the Congregation</span> 16th-century Scottish nobles in support of the Protestant Reformation

The Lords of the Congregation, originally styling themselves the Faithful, were a group of Protestant Scottish nobles who in the mid-16th century favoured a reformation of the Catholic church according to Protestant principles and a Scottish-English alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Maitland of Lethington</span> Scottish politician (1525–1573)

William Maitland of Lethington was a Scottish politician and reformer, and the eldest son of poet Richard Maitland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Throckmorton</span> English diplomat and politician (c. 1515–1571)

Sir Nicholas Throckmorton was an English diplomat and politician, who was an ambassador to France and later Scotland, and played a key role in the relationship between Elizabeth I of England and Mary, Queen of Scots.

John Willock was a Scottish reformer. He appears to have been a friar of the Franciscan House at Ayr. Having joined the party of reform before 1541, he fled for his life to England. There he became noted as a zealous and taking preacher. This led to his arrest for heresy under an Act of Henry VIII., "for abolishing diversity of opinion" in matters of religion. He was found guilty of preaching against purgatory, holy water, priestly confession, and prayer to the saints, and of holding that priests might lawfully be married, he was for some time confined in the Fleet prison. After the accession of Edward VI he was chaplain to Henry, Duke of Suffolk, who had married King Henry's niece, and is best known as the father of Lady Jane Grey. He preached for a time in London, in St Katherine's Church, when both he and John Knox, his fast friend, were granted general license to preach anywhere in England. Henry, Earl of Huntingdon, presented him to the rectory of Loughborough in Leicestershire, a living which he continued to hold during King Edward's reign, and again during that of Queen Elizabeth for the rest of his life. Thus in his later years he was in the unique position of being at the same time a parish minister in both England and Scotland. When Mary Tudor came to the English throne in 1553, Willock fled to Embden, in the Protestant Duchy of Friesland. There he practised as a physician with much success, and rose to some eminence. In 1555, and again in 1556, the Duchess Anne of Friesland sent him to Scotland as her Commissioner on matters of trade. In 1558 he returned home, and preached for some time in Dundee, with much acceptance among the friends of reform. In 1559, when John Knox had to leave Edinburgh in peril of his life, Willook took his place as the evangelist of the Reformation. It was then that he conducted in St Giles what is believed to have been the earliest public celebration of the Holy Communion in Scotland after the reformed ritual. In 1560, when Queen Mary of Guise lay dying, the Earls of Argyll and Moray, and other Lords of the Congregation advised her to "send for a godly, learned man of whom she might receive instruction"; and Willock was chosen to minister to her, which he faithfully did. That same year he was made Superintendent of Glasgow and the West. He was also one of the six Johns entrusted with the drawing up of the First Book of Discipline, the others being John Knox, John Winram, John Spottiswood, John Douglas, and John Row. Sometime in that year he went to England, and brought home his wife, Katherine Picknavell, an English lady. He was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly in 1563, 1564, 1565, and 1568. In 1565 Queen Mary endeavoured to put a stop to his activity by having him imprisoned in Dumbarton Castle; but the Reformers were now too strong for her, and she had to depart from her purpose.

Berwick Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary was an English office of arms created around 1460 for service on the Scottish Marches based at Berwick-upon-Tweed. In the 16th century there was also a Herald or Pursuivant based at Carlisle on the west border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Berwick (1560)</span> Treaty between Scottish nobles and England

The Treaty of Berwick was negotiated on 27 February 1560 at Berwick-upon-Tweed. It was an agreement made by the representative of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the Duke of Norfolk, and the group of Scottish nobles known as the Scottish Lords of the Congregation. The purpose was to agree the terms under which an English fleet and army would come to Scotland to expel the French troops who were defending the Regency of Mary of Guise. The Lords were trying both to expel the French and to effect the Scottish Reformation, and this led to rioting and armed conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Leith</span> 1560 Siege at Leith

The siege of Leith ended a twelve-year encampment of French troops at Leith, the port near Edinburgh, Scotland. French troops arrived in Scotland by invitation in 1548. In 1560 the French soldiers opposed Scottish supporters of religious reformation, and an English army arrived to besiege the French garrison at Leith. The town was not taken by force and the French troops finally left peacefully under the terms of a treaty signed by Scotland, England and France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilles de Noailles</span> French ambassador

Gilles de Noailles, abbé de l'Isle (1524–1600) was French Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1575 to 1579. He was the brother of his predecessor as ambassador, François de Noailles, and was succeeded by Jacques de Germigny. He was sent to the Ottoman Empire by Henry III of France.

Sir James MacGill, Lord Rankeillor of Nether Rankeillour, was a Scottish courtier and Senator of the College of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Seton, 7th Lord Seton</span>

George Seton V, 7th Lord Seton (1531–1586), was a Lord of the Parliament of Scotland, Master of the Household of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Provost of Edinburgh. He was the eldest son of George Seton, 6th Lord Seton, and Elizabeth Hay, a daughter of John Hay, 3rd Lord Hay of Yester. His childhood and schooling were in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Articles of Leith</span> 1559 truce between Scotland and the Protestant Lords of the Congregation

The Articles of Leith were the terms of truce drawn up between the Protestant Lords of the Congregation and Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland and signed on 25 July 1559. This negotiation was a step in the conflict that led to the Scottish Reformation. Although its immediate effect was the withdrawal of Protestant forces from Edinburgh, subsequent disputes over the content and observance of the treaty fuelled the crisis in Scotland.

Michel de Sèvre or de Seurre was a member of the Knights Hospitaller, a French courtier and diplomat, and Grand Master of the Order of Saint Lazarus from 1564 to 1578 and from 1586 to 1593.

Master John Wood, was a Scottish courtier, administrator and secretary to the Earl of Moray. He was assassinated on 15 April 1570.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bartholomew de Villemore</span>

Bartolomew de Villemore was a French courtier and administrator to Mary of Guise, the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronation of James VI</span>

James Stewart (1566–1625), son of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587) and Lord Darnley (1546–1567), was crowned King of Scotland by Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney, in the Holy Rude Kirk at Stirling on 29 July 1567.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Ubertino Solaro, Count of Moretta</span> Italian diplomat

Carlo Ubertino Solaro, Count of Moretta was a diplomat from Piedmont serving Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy. He is sometimes known as the Monsieur de Morette, Obertino Solaro, or Robertino.

John Somers or Somer or Sommers was an English diplomat, courtier, and cryptographer. He served as joint keeper of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Tutbury Castle with Ralph Sadler. Somers is said to have been Sadler's son-in-law.

Robert Jones was an English diplomat, from April 1558 a Clerk of the Privy Seal, and keeper of the council chamber.

References

  1. ↑ Simon Adams, Ian Archer, George W. Bernard, "A Journall of Matters of State", Religion, Politics, and Society in Sixteenth-Century England (Cambridge: Camden Society, 2003), p. 61 fn. 43: James Gairdner & R. H. Brodie, Letters & Papers, Henry VIII, 20:1 (London, 1905), p. 331 no. 631.
  2. ↑ Howard Colvin, History of the King's Works, 4:2 (London: HMSO, 1982), p. 698.
  3. ↑ HMC 12th Report Part 4: Manuscripts of the Earl of Rutland, 1 (London, 1888), pp. 42–43.
  4. ↑ C. S. Knighton, Calendar State Papers Domestic, Edward VI, p. 251 no. 696.
  5. ↑ Craved Ord, "Sir Edward Waldegrave's account of the burial of Edward VI", Archaeologia, 12 (London, 1796), p. 377.
  6. ↑ Christina Hallowell Garrett, The Marian Exiles: A Study in the Origins of Elizabethan Puritanism (Cambridge, 1938), pp. 265–266.
  7. ↑ William Barclay Turnbull, Calendar State Papers Foreign, Mary (London, 1861), p. 139 no. 294.
  8. ↑ Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1559–1560, (London: Longman, 1865), p. 37 no. 76.
  9. ↑ Jane Dawson, John Knox (Yale, 2016), pp. 184–188.
  10. ↑ Robert K. Hannay, "The Earl of Arran and Queen Mary", The Scottish Historical Review, 18:72 (July 1921), pp. 258–276.
  11. ↑ Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1559–1560, (London: Longman, 1863), p. 516 no. 1290
  12. ↑ Arthur Clifford, Sadler State Papers, 1 (Edinburgh: Archibald Constable, 1809), pp. 500–501
  13. ↑ Arthur Clifford, Sadler State Papers, 1 (Edinburgh: Archibald Constable, 1809), p. 482
  14. ↑ Andrew Lang, "Knox as a Historian", Scottish Historical Review, 2:6 (Glasgow, 1905), p. 113.
  15. ↑ Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign, Elizabeth, 1559–1560 (London: Longman, 1861), p. 51 no. 124.
  16. ↑ Arthur Clifford, Sadler State Papers, 1 (Edinburgh: Archibald Constable, 1809), p. 680
  17. ↑ John Parker Lawson, History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland by Robert Keith, 1 (Edinburgh: Spottiswoode Society, 1844), p. 395: Agnes Strickland, Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots, 3 (London, 1843), pp. 254–256.
  18. ↑ John Guy, The Life of Mary Queen of Scots (Fourth Estate, 2009), p. 105: Patrick Forbes, A Full View of the Public Transactions of Queen Elizabeth, 1 (London, 1739), pp. 138, 206, 229
  19. ↑ Estelle Paranque, Elizabeth I of England through Valois Eyes (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), p. 47: Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign, Elizabeth 1559–1560, pp. 382–383 no. 742.
  20. ↑ Joseph Stevenson, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1561–1562 (London: Longmans, 1866), p. 303 no. 496: Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1560–1563, 2 (London: HMSO, 1948), p. 100
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.