Nicolas HubertaliasFrench Paris (died 1569) was a French servant at the Scottish royal court. He was involved in the murder of Lord Darnley on 10 February 1567, made a confession, and was executed. [1]
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Nicolas HubertaliasFrench Paris (died 1569) was a French servant at the Scottish royal court. He was involved in the murder of Lord Darnley on 10 February 1567, made a confession, and was executed. [1]
Born in Paris, Hubert is sometimes described as a page to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, [2] and he transferred to the service of Mary, Queen of Scots. [3] As a member of Mary's household, Hubert and the other valets of the chamber were given Holland linen at Easter 1567. [4] One summary of the events of February 1567 calls him "Paris, her chalmerchild". He was said to have obtained keys to the Kirk o'Field lodging, and given access to conspirators bringing gunpowder. [5]
Following Darnley's murder, Bothwell escaped from Scotland by ship after the battle of Carberry Hill. Bothwell had a Danish-born page Herman with him who spoke the Scots language perfectly. [6] An English border official, Sir William Drury, heard a false rumour in June that the "French page" had been drowned. Drury described him ambiguously as "Parys, the Frenche page to the Duke of xx yeres", meaning either he was 20 years old, or had served 20 years as a page. [7] In his confession, Hubert mentions five or six years service. [8]
Hubert was summoned as a traitor with others on 30 September 1567, [9] and condemned by the Parliament of Scotland on 20 December 1567, in absentia. [10] He was in Denmark–Norway. Named in Latin as Paridem Gallum, Hubert was handed to Scottish authorities, represented by Captain Clarke, at Roskilde in October 1568 by Peder Oxe of Gisselfeld, the Danish Rigshofmester. [11] Regent Moray wrote that Hubert arrived at Leith, Edinburgh's port, around the middle of June. [12] Hubert made two confessions at St Andrews Castle before his execution. He was hanged, drawn and quartered on 16 August 1569. [13] His body parts were displayed at Dundee and Perth. [14]
The confessions are frequently cited for the details of the Kirk o' Field lodging and the last days of Lord Darnley. [15] [16] [17] Historians are inclined to doubt some points, particularly material in the second confession. [18]
There are two copies, one in the British Library Cotton manuscripts, attested by Alexander Hay, and another in the National Archives, which states the confession was made in the presence of George Buchanan, Mr John Wood, and Robert Ramsay. The National Archives copy has an "NH" monogram on each folio for Nicolas Hubert, who was asked to certify the original text. [19]
Among the details of the confession, Hubert set up a bed for Mary at the Kirk o'Field. He discussed the keeping of the keys of the lodging with Bothwell during a visit, and showed him the sanitary arrangements. Hubert explained to Bothwell that he was a valet of the chamber and the ushers of the chamber (like Archibald Beaton) were the key holders. [20] Bothwell remarked that he had placed Hubert as a servant in the Queen's chamber, but now he was no help to him. [21]
On the night of the murder Hubert went to lodging to fetch a fur coverlet for Margaret Carwood and spoke to Sandy Durham about the keys. On the Monday morning after the murder, Madame de Briant (Lady Seton) made eggs for breakfast in Queen's bed chamber at Holyrood Palace, and Mary talked privately to Bothwell behind a curtain. [22] Hubert said that Mary asked him to deliver a coffer of her jewels to Bothwell and silverware on the day he was made Duke of Orkney. [23]
Before Bothwell abducted and married Mary, Hubert and James Ormiston of Ormiston (near Hawick) [24] rode from Linlithgow Palace to Hatton House near Wilkieston with a letter from Mary for Bothwell. [25] [26] This detail appears to have been included to show collusion in Mary's abduction by Bothwell, said to have taken place at "Foul Briggis", possibly a location close to Hatton and Kirkliston with bridges over the Almond and Gogar Burn. [27] Another source, known as "Murray's diary", says that Mary came to Linlithgow on 23 April and Bothwell was at "Haltoun, hard by". [28]
Nicolas Hubert was mentioned in allegations made against Mary in England by James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray and George Buchanan at the York and Westminster Conferences in 1568. He features in one of the casket letters, found in the keeping of George Dalgleish, who was Bothwell's "chalmerchild". [29] The letter mentions that Paris was sent by Mary to fetch something to "amend me", presumably some kind of remedy. [30]
According to the confessions of John Hepburn of Bowton or Bolton and John Hay of Talla or Tallo, [31] and the "Book of Articles", a summary of allegations made against Mary, Hubert was involved in bringing gunpowder to Darnley's lodging by opening the doors to the "nether house": [32]
Bot the keyis of the dur betuix the kingis chalmer and the hous under it quhair the quene lay and quhair the pulder wes put in wer deliverit to Archibald Betoun and Parice Frenscheman the quenis awin cubicularis.
[modernised] But the keys of the door between the King's chamber and the house (room) under it where the powder was put in were delivered to Archibald Beaton and Paris, Frenchman, the queen's own bedchamber servants. [33]
Thomas Nelson explained that Paris and Archibald Beaton held keys to the queen's bed chamber, as she was in the habit of singing in the garden at night with Lady Rires. [34] [35]
John Hay of Talla said he was walking at the foot of an "alley in the yard", a garden path, with Paris when the house blew up on 10 February 1567. [36]
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley was King of Scotland as the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, from 29 July 1565 until his murder in 1567. Lord Darnley had one child with Mary, the future James VI of Scotland and I of England. Through his parents, he had claims to both the Scottish and English thrones. Less than a year after the birth of his son, Darnley was murdered at Kirk o' Field in 1567. Many contemporary narratives describing his life and death refer to him as simply Lord Darnley, his title as heir apparent to the Earldom of Lennox.
James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney and 4th Earl of Bothwell, better known simply as Lord Bothwell, was a prominent Scottish nobleman and the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was accused of the murder of Mary's second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, a charge of which he was acquitted. His marriage to Mary was controversial and divided the country; when he fled the growing rebellion to Norway, he was arrested and lived the rest of his life imprisoned in Denmark.
George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly, was Lord Chancellor of Scotland and major conspirator of his time.
The Casket letters were eight letters and some sonnets said to have been written by Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Earl of Bothwell, between January and April 1567. They were produced as evidence against Queen Mary by the Scottish lords who opposed her rule. In particular, the text of the letters was taken to imply that Queen Mary colluded with Bothwell in the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley. Mary's contemporary supporters, including Adam Blackwood, dismissed them as complete forgeries or letters written by the Queen's servant Mary Beaton. The authenticity of the letters, now known only by copies, continues to be debated. Some historians argue that they were forgeries concocted in order to discredit Queen Mary and ensure that Queen Elizabeth I supported the kingship of the infant James VI of Scotland, rather than his mother. The historian John Hungerford Pollen, in 1901, by comparing two genuine letters drafted by Mary, presented a subtle argument that the various surviving copies and translations of the casket letters could not be used as evidence of their original authorship by Mary.
Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney and Lord of Zetland (Shetland) was a recognised illegitimate son of James V, King of Scotland, and his mistress Eupheme Elphinstone. Robert Stewart was half-brother to Mary, Queen of Scots and uncle to James VI and I of Scotland and England.
The murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, took place on 10 February 1567 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Darnley's lodgings were destroyed by gunpowder; his body and that of his servant were found nearby, apparently having been strangled rather than killed in the explosion. Suspicion was placed upon Queen Mary and the Earl of Bothwell, whom Mary went on to marry three months after Darnley's murder. Bothwell was indicted for treason and acquitted, but six of his servants and acquaintances were subsequently arrested, tried, and executed for the crime.
The Battle of Carberry Hill took place on 15 June 1567, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, a few miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland. A number of Scottish lords objected to the rule of Mary, Queen of Scots, after she had married the Earl of Bothwell, who was widely believed to have murdered her previous husband Lord Darnley. The Lords were intent to avenge Darnley's death. However, Bothwell escaped from the stand-off at Carberry while Queen Mary surrendered. Mary abdicated, escaped from prison, and was defeated at the battle of Langside. She went to exile in England while her supporters continued a civil war in Scotland.
Seton Palace was situated in East Lothian, a few miles south-east of Edinburgh near the town of Prestonpans. Often regarded as the most desirable Scottish residence of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the palace was erected in the 15th century by George, 4th Lord Seton.
Whittingehame Tower, or Whittingehame Castle, is a fifteenth-century tower house about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of East Linton, on the west bank of Whittinghame Water in East Lothian, Scotland.
The Ainslie Tavern Bond was a document signed on about 20 April 1567 by a number of Scottish bishops and nobles. The bond approved the Earl of Bothwell's acquittal on 12 April of implication in the murder of Lord Darnley, recommended him as an appropriate husband for Mary, Queen of Scots, and pledged to assist in defending such a marriage.
Margaret Carwood, was a maid-of-honour at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her wedding to John Stewart of Fincastle was celebrated at the time of the murder of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, the Queen's consort.
Bastian Pagez was a French servant and musician at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. He was born in Auvergne. He devised part of the entertainment at the baptism of Prince James at Stirling Castle in 1566. When Mary was exiled in England, Bastian and his family continued in her service. The 19th-century historians Agnes Strickland and William Barclay Turnbull considered his court role as equivalent to the English Master of the Revels; in England he was Mary's chamber valet and designed her embroidery patterns.
Margaret Beaton, Lady Reres was a Scottish courtier and companion of Mary of Guise and Mary, Queen of Scots. She was blamed by the enemies of Mary, Queen of Scots, for her involvement in alleged immorality at court.
William Murray of Tullibardine was a Scottish courtier and leader of the Clan Murray.
Timothy Cagnioli was an Italian merchant and banker in Scotland. Cagnioli was active in Edinburgh during the Regency of Mary of Guise and the personal reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. As a merchant he supplied luxury fabrics used in costume and interior decoration. He was able to lend large sums of money and issue letters of credit needed by travellers abroad.
The baptism of James VI was celebrated at Stirling Castle in December 1566 with a masque, fireworks, and a staged assault on a mock fortress. The entertainment was devised by George Buchanan and Bastian Pagez.
Alexander Hay of Easter Kennet was a Scottish lawyer and politician.
Alexander Durham was a Scottish courtier and administrator.
Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, were married at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on 29 July 1565, when she was 22 years old, and he was 19.
The Book of Articles is a list of allegations against Mary, Queen of Scots and James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. The document was produced for the Westminster Conference in December 1568. The manuscript, held by the British Library, was written by Alexander Hay of Easter Kennett, and is sometimes known as Hay's Articles. The material resembles George Buchanan's published Detection and his Indictment of Mary. The text was published by John Hosack in 1869.