John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox (before 1430 – 8 July/11 September 1495) was a Scottish earl. He was known as Lord Darnley and later as the Earl of Lennox.
As head of the powerful family of Stewart of Darnley he was created Governor of Rothesay Castle in 1465 and appointed Warden of the West Marches of Scotland. When the male line of the Earldom of Lennox became extinct he was heir to half of the lands and made a deal with the co-heir in which he was made Earl of Lennox in 1473. The succession was disputed by John of Haldane, who claimed succession through descent from Duncan, 8th earl. Darnley, however, prevailed and his right to the earldom was not disputed for the last seven years of his life.[1]
He was a loyal ally of James III during his war against the rebel lords led by Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus. After the death of the King at the Battle of Sauchieburn and the coronation of his underage son James IV he raised an army to fight against the rebel lords who now controlled the government. The rebels had seized control of Edinburgh Castle and now had possession of the important royal artillery. Included in the arsenal of Edinburgh Castle was the cannon Mons Meg which had been a wedding gift from Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy to the King of Scots a generation earlier. Using this weapon they laid siege to Crookston Castle, seat of the Stewarts of Darnley, forcing the Earl of Lennox to surrender.
John Stewart married Margaret Montgomerie, the daughter of Alexander Montgomerie, 1st Lord Montgomerie and Margaret Boyd, by indenture on 15 May 1438, as both parties were under age. Margaret's maternal grandfather was Thomas Boyd of Kilmarnock, 5th of Kilmarnock, a descendant of Thomas Boyd of Kilmarnock, and the killer of Stewart's father. The following year, the blood feud was resolved at the Battle of Craignaught Hill, Renfrewshire, Scotland on 9 July 1439 when her grandfather Thomas Boyd was killed in revenge by Sir Alan Stewart's youngest brother Alexander Stewart, rather than being ransomed.
John had by Margaret Montgomerie eight recorded children:
G. E. Cokayne et al., The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. (Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton, 2000) I:313, 328; VII:594, 596.
Charles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage. 107th ed. 3 vols. (Wilmington, DE: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd., 2003) I:601.
