BattlefieldsEdinburgh Castle — Hamilton Raid and Lennox Death 1571
Tudor

Edinburgh Castle — Hamilton Raid and Lennox Death 1571

1571
Scotland
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Stirling guards and Parliamentary assembly
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Hamilton Marian cavalry c.600
Outcome
Regent Lennox shot and killed; Hamilton raiders escaped Stirling with prisoners
The Battle

History & Significance

In September 1571 a Marian cavalry force led by Lord Claud Hamilton rode into Stirling during a sitting Parliament and seized the Regent Lennox at gunpoint. In the mêlée Lennox was shot — accounts say by a soldier named Caberston — and he died of the wound the same day. The audacity of the raid shocked the King's party: Parliament had been meeting in the open courtyard and the guards were overwhelmed before anyone could react. Hamilton's horsemen escaped with several noble prisoners. Lennox was the second consecutive regent to be violently removed.

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