BattlefieldsAberdeen — Gordon and Anti-Gordon Faction Violence 1589
Tudor

Aberdeen — Gordon and Anti-Gordon Faction Violence 1589

1589
Scotland
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Forbes and Protestant faction; Aberdeen civic guard between them
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Gordon faction
Outcome
Faction violence suppressed by royal commission; Gordon dominance of Aberdeen reasserted temporarily
The Battle

History & Significance

In 1589 Aberdeen was the scene of violent faction fighting between Gordon supporters and the Protestant anti-Gordon faction backed by the Forbes and Leslie clans. The Gordon dominance of Aberdeen — whose Catholic merchant community broadly supported the earls — clashed with the Crown-backed Protestant interest. Street violence and the seizure of civic offices created a miniature civil war within the burgh. James VI sent commissioners to restore order but the underlying tension between Gordon power and Protestant civic authority in Aberdeen continued through the whole Catholic earls crisis.

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