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Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (8 October 1515 – 7 March 1578) was the daughter of Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor, Queen Dowager of Scotland. In her youth she was high in the favour of her uncle, King Henry VIII, but twice incurred the King's anger, first for her unauthorised engagement to Lord Thomas Howard, who died in the Tower of London in 1537 because of his misalliance with her, and again in 1540 for an affair with Thomas Howard's nephew Sir Charles Howard, the brother of Queen consort Catherine Howard. On 6 July 1544, she married Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox, one of Scotland's leading noblemen. Her son Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, married Mary, Queen of Scots and was the father of James VI of Scotland (James I of England). ==Early life== Margaret was born at Harbottle Castle in Northumberland. Her mother had crossed the border from Scotland when her father was facing difficulties in Scotland. In October 1528, Angus was threatened by James V of Scotland and sent Margaret back over the River Tweed into England at Norham Castle.〔''State Papers Henry Eighth'', vol.4 part 4 (1836), 510, 518 Northumberland to Wolsey, 9 October 1529.〕 After a brief stay at Berwick Castle accompanied by her nurse or 'gentlewoman' Isobel Hoppar,〔''State Papers Henry Eighth'', vol.4 (1836), p.509-510, 539–40, 567: ''Letters & Papers Henry VIII'', vol.4 (1875), no.4709: Cameron, Jamie, ''James V'', (1998) p.36-7 & fn.24〕 Margaret joined the household of her godfather, Cardinal Wolsey. When Wolsey died in 1530, Lady Margaret was invited to the royal Palace of Beaulieu, where she resided in the household of Princess Mary. Because of her nearness to the English crown, Lady Margaret Douglas was brought up chiefly at the English court in close association with Mary, her first cousin, the future Queen Mary I, who remained her lifelong friend. At Christmastime at Greenwich Palace in 1530, 1531, and 1532, Henry VIII gave Margaret the sum of £6-13s–4d.〔Nicolas, Nicholas Harris, ed., ''Privy Purse Expences of Henry VIII, 1529–1532'', London (1827), p. 98, 183, 281. It may have been stakes for her to play card games; or for her to give as alms.〕 When Anne Boleyn's court was established, Margaret was appointed as a lady-in-waiting. There she met Anne Boleyn's uncle, Lord Thomas Howard, and they began their courtship. Thomas was a younger son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, by his second marriage to Agnes Tilney.〔; ; .〕 By the end of 1535 Thomas and Margaret had fallen in love and become secretly engaged.〔; .〕 King Henry turned against Anne Boleyn in May 1536. When in early July 1536 he learned of Margaret's engagement to Thomas Howard (Anne's uncle), he was furious. Henry had declared his daughters Mary and Elizabeth bastards, leaving Margaret next in the line of succession; for her to contract an unauthorized marriage was politically outrageous, especially with the son of a powerful nobleman and near kin of the disgraced queen. Both Lord Thomas and Lady Margaret were committed to the Tower. On 18 July 1536, Parliament, by an Act of Attainder, condemned Thomas to death for attempting to 'interrupt ympedyte and lett the seid Succession of the Crowne'. The Act also forbade the marriage of any member of the King's family without his permission.〔.〕 Thomas was spared execution, but remained in the Tower even after Margaret broke off their relationship. He died there on 31 October 1537. Margaret also fell ill in the Tower, and the King allowed her to move to Syon Abbey under the supervision of the abbess. She was released from imprisonment on 29 October 1537.〔; .〕 In 1539, Margaret and the Duchess of Richmond were appointed to greet Henry VIII's bride, Anne of Cleves, at Greenwich Palace, join her household, and convey her to the King. This would have been a great honour, but instead Henry chose to meet Anne at Rochester.〔.〕 In 1540, Margaret was again in disgrace with the King when she had an affair with Lord Thomas Howard's half-nephew Sir Charles Howard. He was the son of Thomas' elder half-brother Lord Edmund Howard, and a brother of Henry VIII's fifth wife, Catherine Howard.〔; .〕 In 1543, Margaret was one of the few witnesses of King Henry's final marriage to Catherine Parr, Dowager Lady Latimer, at Hampton Court. Margaret became one of Queen Catherine's chief ladies.〔Linda Porter. ''Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr, the Last Wife of Henry VIII'', Macmillan, 2010. pg 207-8.〕 Catherine Parr and Margaret had known each other since they both had come to court in the 1520s.〔Kimberly Schutte. ''A Biography of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, 1515–1578'', Edwin Mellen Press, 2002.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Margaret Douglas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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