Lord Darnley (1545-1567), Scottish nobleman. Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, was born in Yorkshire, England, and educated privately. He was the son of Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox, and Lady Margaret Douglas, a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth I of England. The queen, thus related to Darnley, was also a cousin of Mary, Queen of Scots. Lady Douglas, by various intrigues, hoped to establish the English royal succession for her family through the marriage of her son to Mary, who had already been designated to succeed Elizabeth. The marriage took place in Edinburgh in 1565, and Darnley was recognized as king of Scotland. Mary, however, regarded him as intellectually and morally unfit, and her secretary, the Italian musician David Rizzio, became her chief counselor. Feeling that Rizzio was responsible for this slight, Darnley entered into a conspiracy that in 1566 led to Rizzio’s murder. Darnley soon betrayed the other conspirators to Mary, but she later learned of his own role. Thereafter Mary was almost completely estranged from him, despite the birth in June 1566 of their son James, later King James I of England.
A conspiracy to kill Darnley was organized early in 1567 by the Scottish nobleman James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. During a period of apparent reconciliation, Mary visited Darnley on the night of February 9-10, 1567, in a house on the outskirts of Edinburgh. During the night the house was destroyed by gunpowder, and Darnley and a servant were found strangled in a nearby garden. Mary married Bothwell the following May.
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