ames Hepburn, Fourth Earl of Bothwell (?1536-78), husband of Mary Queen of Scots. In 1560 the queen-dowager entrusted him with a special mission to France. Recalled by the queen in 1565 to assist her in subduing Moray’s rebellion, he, after the murder of Rizzio in March, 1566, gradually acquired a supreme influence in her counsels; and there can be no doubt that his determination to secure her hand was the chief cause of Darnley’s murder. At the same time, both he and the queen were the dupes of cooler and cleverer intriguers, and his marriage rendered the ruin of both inevitable. At Carberry Hill the queen, to save Bothwell’s life, made arrangements by which he should be permitted to escape. After lurking for some time in the north of Scotland, he made an attempt to establish himself in the Orkneys as a kind of pirate; but on being pursued by Kirkaldy of Grange, he escaped to Denmark, arriving at Copenhagen on September 30, 1567. At first he met with a favorable reception, but was never at liberty. In June, 1573, he was removed from the castle of Malmö to close imprisonment at Drangholm, in Zealand, where he died (April 14, 1578). [World Wide Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1935]

Bothwell, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of (1536-78), Scottish nobleman, the third husband of Mary, queen of Scots. Although he was a Protestant, Bothwell supported his future mother-in-law, Mary of Guise, a Roman Catholic, during her regency. When Mary, queen of Scots, returned to Scotland from France in 1561, Bothwell became one of her favorites at court. In 1562 he was accused of plotting to abduct the queen and was imprisoned for a short time, but he escaped and fled to France. He returned in 1565, at Mary's request, to aid in suppressing a rebellion led by her half brother, James Stuart, earl of Moray. The next year, after the murder of her trusted secretary, David Rizzio, by her husband, Lord Darnley, and other nobles, the queen took refuge with Bothwell at Dunbar Castle.

In February 1567 Darnley was murdered, almost certainly by Bothwell, who was, however, acquitted of the crime at a mock trial. Shortly thereafter he abducted the queen, with her probable consent, and carried her to Dunbar Castle. He divorced his wife and married the queen on May 15, 1567.

Both Roman Catholic and Protestant nobles, angered by the marriage and the circumstances surrounding it, rebelled. Mary and Bothwell, with a strong force, met the insurgents, but the royal army refused to fight. At that point Bothwell fled to Denmark, where he was imprisoned and later died insane. Mary divorced him in 1570. [Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia]

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