James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault

James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, became regent of Scotland after the death of James V in December 1542, when the crown passed to the infant Mary, Queen of Scots.

As the leading adult claimant to the throne after Mary, he stood at the centre of the factional and diplomatic struggles over Scotland’s government and its relations with England and France. James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran and Duke of Châtellerault, was heir presumptive and regent of Scotland during the early minority of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Steven Veerapen’s The Royal Burgh presents James Hamilton, Earl of Arran and later Duke of Châtellerault, as governor of Scotland during the infancy of Mary, Queen of Scots, trying to hold together a regency divided by religion, noble rivalry and competing English and French interests. The Cradle Queen carries that struggle forward as Henry VIII’s pressure over Mary’s marriage and the Rough Wooing force Hamilton to manoeuvre among Mary of Guise, Cardinal Beaton and the factions contesting control of the child queen.