Andrew Stewart,[10] third son,[11] who married the daughter of James Bethe. His son is supposed in many sources (possibly most notably the Heraldic Visitations of Cambridgeshire[12]) to have been Sir Alexander Steward "The Fierce", whose existence has been questioned by some historians, and who is quoted in bogus ancient pedigrees as the ancestor of the English gentry family of "Steward" or "Styward", of the Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire, from which family was the mother of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell,[13][14][15] who (therefore ironically) tried to bring an end to the royal house of Stuart. However "the Lord Protector himself never took it seriously, though he did once joke that his mother was a Stuart at a drinking party in Edinburgh in 1651".[16] This family, of which the most influential was Robert Steward (d. 1557) Dean of Ely, assumed the coat of arms of the Scottish Stewarts, Or, a fess chequy argent and azure, as is visible on their elaborate monuments in Ely Cathedral.[17] In addition they bore a supposed augmentation of honour (Argent, a lion rampant gules debruised by a bend raguly or) said to have been granted to Sir Alexander Steward "The Fierce" by King Charles VI of France (1380-1422).[18] However the supposed familial connection between the Stewart family of Scotland, Hereditary High Stewards and kings of Scotland, and the English "Steward" or "Styward" family of the Isle of Ely, has been definitively disproven by the renowned genealogists Horace Round (Studies in Peerage and Family History, 1907)[19][20] and Walter Rye (Two Cromwellian Myths, 1925, and The Steward Genealogy and Cromwell's "Royal Descent").[21]
Alexander Stewart (died 1283), also known as Alexander of Dundonald, was 4th hereditary High Steward of Scotland from his father's death in 1246./ FamilySearch
Origins
He was a son of Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland by his wife Bethóc, daughter of Gille Críst, Earl of Angus.
Career
He is said to have accompanied King Louis IX of France on the Seventh Crusade (1248–1254).[1] In 1255 he was one of the councillors of King Alexander III of Scotland, though under age.[2]
He was the principal commander under King Alexander III at the Battle of Largs, on 2 October 1263, when the Scots defeated the Norwegians under Haakon IV. The Scots invaded and conquered the Isle of Man the following year, which was then, together with the whole of the Western Isles, annexed to the Crown of Scotland.[3][4]
Marriage and issue
He married Jean, heiress of the Isles of Bute and Arran, daughter of James Mac Angus (d.1210) (who, with his father and brothers, was killed by the men of Skye), son of Aonghus, Lord of Bute & Arran (younger son of Somerled, King of the South Isles). By his wife he had the following issue:[5][6]
James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland (c. 1260–1309), eldest son and heir; grandfather of King Robert II of Scotland, the first Stewart King of Scots, and thus direct male ancestor of all seven subsequent Scottish monarchs until Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587) - who married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1545-1567) (a male descendant of the 5th High Steward's younger brother Sir John Stewart (d.1298), founder of the Bonkyll line (see below)) by whom she had issue King James I & VI of England and Scotland, ancestor of the post-Tudor monarchs of England and Scotland, later of Great Britain, finally of the United Kingdom.
Sir John Stewart (d. 22 July 1298), 2nd son, who married Margaret de Bonkyll, the heiress of Bonkyll Castle in Berwickshire, by whom he had seven sons and one daughter, thus founding the line of "Stewart of Bonkyll". He was the male line ancestor of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who by his wife Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587), the heiress of the senior royal Stewart line descended from James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland (c. 1260–1309) (see above), was the father of King James VI and I of Scotland and England. He was killed in 1298 at the Battle of Falkirk.[7][8]
Heraldic augmentation of honour (Argent, a lion rampant gules debruised by a bend raguly or) supposed to have been granted to Sir Alexander Steward "The Fierce" by King Charles VI of France[9]
Andrew Stewart,[10] third son,[11] who married the daughter of James Bethe. His son is supposed in many sources (possibly most notably the Heraldic Visitations of Cambridgeshire[12]) to have been Sir Alexander Steward "The Fierce", whose existence has been questioned by some historians, and who is quoted in bogus ancient pedigrees as the ancestor of the English gentry family of "Steward" or "Styward", of the Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire, from which family was the mother of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell,[13][14][15] who (therefore ironically) tried to bring an end to the royal house of Stuart. However "the Lord Protector himself never took it seriously, though he did once joke that his mother was a Stuart at a drinking party in Edinburgh in 1651".[16] This family, of which the most influential was Robert Steward (d. 1557) Dean of Ely, assumed the coat of arms of the Scottish Stewarts, Or, a fess chequy argent and azure, as is visible on their elaborate monuments in Ely Cathedral.[17] In addition they bore a supposed augmentation of honour (Argent, a lion rampant gules debruised by a bend raguly or) said to have been granted to Sir Alexander Steward "The Fierce" by King Charles VI of France (1380-1422).[18] However the supposed familial connection between the Stewart family of Scotland, Hereditary High Stewards and kings of Scotland, and the English "Steward" or "Styward" family of the Isle of Ely, has been definitively disproven by the renowned genealogists Horace Round (Studies in Peerage and Family History, 1907)[19][20] and Walter Rye (Two Cromwellian Myths, 1925, and The Steward Genealogy and Cromwell's "Royal Descent").[21]
Elizabeth Stewart (d. before 1288), who married Sir William Douglas the Hardy, Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed. She was the mother of the James Douglas, Lord of Douglas ("Good Sir James Douglas").[22]
Hawise Stewart, who married John de Soulis (died 1310), who was the Guardian of Scotland and the brother of the Lord of Liddesdale.[23]
Lady Beatrix Alice Stewart (Lady of Crawford) married Sir Alexander Lindsay (died 1308), Lord of Barnweill, Byres and Crawford