Marian civil war
| Marian Civil War | |||||||
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 Woodcut of the Siege of Edinburgh Castle held for Mary in 1573, from Holinshed's Chronicles (1577) |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Queen's Men | King's Men | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Duke of Châtellerault Earl of Huntly Lord Fleming, Dumbarton William Kirkcaldy, Edinburgh Adam Gordon, North |
Regent Moray Regent Lennox Regent Mar Regent Morton William Drury, English army |
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The Marian civil war in Scotland (1568–1573) was a period of conflict which followed the abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her escape from Loch Leven Castle in May 1568. Those who ruled in the name of her infant son James VI fought against the supporters of the Queen, who was exiled in England. Edinburgh Castle, which was garrisoned in her name, became the focus of the conflict and surrendered only after an English intervention in May 1573. The conflict in 1570 was called an "intestine war in the bowels of this commonwealth", and the period was called soon after an "intestine war driven by questions against authority."
The supporters of Queen Mary had popular international support for what was seen as the legitimate cause of supporters of an unjustly deposed monarch. The King's party claimed that their cause was a war of religion, like that in France, and that they were fighting for the Protestant cause. Mary had escaped from her imprisonment in Lochleven Castle to join her main supporters in the west of Scotland, but they were defeated at the Battle of Langside by her half-brother James Stewart, earl of Moray. Mary went to England.
The Earl of Moray was Regent of Scotland and ruled with a council of regency. Mary had depended on the support of the Hamilton family at Langside, and existing rivalries with Hamiltons partly determined who came to join her side. Other supporters of the Queen objected to Moray as a ruler.
Moray moved against the supporters of Queen Mary in their south-west power base with a military expedition in June 1568 called the 'Raid of Dumfries' or 'Raid of Hoddom.' The Regent's army with the royal artillery marched to Biggar, where his allies were commanded to muster on 10 June, and on to Dumfries. Biggar was the home area of Lord Fleming who had declared on behalf of Mary. The King's army was protected by a scouting party led by Alexander Hume of Manderston, the vanguard was commanded by the Earl of Morton and Lord Hume. Behind was the "carriage", namely the artillery train, followed by Moray himself. The Laird of Cessford followed, and the army was flanked by the scouting parties of the lairds of the Merse and Buccleuch.
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