Robert Cochrane (favourite)

Robert Cochrane (possibly died 1482) is said to have been an architect or mason who lived in the reign of King James III of Scotland and who became a royal favourite. His influence over the king is said to have incurred the wrath of the aristocracy, culminating in a coup in which he was killed.

There exists a good deal of controversy about the accuracy of the received story of his influence on the king, linked to broader issues about the reign of James III. These issues concern the theme of a king taking advice from low-born favourites rather than from established noble councillors.

The traditional view is that James was a cultured man in the context of his time, but otherwise had some serious character flaws, a weak king and a dilettante who surrounded himself with a group of talented but low-born favourites. Cochrane was the most important of these favourites. He is said to have designed the Great Hall at Stirling Castle, and perhaps that at Falkland. To some extent he governed the country during the 1470s. He is said to have advised the king to debase the coinage in order to raise cash. He was opposed by the king's younger brothers, Alexander Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany and John Stewart, Earl of Mar. Mar was arrested and imprisoned, dying shortly thereafter; Albany escaped and gathered support in England. The king is said to have given Cochrane the title of Earl of Mar after his brother's death, though no record of this survives.

Cochrane's downfall came during an invasion by an English army led by the king's younger brother, the Duke of Albany, and the Duke of Gloucester, the future King Richard III of England. Albany had promised to give part of Scotland to England in exchange for being placed on the throne. A cabal of aristocrats, led by Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus, decided that they must get rid of Cochrane and the other favourites in order to secure the Scottish crown. Angus chose to "bell the cat", as he put it. Cochrane and the king's other favourites were with the king's army at Lauder Bridge when a group of nobles refused to continue south to meet the enemy. Angus led the way by arresting Cochrane. The group then detained the king himself and hanged all the favourites from a bridge.

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