Editing James I of Scotland (section)

=== Background ===
[[Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl|Walter Stewart]] was the youngest of [[Robert II of Scotland|Robert II]]'s sons and the only one not to have been provided with an earldom during his father's lifetime.<ref>Brown, ''Atholl and the Death of James I'', p. 25</ref><ref group=note>{{further|Robert II of Scotland}} 

Robert II had four sons and five daughters by [[Elizabeth Mure]] before legitimising them after receiving papal dispensation in 1347 for their marriage. The sons of this marriage were:
# John, Earl of Carrick who on becoming king chose the [[regnal name]] of Robert;
# Walter, Lord of Fife (d.1362);
# Robert, Earl of Fife and later Duke of Albany;
# Alexander, Lord of Badenoch and Ross and later Earl of Buchan.

He later married [[Euphemia de Ross]] in 1355 and had two sons and two surviving daughters. The sons from this marriage were:
# David, Earl of Caithness and Strathearn;
# Walter, who later in life became Earl of Caithness, then Earl of Atholl and finally Earl of Strathearn.</ref> Walter's brother, David, Earl of Strathearn and Caithness, had died before 5 March 1389 when his daughter Euphemia was first recorded as Countess of Strathearn.<ref>Boardman, ''Stewart, David, first earl of Strathearn and first earl of Caithness'', ODNB</ref> Walter, now guardian of his niece, administered Strathearn for the next decade and a half, during which time he aided his brother Robert, Earl of Fife and Guardian of Scotland, by enforcing law and order upon another brother, Alexander, lord of Badenoch — he again supported Robert (now Duke of Albany) against their nephew, David, Duke of Rothesay in 1402.<ref name="ReferenceA">Brown, ''Walter Stewart, earl of Atholl'', ODNB</ref> Albany most likely engineered the marriage of Euphemia to one of his affinity, Patrick Graham, and, by doing so, ended Walter's involvement in Strathearn. Duke Robert, possibly to make up for the loss of the benefits of Strathearn, made Walter Earl of Atholl and Lord of Methven.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>Brown, ''Atholl and the Death of James I'', pp. 27–28</ref> In 1413, Graham was killed in a quarrel with his own principal servant in the earldom, John Drummond.<ref>Brown, James I, p. 85</ref>

[[File:Methven Castle.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Methven Castle]]. The original castle was the seat of Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl]]

The Drummond kindred was close to Atholl and the Earl's renewed involvement in Strathearn as ward to Graham's son, despite strong opposition from Albany, hinted at Atholl's possible involvement in the murder. The bad blood now existing between Albany and Atholl led James on his return to Scotland in 1424 to ally himself with Earl Walter, his uncle.<ref>Brown, ''Atholl and the Death of James I'', p. 28</ref> Atholl participated at the [[Assize (Scotland)|assize]] that sat over the 24/25 May 1425 trials which found the prominent members of the Albany Stewarts guilty of rebellion — their executions followed swiftly.<ref name="Brown, James I, pp. 65–66"/>

James granted Atholl the positions of [[Sheriff of Perth]] and Justiciar, as well as the earldom of Strathearn, but this, significantly, in life-use only, acts that confirmed Earl Walter's policing remit given by Albany, and his already effective grip on Strathearn.<ref>Brown, ''Atholl and the Death of James I'', pp. 28–29</ref> Atholl's elder son, David, had been one of the hostages sent to England as a condition of James's release and had died there in 1434; his younger son Alan died in the king's service at the [[Battle of Inverlochy (1431)|Battle of Inverlochy]] in 1431.<ref group=note>Atholl's son and heir David Stewart died as a hostage for James I in 1434. At least fifteen others died in captivity as James had ceased the payments to redeem the hostages by 1429. (See Grant, ''Independence and Nationhood'', pp. 188, 189)</ref> David's son Robert was now Atholl's heir and both were now in line to the throne after the young Prince James.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> James continued to show favour to Atholl and appointed his grandson Robert as his personal chamberlain, but by 1437 after a series of setbacks at the hands of James, the earl and Robert probably viewed the king's actions as a prelude to further acquisitions at Atholl's expense. Atholl's authority over the wealthy earldom of Strathearn was tenuous, and both he and Robert would have realised that Strathearn would have returned to the crown upon Atholl's death. This meant that Robert's holdings would have been the relatively impoverished earldoms of Caithness and Atholl and amounted to no more than what was in Earl Walter's possession in the years between 1406 and 1416.<ref name="Brown, p. 29">Brown, ''Atholl and the Death of James I'', pp. 29–31</ref>

The retreat from Roxburgh exposed the king to questions regarding his control over his subjects, his military competence and his diplomatic abilities yet he remained determined to continue with the war against England.<ref>Brown, ''James I'', p. 174</ref> Just two months after the Roxburgh fiasco, James called a general council in October 1436 to finance further hostilities through more taxation.<ref name="MacQuarrieKingship">MacQuarrie, ''Kingship and Nation'', p. 219</ref> The estates firmly resisted this and their opposition was articulated by their speaker [[Sir Robert Graham]], a former Albany attendant but now a servant of Atholl. The council then witnessed an unsuccessful attempt by Graham to arrest the king resulting in the knight's imprisonment followed by banishment but James failed to see Graham's actions as part of an extended threat.<ref>McGladdery, ''The Kings & Queens of Scotland: James I'', p. 140</ref> In January 1437, Atholl received yet another rebuff in his own heartlands when James overturned the [[Chapter (religion)|chapter]] of [[Dunkeld Cathedral]] whose nominee was replaced by the king's nephew and firm supporter, James Kennedy.<ref name="Brown, p. 29"/>