Robert Gordon and Ludovic Stuart, Duke of Lennox: Jacobean Courtiers

The British Library’s copy of Abraham Darcie’s Frances Duchesse Dowager of Richmond (1624) bears on its title page the signature of Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun. Darcie’s book includes an account of the funeral procession of Ludovic Stuart, Lennox, held on April 19, 1624. Why did Gordon sign this book? What, if any, connection did he have with Lennox, one of King James’s most important courtiers? This essay reveals the significant relationship of Gordon with Lennox, noting their kinship and interconnections as members of the Jacobean court. In the process, we discover the tensions that existed in the court about personal and political values, the ongoing conflicts between public service and personal self-interest. The evidence of the kinsmen’s connection concludes in noting that Robert Gordon named his son born in October 1624 “Ludovic,” clearly in loving memory of Lennox.