Thursday 15th January, 7.30, Holy Trinity Church, Church St, Haddington – Elisabeth Rébeillé-Borgella, Historian,
Summary of the talk:
Esmé Stuart d’Aubigny (c.1542-1583) was born to be a French lord without great importance and raised to be a soldier for the French crown in the same way as his ancestors before him. In 1579, he travelled to Scotland after receiving an invitation from his illustrious cousin James VI of Scotland. In three years, he became the most influential and the most feared noble on Scottish soil. His life shifted totally due to one crucial factor: the royal favour granted to him by the Scottish king. Ambitious and opportunist, Esmé Stuart, who became First Duke of Lennox, built himself a career both at the French and Scottish courts in times when religious tensions were at their highest. Soldier, courtier, politician, royal favourite and even conspirator, Esmé Stuart was a complex figure often considered only as the man who perverted James VI. This talk will shed a new light on Esmé Stuart d’Aubigny in exploring his life in its entirety as well as his legacy to understand who he truly was and why he has been so important for the life and the reign of James VI & I.
Short bio:
Elisabeth Rébeillé-Borgella is a French historian of the late sixteenth-century Scotland. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2023 after conducting a doctoral research on “Esmé Stuart d’Aubigny, First Duke of Lennox (c.1542-1583). A French Courtier in Scotland”. Her interests are the reign of James VI in Scotland, the Stuart d’Aubigny family and gender history. She is, at the moment, a tour guide and coordinator who delivers tours in Edinburgh in French on different themes including Edinburgh and its women. She is also a freelance researcher.
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