Beaton, David

Beaton or Bethune, David

(both: bē`tən), 1494–1546, Scottish churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was made cardinal in 1538 and succeeded his uncle, James Beaton, as archbishop of St. Andrews and primate of Scotland in 1539. Beaton arranged the marriage of James VJames V,
1512–42, king of Scotland (1513–42), son and successor of James IV. His mother, Margaret Tudor, held the regency until her marriage in 1514 to Archibald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus, when she lost it to John Stuart, duke of Albany.
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 and Mary of GuiseMary of Guise
, 1515–60, queen consort of James V of Scotland and regent for her daughter, Mary Queen of Scots. The daughter of Claude de Lorraine, duc de Guise, she was also known as Mary of Lorraine.
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 and tried to assume the regency for Mary Queen of ScotsMary Queen of Scots
(Mary Stuart), 1542–87, only child of James V of Scotland and Mary of Guise. Through her grandmother Margaret Tudor, Mary had the strongest claim to the throne of England after the children of Henry VIII.
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 (1542), but James HamiltonHamilton, James, 2d earl of Arran,
d. 1575, Scottish nobleman; son of James Hamilton, 1st earl of Arran. After the death (1542) of James V, he stood next in line to the throne after the infant Mary Queen of Scots.
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, 2d earl of Arran, seized power. The following year Arran renounced Protestantism and sided with Beaton, who crowned Mary. Beaton became chancellor of Scotland and ably opposed the designs of Henry VIIIHenry VIII,
1491–1547, king of England (1509–47), second son and successor of Henry VII. Early Life

In his youth he was educated in the new learning of the Renaissance and developed great skill in music and sports.
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 of England. Beaton's relentless persecution of Scottish reformers led to the execution of George WishartWishart, George
, 1513?–1546, Scottish religious reformer, Protestant martyr. He was master of a grammar school in Montrose. In 1538 he fled Scotland to escape charges of heresy; he was in England for a short time, then on the Continent.
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 in 1546, and in reprisal the cardinal himself was murdered in his castle two months later.