The First Assassination with a Firearm
The First Assassination with a Firearm
In 1570 James Stewart, the Earl of Moray, became the first head of state to be assassinated with a firearm. Stewart had become the Regent of Scotland for his young Protestant nephew James VI, in 1567 when his Catholic half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, abdicated.
Scotland at the time, like much of Europe, was in the depths of a very divisive period, racked by deep religious and political divisions. While James Stewart was a popular Regent with many Scots Queen Mary’s supporters were seeking to undermine his rule, and following the Regent’s reprisals against one of the opposing clans, the Hamiltons, members of the Hamilton Clan decided to kill Moray.
James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh began to stalk the Earl of Moray in late 1569, following him from town to town awaiting an opportunity. Hamilton trailed the Regent across much of Northern England and the Borders and through Perth, Glasgow and Stirling, finally finding his perfect opportunity at Linlithgow on 23rd January 1570. The regent was on his way to Edinburgh when Hamilton struck. Moray’s path led him past the Archbishop of St. Andrews’ residence, the Archbishop was a member of the Hamilton Clan and James was able to use one of the residence’s projecting gallery windows as his firing position.
Hamilton’s weapon of choice was an Italian matchlock hunting carbine with a 2 ½ foot long rifled hexagonal barrel. The legend which grew around the assassination holds that Hamilton prepared his firing position by hanging black cloth behind him to hide his shadow and by spreading blankets (or feathers, accounts differ) on the floor to soften his footsteps. The story also describes how Hamiltonbarricaded the front entrances to the house and had a horse waiting outside. Whether these details are accurate or not is unknown but what is known is that as the Earl of Moray passed in the street below Hamilton fired a single shot killing the Regent.
A Contemporary Spanish matchlock hunting carbine similar to Hamilton’s
Hamilton fled on the ‘fast horse he had waiting’ and was closely pursued by the Regent’s bodyguards but managed to evade them and reach safety. He went into exile in France butClan Hamilton suffered brutal reprisals, being declared rebels. Following Moray’s death a string of Regent’s acted on the young James VI’s behalf until he was old enough to take the throne in 1584. James Hamilton himself died, probably still in exile, in 1581.
It is surprising to find that the first assassination with a firearm in recorded history used techniques that would not be unfamiliar to a sniper today.
Image Two Source - James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (Regent of Scotland)Image Three Source - 19th century water colour of Hamilton about to assassinate MorayImage Four Source - Smoothbore Spanish Matchlock Carbine c.1590
http://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/44080203903/the-first-assassination-with-a-firearm-in-1570
