Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll


Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll, also called "Gillesbuig Grumach", was a Scottish peer, politician, and military leader.

Life

Campbell was the son of Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll and Agnes Keith.
His nickname, "Gillesbuig Grumach" is the Gaelic for Archibald the Grim. This may originate from his first wife, Agnes Douglas, whose 14th-century ancestor, Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas was so called.
In 1594 he commanded royal troops at the Battle of Glenlivet against Catholic rebels in the north, especially the Earls of Huntly and Erroll and their followers.
In January 1610 he argued over the precedency of seating of his wife, Anne Cornwallis, with the Earl of Pembroke, at a dinner hosted by Lady Hatton. King James commanded Argyll to yeild place to Pembroke until Parliament decided their issue.
By 1619, he had surrendered his estates to his son, Archibald Campbell. He was made a Knight of the Golden Fleece in 1624. He had announced his new religion from the Netherlands and as a consequence he was declared a traitor in Edinburgh on 16 February 1619 and banned from his country. He was very supportive of his new religion even after he was allowed back in 1621. He was interested in military solutions in Ireland in 1622, but he was unable to raise an army. He and his wife returned to Britain and lived at Drury Lane in London having abandoned everything apart from his title to his heir.
He died in 1638 and was buried at Kilmun Parish Church.

Family

On 24 July 1592, he married his first wife, Lady Agnes Douglas, youngest daughter of the Earl of Morton at Dalkeith Palace. Some "very great personages" had tried to persuade Argyll to marry Marie Stewart sister of the king's favourite, the Duke of Lennox. Together they had at least five children, including a son and heir.
After the death of his first wife about 1607 or 1608, he married Anne, with whom he had at least four more children. In 1618 Archibald Campbell converted to Roman Catholicism, the religion of his new wife, from Presbyterianism.