Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis (1515 – 28 November 1558) was a Scottish peer, the son of Gilbert Kennedy, 2nd Earl of Cassilis

Gilbert Kennedy, 2nd Earl of Cassilis

Gilbert Kennedy, 2nd Earl of Cassilis was a Scottish peer, the son of David Kennedy, 1st Earl of Cassilis.He married Lady Isabel Campbell, daughter of Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll...

.

He succeeded to the titles of 5th Lord Kennedy and 3rd Earl of Cassillis in August 1527. On 6 February 1540/41 he had a charter of the Fief of Cassilis. Gilbert Kennedy was taken prisoner by Thomas Dacre and Sir William Musgrave

William Musgrave

William Musgrave , physician and antiquary. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, where he was a fellow from 1677 to 1692. In 1680 he spent a brief period at the University of Leiden....

 in the Battle of Solway Moss

Battle of Solway Moss

The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish Border in November 1542 between forces from England and Scotland.-Background:...

 in 1542, and being committed to the custody of Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...

, Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

, was, by the instructions of that venerable martyr, induced to embrace the reformed religion. He became a Protestant, and went over to the English Party. He was released in February 1545, and held the office of Treasurer of Scotland

Treasurer of Scotland

The Treasurer was a senior post in the pre-Union government of Scotland, the Privy Council of Scotland.The full title of the post was Lord High Treasurer, Comptroller, Collector-General and Treasurer of the New Augmentation, formed as it was from the amalgamation of four earlier offices...

 in 1554, of Extraordinary Lord of Session

Extraordinary Lord of Session

Extraordinary Lords of Session were lay members of the Court of Session in Scotland from 1532 to 1762.When the Court of Session was founded in 1532, it consisted of the Lord President, 14 Ordinary Lords and three or four Extraordinary Lords. The Extraordinary Lords were nominees of the King, not...

 (Scotland) between 1546 and 1558. Gilbert Kennedy fought in the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland on 10 September 1547, was part of the War of the Rough Wooing. It was the last pitched battle between Scottish and English armies, and is seen as the first modern battle in the British Isles...

 on 10 September 1547.

In 1558 he was present, as one of the eight Commissioners appointed by the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

, at the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Dauphin of France

Francis II of France

Francis II was aged 15 when he succeeded to the throne of France after the accidental death of his father, King Henry II, in 1559. He reigned for 18 months before he died in December 1560...

, to whom the Scottish deputies unanimously refused the Crown matrimonial. The Court of France appeared deeply mortified by this disappointment, and the Earl of Cassilis, with two others of the Commissioners, dying in one night, on 28 November 1558, at Dieppe

Dieppe, Seine-Maritime

Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...

, a report was raised that they had been poison

Poison

In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....

ed, which was further countenanced by the death of a fourth Commissioner, Lord Fleming

James Fleming, 4th Lord Fleming

James Fleming, 4th Lord Fleming was Lord Chamberlain of Scotland.-Life:He was the eldest son of Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming, lord high chamberlain, by his wife Johanna or Jonet Stewart, natural daughter of James IV....

, at Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, on 16 December 1558.

Family

The Earl married with Margaret Kennedy in 1540. They had five children.

• Katherine Kennedy
• Gilbert Kennedy, 4th Earl of Cassilis
  Gilbert Kennedy, 4th Earl of Cassilis
  Gilbert Kennedy, 4th Earl of Cassilis, PC was a Scottish peer, the son of Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis. He succeeded to the titles of 6th Lord Kennedy and 4th Earl of Cassillis on 28 November 1558...
  
  (c. 1541–1576)
• Sir Thomas Kennedy, Master of Cassilis (b. between 1543–1558, d. 1602)
• Janet Kennedy (bef. 1558–1598)
• Lady Isobel Kennedy (b. 1542 d. 1602)