He was the son of
John Gordon, Lord Gordon, and
Margaret Stewart, daughter of
James IV and
Margaret Drummond. George Gordon inherited his earldom and estates in 1524 at age 10. As commander of the King's Army he defeated the English at the
Battle of Haddon Rig in 1542. From 1543, the Earl of Huntly was a member of the
council of Regency under
James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran and
Cardinal Beaton and succeeded as
Chancellor on the murder of Beaton in 1546. He was captured at the
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547, and held in the
Tower of London but in autumn 1548 he was released when a ransom was delivered by
Robert Carnegie, Lord Kinnaird. In 1550, he accompanied
Mary of Guise to France. In 1557, he made plans to besiege
Wark Castle in England. He joined the Protestant
Lords of the Congregation in 1560, although he was "a late, reluctant, and unreliable recruit". He was a religious conservative, however, and he worked for "a form of co-existence between Catholic and reformed worship". Huntly was prepared to accept
Mary, Queen of Scots, and accompanied her court. He fell from his horse during a visit to
Dunbar Castle in September 1561. Huntly disagreed with Mary when she transferred the
Earldom of Moray, which had been given to him in 1549, to her half-brother
Lord James Stewart, at which point he withdrew to his estates in the North-East of Scotland.
Mary, Queen of Scots,
toured the north-east in August 1562, and was refused entry to
Inverness Castle on Gordon's orders. The Queen's forces captured the Castle before moving to
Aberdeen where she issued a summons for Gordon. He refused to answer and was
outlawed. He marched on Aberdeen but was defeated by
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray at the
Battle of Corrichie in October 1562. He died of
apoplexy after his capture, and his son, Sir John was executed in Aberdeen. Huntly was posthumously forfeited by parliament in May 1563. After his death his body and goods seized at
Strathbogie Castle were shipped from Aberdeen to
Edinburgh. The body stood for the earl at his trial. The goods were taken to
Holyrood Palace. When Mary was imprisoned at
Lochleven, she was given the earl's
cloth-of-estate. ==Family==