James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Châtellerault, 2nd Earl of Arran ( 1519 – 22 January 1575), was a Scottish nobleman and head of the House of Hamilton. A great-grandson of King James II of Scotland, he was heir presumptive to the Scottish throne (1536–1540, 1541–1542, 1542–1566 and 1567–1575). Arran was Regent of Scotland during the minority of Mary, Queen of Scots from 1543 to 1554, when he lost the regency to Mary of Guise. At first pro-English and Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1543 and supported a pro-French policy. He reluctantly agreed to Mary's marriage to Francis, eldest son of King Henry II of France, and was rewarded by Henry by being made Duke of Châtellerault in 1549. During the Scottish Reformation, Châtellerault joined the Protestant Lords of the Congregation to oppose the regency of Mary of Guise, and lost his French dukedom as a result. Family James Hamilton was born about 1519 in Hamilton in Lanarkshire. He was the eldest legitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran by his second wife, Janet Beaton (or Bethune). His paternal grandmother, Mary, was the eldest daughter of King James II. His father's family descended from Walter FitzGilbert, the founder of the House of Hamilton, who had received the barony of Cadzow from Robert the Bruce. James's mother was the daughter of Sir David Beaton of Crich, the widow of Robert Livingstone of Easter Wemyss, and the second wife of the 1st Earl of Arran. Both parents were Scottish. They had married in 1516. In 1529 he succeeded his father as Earl of Arran while still a minor. He was made a ward of James Hamilton of Finnart, his illegitimate elder half-brother. Marriage In 1532 Lord Arran married Margaret Douglas, who was about ten years older than him. She was a daughter of James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Morton, and Catherine Stewart, herself a natural daughter of James IV. The marriage was arranged by James Hamilton of Finnart. Margaret Douglas was given the house and lands of Kinneil House for her lifetime should her husband die before her. James Hamilton of Finnart paid Morton 4,000 marks as part of the marriage settlement. James and Margaret had five sons: James (1537–1609), succeeded him as the 3rd Earl of Arran but became insane in 1562 Gavin, died young John (1540–1604), became the 1st Marquess of Hamilton David (died 1611) Claud (1546–1621), from