George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes

rdf:langString George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes

rdf:langString George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes (2 Aug 1484 – 24 November 1558) was a Scottish nobleman and diplomat. George was the eldest son and heir of William Leslie, 3rd Earl of Rothes and Lord Leslie, who fell at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. George succeeded his father William, who in turn had succeeded his brother, George Leslie, the 2nd Earl. On 1 April 1517 George and his first wife redeemed by purchase family lands which James IV of Scotland had sold to Andrew Barton. He was Sheriff of Fife from 1529 to 1540 and a Lord of Session from 1541 and a Lord of the Articles from 1544. George accompanied James V of Scotland on his wedding trip to France in 1536. He was tried for the murder of Cardinal Beaton and acquitted in 1546. He was ambassador to Denmark in 1550, and died at Dieppe, France in 1558. George died while returning from the solemnization of the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, which he witnessed. Several of the other Scottish commissioners died, Lord Fleming at Paris, and the Bishop of Orkney and Earl of Cassillis at Dieppe on the same night as George, 24 November 1558. It was rumoured that they were murdered because of their stance on the issue of giving the Crown-Matrimonial of Scotland to the Dauphin.