John Melville

Sir John Melville of Raith (died 1548) was laird of Raith in Fife, Scotland. He was active in the Scottish court in the second quarter of the 16th century, but was executed for his support of the Protestant cause.

Sir John Melville, laird of Raith in Fife, was early impressed by the principles of the Reformation, and associated himself closely with the movement. He was one of the three hundred noblemen and gentlemen whom Cardinal Beaton pressed King James V to pursue as heretics. As a friend of those who assassinated Cardinal Beaton at St Andrews, he was subsequently executed by Beaton's successor, Archbishop John Hamilton.

During the minority of Mary, Queen of Scots, Melville was a steady favourer of the policy of the 'English Party' in Scotland, who sought to consolidate the interests of the two nations by uniting the crowns in the marriage of Edward VI and Mary, Queen of Scots. Melville was arrested, carried prisoner to Edinburgh, and, being convicted of treason, was executed there on 13 December 1548. His estates were forfeited. According to John Knox, Melville had a natural son in England, John Melville, with whom he regularly corresponded while the two countries were at war. Melville was arrested when one of these letters fell into the hands of the governor of Scotland, Regent Arran.

Biography He was the eldest son of John Melville the younger of Raith and Janet Bonar, his wife, probably a daughter of the laird of nearby Rossie. He succeeded his grandfather, William Melville, as laird of Raith in 1502, and was knighted by James IV in the following year, probably on the occasion of that king's marriage in August to Princess Margaret Tudor.

He is said to have accompanied James IV to Flodden (1513), but if so he returned in safety, and was more or less actively engaged in the many disputes of the regency during the minority of James V (1513–1528). He was appointed Master of the Artillery for life in October 1526, but a few months later he took part with John, Earl of Lennox, in his unsuccessful attempt to free the king from the control of the Earl of Angus, and had to sue to Angus for mercy. Yet within a brief space the Douglases were in exile, and for intercommuning with them Melville had to beg a remission from the crown. One of his letters fell into the hands of the Scottish governor, Arran, and he was arrested and carried prisoner to Edinburgh. As a friend of those who assassinated Cardinal Beaton in 1546, he was convicted of treason by Beaton's successor, Archbishop Hamilton.

He was executed at Edinburgh on 13 December 1548. His estates were forfeited, but this forfeiture was rescinded in favour of his widow and children in 1563. Margaret who married James, son of John Scrimgeour