Editing David Beaton (section)

==Death==
[[File:St. Andrews Castle - geograph.org.uk - 932461.jpg|thumb|St. Andrews Castle]]
Plots against Cardinal Beaton had begun circulating as early as 1544.
The conspirators were led by Norman Leslie, master of Rothes, and William Kirkcaldy of Grange. The Leslies had suffered from the expansion of Beaton's interest in Fife; while Kirkcaldy's uncle, James Kirkcaldy of Grange, held Protestant sympathies and had been removed in 1543 as treasurer of the realm, through Beaton's influence. They were joined by John Leslie of Parkhill, one of the Fife lairds angered at the murder of Wishart.<ref name=merrimah>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=77210&back= Merriman, Marcus. "Castilians in St Andrews (act. 1546–1547)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 15 Nov 2013]</ref> Leslie and Kirkcaldy managed to obtain admission to [[St Andrews Castle]] at daybreak of 29 May 1546, killing the porter in the process. Leslie, Kirckcaldy, and Peter Carmichael of Balmadie used their daggers to stab the cardinal to death, mutilated the corpse, and hung it from a castle window.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1995/issue46/murdercomestothearchbishop.html |title=Lamont, Stewart. "Murder comes to the Archbishop", ''Christian History and Biography'', 1 July 2008 |access-date=16 November 2013 |archive-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129035659/http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1995/issue46/murdercomestothearchbishop.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

At the time it was widely believed that his death was in the interests of Henry VIII of England, who regarded Beaton as the chief obstacle to his policy in Scotland; the cardinal's murder was certainly a significant point in the eventual triumph of Protestantism north of the Border.{{cn|date=May 2021}}

At the time of his death, Beaton was [[Lord Chancellor of Scotland]], Archbishop of St Andrews, and Cardinal Legate in Scotland.<ref name="herkless">[https://archive.org/details/cardinalbeaton00herkuoft Herkless, John. ''Cardinal Beaton, Priest and Politician'', William Blackwood & sons, Edinburgh, 1891]</ref> He was succeeded as Archbishop of Saint Andrews by Dr. [[John Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews)|John Hamilton]].{{cn|date=May 2021}}