John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany (8 July 1482 - 2 June 1536) was the regent of the Kingdom of Scotland and the count of Auvergne and Lauraguais in France.

Albany was called to assume the regency of Scotland in 1514 when the infant king's mother, Margaret Tudor married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus.

Between 1517 and 1520 Albany sojourned in France, and did not exercise the regency on spot, but through his lieutenants including Antoine d'Arces, sieur de la Bastie.

On 26 August 1517, Albany and Charles, Duke of Alençon signed the Treaty of Rouen, which renewed the "auld alliance" between France and Scotland, and promised a French royal bride for James V. The poet and diplomat Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld assisted in the negotiations.

In March 1519, Pope Leo X confirmed the ancient privileges of the Scottish crown noting that he acted on the supplication of Albany, his dilecti filli, "beloved nephew".

[10] In November 1522, Albany took an army to besiege Wark Castle defended by Sir William Lisle but gave up after three days when the weather deteriorated.

The subsequently summoned parliament sealed, in turn also the Queen's defeat by making Angus a Lord of the Articles, included in the council of regency, and bearer of the king's crown on the opening of the session, and with Archbishop Beaton held the chief power.

During the Italian Wars (1521–1525), between France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, Albany was placed in command of a third of Francis I's Army and sent to attack the Papal forces and to launch an assault on Naples, then held by the Spanish.

[13] Due to inept leadership the remaining two-thirds of the army met with Imperial forces at Pavia in 1525 and were routed with Francis and countless other French nobles taken hostage.

[15][16] In June 1527 a servant of the Duke of Albany, William Stewart, went to Scotland with gifts of horses and swords for the young James V. He hired a team of masons to amend and repair the fortification at Dunbar Castle.

The Spanish ambassador Miçer Mai mentions meeting him at the Papal Palace and then holding negotiations at the Imperial Embassy in August 1531.

[18] Albany was delegated to negotiate with Pope Clement VII for a marriage between James V and Catherine de' Medici, the young Duchess of Urbino in 1530.

This was perhaps a diplomatic manoeuvre to force Francis I of France to honour a clause in the 1517 Treaty of Rouen which promised the Scottish King a royal French bride.

Sir Anthony Browne, Keeper of the Jewels of Henry VIII of England, described the reception of the French king at nearby towns organised by Albany in his letter to Thomas Cromwell.

In June, Francis had written to James V of Scotland from Lyon that he would offer him a bride from a noble French family, "as if she were his proper daughter.

[24] In 1533, Catherine, one of his closest surviving relatives, who held him as an uncle and sort of guardian, came from Italy to marry Henry, Duke of Orleans, second son of King Francis I.

1519), daughter of John's first cousin and Anne's younger sister, the late Madeleine of Auvergne, and Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino.

An Italian called "Auld Julian" made 6000 bricks at Tranent to be used for building a furnace at the armoury in Edinburgh Castle, where the master gun-founder Robert Borthwick was joined by the Frenchmen, "Johne Bukkat" and his apprentice "Perys".

[28] Praise for Albany's improvements in Scotland was published in the Sommaire de l'Origine Description et Merveilles d'Escosse (1538) by Jehan dit Le-Fresne Desmontiers.

[29] Albany was linked to his buildings at Dunbar Castle which he rendered impregnable with an artillery blockhouse (which survives in ruins),[30] and he was said to have improved agriculture in Scotland.

[31] An article by the historian Bryony Coombs further explores the activities of the Duke of Albany and his architectural and artistic connections that informed the design of the artillery blockhouse at Dunbar Castle and situates the building in a European context.