American history would no doubt have evolved differently had John Wilkes Booth failed to kill Abraham Lincoln, but exactly how nobody knows. The word assassin itself is derived from the Nizari sect of Islam, a reference to fanatic killers who were dispatched on suicide missions. Popular belief links their fanaticism and their name to the use of hashish, but this link has been proven to be based on legend rather than fact.
The Nizari assassins were killers for hire, but they were usually hired for protection. Nonetheless, Dante refers to assassins in The Inferno and in a fourteenth century commentary on the epic assassins are referred to as killers for money. His half-sister, born legitimately, was Mary, Queen of Scots. Stewart was both wealthy and influential, serving as a government functionary and soldier, becoming a staunch supporter of the Protestant Reformation. Despite religious differences with his half-sister Mary, it was she who granted him Earldom, making him Earl of Moray and Mar.
Gordon died in his custody after he was defeated in battle near Aberdeen. In Stewart opposed the marriage of Mary to Lord Darnley, and he joined the rebellion against her known as the Chaseabout Raid, leading to his being declared an outlaw.
He fled to England, returned to Scotland after he was pardoned by Queen Mary, and subsequently moved to France to stay clear of the political intrigue surrounding Mary and her court. It was Stewart who produced the casket letters, which incriminated Mary in the murder of her husband.
The letters served to justify the opposition of the Protestant Scottish Lords against the Catholic queen. Stewart was a leader of the Protestant forces against Mary as across Scotland war between the factions led to estates being captured and burned, their occupants killed in combat or imprisoned and tortured.
