James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (c. 1531 – 23 January 1570), a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V, was Regent of Scotland for his half-nephew, the infant King James VI, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570. Moray was born in about 1531, the most notable of the many illegitimate children of King James V of Scotland. His mother was the King's mistress, Lady Margaret Erskine, daughter of John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine. In October 1562, he defeated a rebellion by George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, at the Battle of Corrichie near Aberdeen. Moray opposed the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, to Lord Darnley in 1565, and he embarked upon the unsuccessful Chaseabout Raid, together with the Earl of Argyll and Clan Hamilton. He was subsequently declared an outlaw and took refuge in England. Returning to Scotland after the murder of David Rizzio, he was pardoned by the Queen. Mary abdicated at Loch Leven Castle on 24 July 1567. Moray returned to Edinburgh from France on 11 August 1567, escorted from Berwick-upon-Tweed by James Melville of Halhill, with a French ambassador, De Lignerolles. William Cecil, the English secretary of State had arranged his transport from Dieppe in an English ship. He was appointed Regent of Scotland on 22 August. The appointment was confirmed by Parliament in December. When Mary escaped from Loch Leven on 2 May 1568 the Duke of Chatelherault and other nobles rallied to her standard, but Moray gathered his allies and defeated her forces at the Battle of Langside, near Glasgow on 13 May 1568. Mary was compelled to flee to England. For this and the subsequent management of the kingdom he secured both civil and ecclesiastical peace, and earned the title of "The Gude Regent".

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