This book is the first modern account devoted to the major Scottish noble family the Gordons of Huntly. It examines the family's changing relations with the Crown, the Scottish government, their noble contemporaries and the Highland clans during the seventeenth century, as well as issues such as landowning, religion and internal family politics. In all of these spheres there was a marked decline in Gordon power, at both a regional and national level, and a corresponding increase in the influence of other northern noble families. This sea-change in the political make-up of northern Scotland has been previously overlooked in the historiography. This book brings a fresh perspective to the major political events of the time, from the 1603 Union with England through to the Williamite Revolution of 1688-9, and tells the stories of the patriarchs of the family, the first four marquises of Huntly, the last of whom became the first duke of Gordon. This is a tale of aspirations, trials and tribulations, set against a backdrop of a century of turbulent national history.