Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas

Seal of Archibald the Grim

Archibald's coat of arms. He added the crowned lion of the Galloway rule to the coat of arms of his Douglas family and the coat of arms of his wife's family in the heart shield

Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas , called the Grim (the Grim) (* around 1325 , † around December 24, 1400 in Threave ) was a Scottish nobleman .

Archibald was a son of the general and military leader Sir James, Laird of Douglas (1286-1330).

Archibald fought on the French side in the Battle of Maupertuis on September 19, 1356 and was knighted in 1357 at the latest . He was Lord Warden of the Marches since 1368 and was one of the main people responsible for the peace treaty with England of July 16, 1390. In 1369 he acquired the feudal barony Galloway and had Threave Castle built there the following year .

In 1372 he bought the lands of Thomas Fleming, 2nd Earl of Wigtown . It is unclear whether the formal acquisition of the title Earl of Wigtown was connected with this, in any case he acquired de facto rule over Wigtownshire for himself and his heirs .

His father's lands had fallen to Archibald's brother William of Douglas in 1330 and after his death in the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333 to his uncle Hugh of Douglas († around 1347) and further to his cousin William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas († 1384). On the death of his son James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas , Archibald finally inherited the family's possessions including the ancestral seat Douglas Castle and the title of 3rd Earl of Douglas in 1388 .

Marriage and offspring

He married Joan, heir to the feudal barony of Bothwell and daughter of Maurice Moray, 1st Earl of Strathearn . With her he had the following children:

• Archibald the Tyneman (1369–1424), 4th Earl of Douglas, Duc de Touraine, Marshal of France
• Marjory († 1420) ⚭ (1) David Stewart, 1st Duke of Rothesay , ⚭ (2) Sir Walter Haliburton
• Eeanor ⚭ Sir Alexander Fraser of Philorth
• James the Gross (1371-1443), 1st Earl of Avondale, 7th Earl of Douglas
• William († 1392), Laird of Galloway and Nithdale ⚭ Egidia Stewart, daughter of King Robert II of Scotland

Literature and web links

• James Balfour Paul : Archibald Douglas, styled 'the Grim' . In: James Balfour Paul (Ed.): The Scots Peerage . tape 3 : Crawford – Falklands . David Douglas, Edinburgh 1906, p. 157–165 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
• Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas on thepeerage.com

predecessor	Office	successor
James Douglas	Earl of Douglas 1388-1400	Archibald Douglas