David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon

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David of Scotland on the frontispiece of Sir Walter Scott's crusader novel The Talisman (1832). In this novel, David goes to the Holy Land with Richard the Lionheart

David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon and Lord of Garioch (* 1152 , † June 17, 1219 ) was an Anglo-Scottish magnate . As the owner of extensive estates in both Scotland and England , he almost inevitably served as an intermediary between the two kingdoms throughout his life. He was strongly oriented towards the Anglo-Norman lifestyle and through his influence, Scotland developed from a Celtic kingdom to a medieval kingdom based on the Anglo-Norman model.

origin

David of Scotland came from the Scottish royal family Dunkeld . He was the youngest child of Henry of Scotland , who died in the year of his birth, and his wife Ada de Warenne (around 1123–1178). His father was a younger son of the Scottish King David I , after whom he was named. His eldest brother Malcolm IV became King of Scotland in 1153, followed by his brother Wilhelm I in 1165 .

Early ties with England

In July 1163 David was taken hostage at the English royal court. After his brother Wilhelm became King of Scotland in 1165, David was allowed to return to Scotland as the next potential heir to the throne. Since then he has remained closely connected with England. On May 31, 1170, he and his brother King Wilhelm were knighted by King Henry II of England in Windsor . On June 15, 1170, he swore allegiance to young Heinrich , the son of Heinrich II, one day after his coronation.

Supporting the rebellion of young Heinrich

Apparently reluctantly, David followed his brother in April or May 1174 to support young Heinrich in his rebellion against his father . As early as 1173, Wilhelm had offered his brother the East English Honor of Huntingdon , which was owned by the Scottish kings, including the title of Earl of Huntingdon , which they had inherited from their grandmother Ada de Warenne. Apparently, David also demanded the Scottish Honor of Lennox for this before he went to war against the English king. From Huntingdon and Leicester he undertook raids into the Midlands until he learned of his brother's capture at Alnwick in late July 1174 .

David played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Falaise in December 1174 , in which William had to recognize English sovereignty over Scotland in order to be released. To do this, David had to do without Huntingdon, which the English king had occupied in 1174. Together with Wilhelm, David traveled to York in August 1175 , where Wilhelm had to publicly recognize the English king as his liege lord .

Magnate in the service of his brother in Scotland

Although Wilhelm never officially named his brother as heir to the throne, David often served as the first secular witness for royal documents and was occasionally allowed to represent his brother. Above all, however, his brother gave him extensive holdings on the outskirts of Scotland, which should be brought more under the control of the king. David received the Earldom of Lennox as a prize for his military support in 1174 . He probably kept this until 1185, before it fell back to the ancestral family of the previous owner. According to some sources, David is said to have administered the Earldom while the heir was underage, but it is more likely that the previous Earl of Lennox had forfeited his title. Before 1182, David had also acquired impressive properties in Tayside and central Aberdeenshire . From there and from Garioch he tried to enforce royal power against Moray and Ross in the north. North of the Mounth mountain range , he was able to expand his power in the eastern Grampians. To secure his rule, he built castles in Dundee and Inverurie , the capital of Garioch.

As one of the most important Scottish magnates, he strengthened his brother's power. After he was promoted to English magnate in 1185, he had considerable influence on Anglo-Scottish relations. After him, other Scottish and English nobles also managed to acquire properties across the border. This and the example of David led to an increasing spread of the Anglo-Norman lifestyle among the Scottish nobles. Despite his strong ties to England, David never completely lost his brother's trust. When Wilhelm, who had not yet had a male descendant, appointed his eldest daughter Margaret to be heir to the throne in 1195 and wanted to marry her to the German Duke Otto von Braunschweig , this provoked resistance from the Scottish magnates, who continued to want David as heir to the throne. Wilhelm thereupon quickly renounced these plans, which also did not burden the friendship with David any further. David continued to be an important member of the Scottish government, possibly serving as regent in February 1206 during his brother's absence.

Magnate in England

Earl of Huntingdon

Despite his success in the Treaty of Falaise in 1174, the English King Henry II did not seek full English sovereignty over Scotland. In March 1185 he even returned Huntingdon to King William. With the consent of Henry II, the latter immediately handed Huntingdon over to his brother David and raised him back to Earl of Huntingdon. As a result, David tried determinedly to prevent the conflict between Scotland and England from continuing. He was not only guided by his own interests, but above all by his experiences of 1174 and 1175. After the Scottish defeat at that time, he was convinced that England was militarily superior to Scotland, which is why peace with England was vital for Scotland. Numerous Scottish magnates, however, pushed for another war with England. Ironically, the English government feared the bellicose Scots, so David gained importance in the favor of the English king.

Supporters of Richard Löwenherz and Johann Ohneland

After the death of Henry II, David unreservedly supported his son Richard the Lionheart , whom he advised on negotiations with Scotland. As a result, Richard dismissed the Scottish King Wilhelm on December 5, 1189 against payment of 10,000 marks from his fiefdom, which he used to finance the Third Crusade . Richard thanked David by allowing him the lucrative marriage to Maud (also Matilda ) († 1233), the sister of Earl Ranulf of Chester . David may have participated in the Third Crusade under Richard the Lionheart, but this is unlikely. In March 1194, however, he supported the siege of Nottingham Castle , which was being held by insurgents against Richard. In July 1194 he served Richard as commandant in Normandy , as well as in 1197. When David's brother Wilhelm became father of a son in 1198, David's chances of succession declined. From then on he continued to campaign for peace between England and Scotland, even when Wilhelm again claimed the northern English counties after Johann Ohneland had ascended the throne in 1199. Under Johann Ohneland David served regularly as envoy until 1209, and he supported the English king in his French possessions in Normandy, Maine and Anjou until 1203 . When a new crisis broke out between England and Scotland in 1209, David and other Scottish magnates urged Wilhelm to negotiate again with Johann Ohneland. The tough demands that Johann Ohneland enforced in the Treaty of Norham damaged the credibility of David and the other moderate Scottish magnates, but initially curbed Scottish aggression.

Declining importance and role in the war of the barons

After David was no longer needed as a mediator towards Scotland, he fell victim to Johann Ohneland's arbitrariness and greed. In August 1212, Johann David suspected that he was trying to murder him along with other English barons. Although this allegation was untenable, David still had to hand over Fotheringhay Castle , his headquarters in England, to the king. In the next few years his political influence continued to decline, including his age of over 60 and increasing illnesses. When he attended the coronation of his nephew Alexander II after the death of his brother Wilhelm in December 1214 , his frailty was noticeable. He apparently no longer served his young nephew as an advisor, and he also apparently played no role in the tensions between Johann Ohneland and the English aristocratic opposition that led to the recognition of the Magna Carta . It was not until the open First War of the barons against the king in autumn 1215 and the Scots under Alexander II invaded northern England in October to support the rebels in the north of England that David also supported the rebels. Thereupon Johann Ohneland had his estates occupied by his followers. Despite the occupation of several of his estates, David's support for the rebels remained rather half-hearted throughout the war of the Barons. The correctness of his hesitation was confirmed when his nephew Alexander failed militarily. After the end of the war of the barons, David submitted to the new English king Henry III in September 1217 . and was officially reinstated in his possessions on March 13, 1218. However, William Marshal the Younger kept Fotheringhay Castle occupied, while William de Forz did not surrender the estates of Nassington and Yarwell near Rockingham in Northamptonshire, despite government requests. Only after David's death did Marshal and Forz return the goods.

While David's influence on Scottish politics should not be overestimated, he served his whole life as a mediator and example for a magnate who profited from his possessions in both Scotland and England. In doing so, he paved the way for the often good, if not friendly, relations between England and Scotland from 1217, which lasted until 1296.

Only a few ruins remain of the Lindores Abbey founded by David

Family and offspring

With his wife Maud, who married David on August 19, 1190, he had at least three sons and four daughters, including:

David founded Lindores Abbey in Fife around 1190 as a daughter monastery of Kelso Abbey . He longed to be buried in Lindores, but after his death he was buried in Sawtry Abbey in Huntingdonshire. His wife Maud survived him. She did not die until 1233, but did not remarry after his death. His heir became his only surviving son, John the Scot, who died childless in 1237. David also had at least four illegitimate children, including three sons and a daughter. After the death of John the Scot, David's inheritance was divided among his daughters.

After the direct line of the Scottish royal family died out in 1290, John Balliol , Robert V de Brus, Lord of Annandale and John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, descended from David's daughters, were among the contenders for the Scottish throne .

literature

  • Keith J. Stringer: Earl David of Huntingdon, 1152-1219: a study in Anglo-Scottish history. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 1985. ISBN 0-85224-486-X
  • Keith J. Stringer: The charters of David, earl of Huntingdon and lord of Garioch: a study in Anglo-Scottish diplomatic. In: Keith J. Stringer: Essays on the nobility of medieval Scotland . J. Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-85976-113-4 , pp. 72-101

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 148
personal data
SURNAME David of Scotland
ALTERNATIVE NAMES David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Anglo-Scottish nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH 1152
DATE OF DEATH June 17, 1219