Duncan, 8th Earl of Fife

Duncan, 8th Earl of Fife (also Duncan III Macduff ; according to another count 7th Earl of Fife ; Scottish Gaelic Donnchadh III ) (* 1262 ; † September 10, 1289 near Brechin ) was a Scottish magnate .

Origin and youth

Duncan came from the Scottish MacDuff clan . He was a son of Colban, 7th Earl of Fife , when his father died early around 1270 he was only eight years old. The young Duncan thus became the heir to the title Earl of Fife and his father's possessions. The administration of Fife awarded King Alexander III. to his son of the same name, Alexander .

Role in the Scottish succession dispute

It was only after the early death of his guardian in 1284 that Duncan was able to take over the administration of his inheritance, which included the Earldom of Fife and lordships in Aberdeenshire , Perthshire and Banffshire and numerous other lands in Scotland. After Alexander III. had died in March 1286 without leaving a male heir, Duncan was elected the youngest of the six Guardians of Scotland by a meeting of Scottish magnates in April 1286 in Scone . The young and politically inexperienced Duncan received this office primarily because of his high rank, and perhaps also through the influence of Robert V de Brus , whose claim to the throne he supported. From 1286 to 1287 Duncan stayed in England .

assassination

For unknown reasons, Duncan was murdered in early September 1289 by Sir Patrick Abernethy , according to other sources by Hugh Abernethy and by Sir Walter Percy in an ambush at Pitpollok near Brechin . He was buried in Coupar Angus Abbey . The assassination of the main Scottish magnate demonstrated the political instability Scotland found itself in during the interregnum . Duncan's death also made several offices vacant, which the remaining Guardians divided among themselves. The Guardian William Fraser , Bishop of St Andrews, also took charge of Duncan's holdings.

The exact causes of Duncan's murder are unclear. Allegedly he was murdered for his cruelty and greed, but more likely he was a victim of the mounting unrest caused by the dispute for the throne between Robert de Brus and John Balliol . Percy may have been a vassal of Duncan while Abernethy was a descendant of Aedh mac Duff and thus distantly related to Duncan. Duncan may have been murdered over land disputes because Abernethy's estates bordered Duncan's estates in Fife and Perthshire. As head of Clan Macduff, Duncan wanted to assert his authority over Abernethy as well. Since the latter could not turn to the king because of the interregnum, he perhaps tried to resolve the dispute by force. The rest of the Guardians did not tolerate this murder. Abernethy and Percy were arrested. While Percy was being executed, Abernethy remained in custody until his death around 1292, though he was never convicted and his possessions were not confiscated.

Marriage and offspring

Duncan had married Joan , a daughter of the English magnate Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester from his first marriage to Alice de Lusignan between 1285 and January 1287 . Duncan's marriage with a daughter of the leading English magnate was probably promoted by the English King Edward I , who tried to strengthen relations between the English and Scottish nobility through marriages. His bride brought two goods into the marriage as dowry, but she was disinherited by the marriage contract that her father had to sign when he married an English princess in 1290. After Duncan's death, Joan gave birth to a posthumous son, Duncan IV , who became his heir. The administration of Fife was taken over by Bishop William Fraser of St Andrews for the minor heir.

Web links

• Duncan MacDuff, 7th Earl of Fife on thepeerage.com , accessed December 21, 2018.
• Andrew McDonald: Duncan (III) Macduff eighth earl of Fife (c. 1262-1289). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 5.
2. ^ ^{A b c d} Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 6.
3. ↑ Andrew McDonald: Duncan (III) Macduff eighth earl of Fife (c. 1262-1289). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
4. ↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 9.
5. ↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 8.
6. ^ Michael Altschul: A baronial family in medieval England. The Clares . The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1965, p. 51.

predecessor	Office	successor
Colban	Earl of Fife around 1270-1289	Duncan