Earl Marischal

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Earl Marischal was a hereditary British title in the Peerage of Scotland . The title was associated with the hereditary office of the Marshal of Scotland .

Award and history of the title

The earl title was created by King James II between November 5, 1457 and July 4, 1458 for William Keith, 1st Lord Keith († 1483). This had already been raised to Lord Keith between 1446 and July 1451 . As early as 1446 he had inherited the inheritance of the Great Marishal of Scotland and the chief dignity of Clan Keith from his older brother . The eponymous marshal's office was henceforth associated with the earl title.

His descendant, the 4th Earl , inherited in 1596 from his uncle Robert Keith, 1st Lord Altrie (around 1529-1596) the title of Lord Altrie , which was given to this on July 29, 1587 with the special addition that the title in the absence of one's own male descendants, it is also possible to inherit this nephew and his male descendants. Both titles belonged to the Peerage of Scotland and were henceforth subordinate titles of the respective earl.

His descendant, the 9th Earl , took part in the Jacobite revolt of 1715 and was therefore ostracized by parliament for high treason in 1716 ( Attainder ), with which his titles were forfeited and his possessions were confiscated by the British crown. The earl had to flee and, after an adventurous life, finally found a place to stay at the court of Frederick the Great , just like his brother James Keith , who served as a general in the Prussian army . In 1759 he was pardoned by King George II and in 1760 got his lands back, but not his titles.

Marshal of Scotland

The state office of the Marshal of Scotland ( lat. Marascallus Scotie or marscallus Scotie ; English "Marischal of Scotland" ) was hereditary since the times of King Malcolm IV and William I in the clan Keith in the primogeniture . The first documented holder of this title was around 1176 Hervey de Keith . His descendant Sir Robert de Keith († 1332) was confirmed in office around 1324 by the Scottish King Robert I as "Great Marischal of Scotland" .

The job of the Marshal of Scotland was to ensure the safety of the Scottish crown jewels and imperial regalia, as well as the safety of the king when he was in parliament. The 7th Earl Marischal fulfilled this task during the wars between the three British kingdoms by giving refuge to King Charles I at Dunnottar Castle .

Since the ostracism of the last Earl Marischal, the marshal's office has been suspended.

The heraldic tasks performed by the Earl Marshal in England , on the other hand, are the task of the Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland . The also different non-hereditary office of Knight Marischal was created on the occasion of Charles I's coronation as King of Scotland in 1633.

List of Marischals of Scotland and Earls Marischal

Marischals or Great Marischals of Scotland

Earls Marischal (around 1458)

Research history

The older historical literature still assumed that the first earl died around 1463/64 and was inherited by a son of the same name who died in 1483. As the historian Thomas Innes first pointed out in 1927, the two are the same person. In the older literature, one earl more was counted accordingly, which shifted the ordinal number of the following earls, so that the last earl was counted there as the 10th earl.

Individual evidence

  1. George Edward Cokayne , Vicary Gibbs (Ed.): The Complete Peerage . Volume 8, Alan Sutton Publishing, Gloucester 2000, p. 476.
  2. George Edward Cokayne, Vicary Gibbs (Ed.): The Complete Peerage. Volume 8, Alan Sutton Publishing, Gloucester 2000, p. 139.
  3. Liber S. Marie de Calchou. Registrum cartarum abbacie tironensis de Kelso, 1113–1567. Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh 1846, No. 96, pp. 70 f.
  4. z. B. James Balfour Paul : The Scots Peerage. Volume 6, David Douglas, Edinburgh 1909, pp. 25–65 (40 f.) ( Archive.org )
  5. Thomas Innes: The First Earl Marischal. In: The Scottish Historical Review. Volume 24, No. 96 (July 1927), pp. 280-297.

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