Henry II. Sinclair

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Henry II. Sinclair (* around 1375, † 1420 ) was a Norwegian-Scottish nobleman and Jarl of Orkney .

Origin and heritage

Henry Sinclair came from the Scottish noble family Sinclair . He was the eldest son of Henry Sinclair, Jarl of Orkney and his wife Jean Harliburton . His father was a Scottish baron with possessions in Midlothian and other parts of central and southern Scotland. As a co-heir of Malise, 8th Earl of Strathearn he was 1379 from the Norwegian King Håkon VI. was raised by Norway to the Earl of Orkney . However, after his death in 1400, Orkney did not immediately fall to his son Henry. Instead, his grandmother Isabelle , one of Jarl Malise's daughters, took control of the northern Scottish archipelago, which at the time was under Norwegian rule. Isabella had survived her four sisters and their children, and it is possible that she assumed rule of Orkney in accordance with Norwegian law. Henry carried the title Jarl of Orkney after the death of his father, but due to the reign of his grandmother he hardly played a role on the islands. He may never travel to his Norwegian overlord and was never officially installed as the Jarl of Orkney.

Activity as a Scottish nobleman

Instead of Orkney, Henry Sinclair probably lived at Roslin Castle in Midlothian, the old seat of the family, from the 1390s . He took part in the Battle of Homildon Hill on September 14, 1402 , and was one of the numerous Scots captured by the victorious English. However, he was apparently released quickly on payment of a ransom. After the battle there was a power vacuum in Lothian, which Sinclair wanted to take advantage of thanks to his own property and contacts to the Douglas family, his wife's family. His wife Egidia Douglas was a granddaughter of King Robert II , and Sinclair soon had increasing influence at the court of Robert III. From August 1404 he attested to numerous royal documents. In 1405 he led Scottish troops to Berwick to support the Earl of Northumberland in his futile revolt against the English King Henry IV . Sinclair then went on to oversee the upbringing of James , the young son of Robert III. entrusted. Together with the prince he was on the way to France when their ship was captured by English pirates on March 22nd, 1406. Sinclair was not permanently in captivity for the next several years, but was often in England.

Takeover of Orkney

In 1416 Sinclair was finally granted safe conduct to Scotland by the English with twenty companions. His grandmother Isabella had probably died, and Sinclair and his brother John took over the administration of his northern Scottish estates. On September 21, 1418, his brother John Sinclair received the Shetland Islands from the Norwegian king as a lifelong fief, making him Foud . This proves that the Sinclairs had gained control of the Shetland Islands. Henry Sinclair died in 1420, presumably of whooping cough .

Descendants and inheritance

Sinclair had at least two children with his wife Egidia Douglas, a daughter of James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas and his wife Isabella Stewart :

His heir became his underage son, William Sinclair. On December 11, 1416, Henry Sinclair had named his brother-in-law David Menzies of Weem as tutor of his heir and administrator of his estates on Orkney in his will until his heir came of age.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Royal official, from the Danish Foged
predecessor Office successor
Henry Sinclair Jarl of Orkney
1400-1420 		William Sinclair
personal data
SURNAME Sinclair, Henry II.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sinclair, Henry, Jarl of Orkney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian-Scottish nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH around 1375
DATE OF DEATH 1420