James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas
James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas called the Black Douglas (* 1426 ; † mid- 1491 in Lindores Abbey , Fife ) was a Scottish nobleman; last of the so-called black line of the Douglas family .
Life
James was the second son of James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas , and his wife Lady Beatrice Sinclair. When his brother William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas , was murdered by King James II in 1452 , he succeeded him as 9th Earl of Douglas and 3rd Earl of Avondale . James took the murder as an opportunity for an armed uprising against the king, which incidentally was supported by the Earl of Angus from the red Douglas line. James besieged Stirling , but was finally defeated by the king's troops at the Battle of Arkinholm in 1455 . James' twin brother Archibald, Earl of Moray , died in battle. His younger brother Hugh, Earl of Ormond , was captured and executed in Arkinholm; John, feudal Lord of Balvenie , who had also taken part in the battle, fled to England. In 1455 James was ostracized by a resolution of the Scottish Parliament ( Bill of Attainder ), which was connected with the loss of all titles and confiscation of all lands to the Crown. The king subsequently distributed the lands to James' rivals, particularly the Douglas family red line.
In 1453 he had married his brother's widow, Lady Margaret Douglas . As a result of his ostracism in 1455, she divorced him. James lived in England and married Anne Holland a second time in 1465, daughter of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter ( House of Holland ). In 1463 at the latest he was accepted as a knight in the Order of the Garter . He took part in the English invasion of Scotland in 1484 by John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany , but was captured at Lochmaben and imprisoned at Lindores Abbey in Fife for the rest of his life .
James probably died shortly after May 22, 1491. With his childless death, the black line of the Douglas family died out.
Individual evidence
- ↑ in older literature 1488 is given, according to more recent literature 1491 is assumed as the date of death
- ^ A b Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 474
- ^ Trevor Royle: The Wars of the Roses. England's first civil war. Abacus, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-349-11790-4 , p. 443
Web links
- James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, on thepeerage.com , accessed September 1, 2016.
- Alan R. Borthwick, Douglas, James, ninth earl of Douglas and third earl of Avondale (c.1425–1491) , Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 , viewed March 27, 2012 License required
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| William Douglas |
Earl of Douglas Earl of Avondale 1452-1455 |
Title forfeited |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Douglas, James, 9th Earl of Douglas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish nobleman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1426 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1491 |
| Place of death | Lindores Abbey , Fife , Scotland |