Malcolm, 5th Earl of Fife

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Seal of Malcolm, 5th Earl of Fife

Malcolm, 5th Earl of Fife (also Malcolm Macduff , Malcolm (I), Earl of Fife or Maol Choluim, Earl of Fife ) († around 1228 ) was a Scottish magnate .

Malcolm came from the Scottish MacDuff clan . He was the eldest son of Duncan, 4th Earl of Fife and his wife Ela . From around 1177 the young Malcolm witnessed royal documents. After the death of his father in 1204 he inherited his possessions and the title of Earl of Fife , making him the leading Scottish magnate. In 1211 he assisted King William in suppressing the Macwilliams rebellion in northern Scotland. When the king had to move in September, Malcolm took over the security of Moray. Malcolm succeeded in significantly increasing his property through the favor of the crown. King Wilhelm not only confirmed the possessions in western Lothian , which his father and grandfather had acquired as vassals of the crown, but also gave him extensive other possessions as fiefdoms, including lands near Culross . Through his marriage to a daughter of Gilbert, 3rd Earl of Strathearn , Malcolm was able to acquire further property, which his wife brought as a dowry into the marriage. These were lands in northeast Scotland stretching from the Ochil Hills to Kinross-shire . Even more politically important was the alliance that Malcolm formed through this marriage with the Earls of Strathearn, for while the Earls of Fife were loyal supporters of the crown, the loyalty of the Earls of Strathearn had hitherto been wavering. Earl Ferteth , his wife's grandfather, had even been involved in an attempted capture of King Malcolm IV in Perth in 1160 . The marriage of Malcolm also led to the fact that the feudal system based on the Anglo-Norman model was further spread in Scotland and replaced the previous Gaelic system of rule.

Malcolm was buried in the Cistercian Abbey of Culross , which he founded in 1217. Since his marriage between 1194 and 1198 with Matilda , a daughter of Gilbert, 3rd Earl of Strathearn, had remained childless, Malcolm , a younger son of his younger brother Duncan, became his heir. His wife's dowry returned to the Earls of Strathearn.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Archibald AM Duncan: Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (The Edinburgh History of Scotland; Vol. I ). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1975. ISBN 0-05-00203-7-4 , p. 196.
  2. ^ GWS Barrow: The Earls of Fife in the 12th Century . In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland , 87 (1952-53), p. 56.
  3. ^ GWS Barrow: The Earls of Fife in the 12th Century . In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland , 87 (1952-53), p. 58.
  4. ^ GWS Barrow: The Earls of Fife in the 12th Century . In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland , 87 (1952-53), p. 59.
predecessor Office successor
Duncan Earl of Fife
1204 – about 1228
Colban