Malise, 8th Earl of Strathearn

Malise, 8th Strathearn, Earl of Caithness and Jarl of Orkney (also Malise V, Earl of Strathearn ; Scottish Gaelic Maol Íosa, 8th Earl of Strathearn , also Earl of Orkney ) († around 1350) was a Scottish - Norwegian magnate . He was the last earl from an ancient Gaelic family that had held the title of Earl of Strathearn since the beginning of the 12th century . Even contemporary chroniclers confused information about him with information about other contenders for his title. That is why there are false and contradicting statements about his life and about the history of the areas he ruled well into the 20th century.

Origin and heritage

Malise was the eldest son of Malise, 7th Earl of Strathearn , his mother's name is unknown. His father may have died before 1327, but no later than 1330. In that year Malise held the title of Earl of Strathearn. In addition, he became heir to the title Earl of Caithness and Jarl of Orkney through his great-grandmother Matilda , the second wife of Malise, 5th Earl of Strathearn , after the heir of Magnus Jónsson, Earl of Caithness , died around 1330 as a minor and childless. However, this legacy was not undisputed. Ultimately, Malise inherited the titles, but only part of the lands in Caithness and Orkney , and only after 1334 did he bear the title of Earl of Caithness and Orkney. While the northern Scottish Caithness was under the sovereignty of the Scottish kings, the Orkneys were under the sovereignty of the Norwegian king.

Loss of Strathearn

Little is known about Malise's activity in the early 1330s. During the Second Scottish War of Independence , he fought on the Scottish side in 1333 at the Battle of Halidon Hill . He survived the Scottish defeat and, during a parliament in Scone on September 17, 1333 , submitted to Edward Balliol, who was supported by England . He also renounced his title as Earl of Strathearn, but kept his titles as Earl of Orkney and Caithness.

Worked as the Earl of Caithness and Orkney

After surrendering Strathearn, Malise withdrew to his northern Scottish possessions. After 1335, however, the supporters of the Scottish King David II , Edward Balliol and the English were able to push back from southern Scotland. Malise apparently did not take part in these battles and was now considered a traitor to David II, mainly because of his submission in 1333. For fear of retribution, Malise remained in northern Scotland. He may also have traveled to Norway, where King Magnus VII Erikson confirmed him as Jarl of Orkney. His attempts to regain the title of Earl of Strathearn and the possessions that belonged to it met the bitter refusal of Robert Stewart , who led the reign of Scotland as Guardian for the minor David II, who fled to France. In 1339 Stewart tried unsuccessfully to completely expropriate Malise in a court case, but this was declared innocent by a jury. After the return of David II, Strathearn was charged with treason before another parliament in Scone in June 1344. Malise did not appear before Parliament himself, but stayed in northern Scotland and was represented by his brother-in-law, William, 5th Earl of Ross . Fearing that he would be completely expropriated, he had already declared his daughter Isabella his sole heir in May 1344. King David II campaigned for Malise to be condemned, but the new jury did not declare him a traitor. However, he was not found innocent either, so Strathearn did not get him back. The title Earl of Strathearn had been given in 1343 to Maurice Murray, who had married Joanna of Menteith , widow of Malise's father. Malise remained in northern Scotland until his death. In 1346 he was the only Scottish magnate, alongside John, Lord of the Isles , who did not take part in David II's campaign to England, which ended in the Scottish defeat at Neville's Cross . Malise probably died around 1350.

Marriages, offspring and inheritance

Malise was married twice. The name of his first wife is unknown, but it was mistakenly believed by older historians to be Joanna of Menteith , daughter of John Menteith of Rusky . Malise had a daughter with his first wife:

• Matilda (also Maud) ⚭ Weland de Ard

In his second marriage, Malise married Marjory († after 1350), a daughter of Hugh, 4th Earl of Ross, between 1325 and 1328 . With her he had four daughters, only two of whom are known by name:

• Isabella ⚭ Sir William Sinclair
• Agneta ⚭ Erngisl Suneson
• Daughter ⚭ Guttorm Sperra
• Daughter (probably Euphemia of Strathearn) († after 1364)

Malise had chosen Isabella, his eldest daughter from his second marriage, as the sole heiress. She was married to the Scottish nobleman William Sinclair, whose grandfather Henry Sinclair had served as royal steward of Caithness from 1321 to 1330. His other four daughters had married Norwegian-Swedish nobles who also made claims to Caithness and Orkney after his death. This led to a long-standing quarrel between Malise's daughters and grandchildren. The division of the inheritance was made more difficult by the fact that a different inheritance law applied in the Scottish Caithness than in the Scandinavian Orkney. Malise's son-in-law Erngisl Suneson called himself Earl of Orkney on May 6, 1353, but ultimately he had to be content with land ownership on the islands. Alexander de Ard , the eldest son of Malise's daughter Matilda, was first recognized as the Earl of Caithness . After his death in 1376, the Norwegian king finally appointed Henry Sinclair , the eldest son of Isabella and William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney. The Scottish King Robert II , however, forgave Caithness to his younger son David Stewart .

literature

• Cynthia J. Neville: The earls of Strathearn from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, with an edition of their written acts . Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1983.

Web links

• Malise, 8th Earl of Strathearn on thepeerage.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cynthia J. Neville: Strathearn, Malise, seventh earl of Strathearn (1275x80-1328x30). 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
2. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 278.
3. ↑ Cynthia J. Neville: The earls of Strathearn from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, with an edition of their written acts . Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1983, p. 148.
4. ↑ Cynthia J. Neville: The earls of Strathearn from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, with an edition of their written acts . Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1983, p. 147.
5. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 236.
6. ↑ Cynthia J. Neville: The earls of Strathearn from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, with an edition of their written acts . Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1983, p. 149.
7. ↑ Cynthia J. Neville: The earls of Strathearn from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, with an edition of their written acts . Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1983, p. 150.
8. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 243.
9. ↑ Cynthia J. Neville: The earls of Strathearn from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, with an edition of their written acts . Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1983, p. 151.
10. ^ Ranald Nicholson: Scotland. The later Middle Ages . Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1974, p. 146.
11. ↑ Cynthia J. Neville: The earls of Strathearn from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, with an edition of their written acts . Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1983, p. 155.
12. ↑ Cynthia J. Neville: The earls of Strathearn from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, with an edition of their written acts . Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1983, p. 154.
13. ^ Barbara Crawford: William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, and his family: a study in the politics of survival . In: KJ Stringer (Ed.): Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland , John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh 1985, ISBN 0-85976-113-4 , p. 234.
14. ^ Barbara E. Crawford: Sinclair family (per. 1280 – c. 1500). 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

predecessor	Office	successor
Maol Íosa	Earl of Strathearn between 1327 and 1330-1334	Title forfeited
Magnus Jónsson	Jarl of Orkney around 1330-1350	Erengisle Suneson
Magnus Jónsson	Earl of Caithness around 1330-1350	Title expired