Uilleam, 5th Earl of Mar

Uilleam, 5th Earl of Mar ( Anglicized also , 5th Earl of Mar William , † after September 29. 1281 ) was a Scottish magnate .

Origin and heritage

Uilleam was a son of Donnchadh , his mother's name is unknown. He was first mentioned in 1242 as a witness to a document from his father. Probably he succeeded after the death of his father in 1243 as Earl of Mar , because in February 1244 Uilleam testifies to a document from King Alexander II as Earl of Mar. In the same year he testified to the Treaty of Newcastle , which the Scottish king had with the English King Henry III had closed. Uilleams succession, however , was contested by Alan Durward after 1255 . This claimed that Uilleam's father was an illegitimate son of the 2nd Earl of Mar , so he would be the legal heir. However, this assumption was based on an agreement made in the 1220s between Thomas de Lundin , Alan's father, and Uilleam's father Donnchadh. Thereafter, Thomas Durward received an extensive portion of the Earldom of Mar, while this recognized Donnchadh as the Earl of Mar. Uilleam managed to have Durward's claims dismissed until 1257, but it was not until 1268 that a papal charter finally recognized him as the rightful earl, due to the differences between Celtic practice and canon law .

Role during the minority of Alexander III.

Alexander II died in 1249, leaving only one minor heir. As a result, rival aristocratic factions fought for supremacy in the Regency Council, the Guardians of Scotland . Mar supported Walter Comyn, a relative of his wife , Earl of Menteith, and was one of the nobles who accused the previous regent Alan Durward and his supporters of treason at Christmas 1251. This led to the fall of Durward. From 1252, Mar served as Chamberlain of Scotland in the new government . With the support of the English king, Durward was able to overthrow the Comyn-dominated government in 1255, whereupon Mar lost his office. The English king granted him safe conduct so that he could come to his court. In 1257, Mar supported the coup d'état in which Walter Comyn seized the young king and regained control of the government. In 1258 Mar was one of the Scots who, at Comyn's instigation, made an alliance with the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd , and agreed with Henry III that this alliance was not directed against England.

Next life

Walter Comyn died in late 1258, but Mar retained his political influence when the young Alexander III. himself took power. Before 1264 he was again Chamberlain and held the office until 1267. He was Sheriff of Dunbartonshire . During the war with Norway from 1263 onwards , Mar 1264 led an army that captured much of the West Scottish islands . Allegedly, Mar is said to have had a conflict with Bishop Archibald von Moray , who excommunicated him in 1268 . Nevertheless, Alexander III sent. him in 1270 as an envoy to Henry III to assert his inheritance claims to the Honor of Huntingdon . Mars embassy was unsuccessful. From 1260 he had Kildrummy Castle built with royal support .

Marriages and offspring

Mar was married twice. In his first marriage he had married Elisabeth , a daughter of William Comyn, Earl of Buchan and his wife Marjory . From this marriage he had at least one son, Domhnall, 6th Earl of Mar (also Donald ), possibly also a second son, Donnchadh (also Duncan ). After Elizabeth's death in 1267, he married Muriel , daughter of Maol Íosa, 5th Earl of Strathearn . She was a granddaughter and one of the heiresses of Robert Muschamp . Muriel died childless in 1291.

Uilleam apparently died shortly after Michaelis 1281. In July 1281, so probably during his lifetime, his son Domhnall was made the new Earl of Mar.

literature

• John Anderson: Uilleam, 5th Earl of Mar . In: James Balfour Paul (Ed.): The Scots Peerage . tape 5 : Innermeath-Mar . David Douglas, Edinburgh 1908, p. 574-577 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
• Richard D. Oram: Continuity, Adaptation and Integration: The Earls and Earldom of Mar, c. 1150-1300 . In: Steve Boardman, Alasdair Ross (Ed.): Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c.1200-1500 . Portland, Four Courts Press, Dublin 2003, ISBN 1-85182-749-8 , pp. 46-66 .

Web links

• William, 5th Earl of Mar on thepeerage.com , accessed September 17, 2016.
• Earls of Mar. fmg.ac, accessed August 29, 2014 . 
• Henry Paton, Norman H. Reid: William, fifth earl of Mar (d. In or before 1281). 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

Individual evidence

1. ^ Henry Paton, Norman H. Reid: William, fifth earl of Mar (d. In or before 1281). 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. ^ 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. 568.
3. ^ 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. 562.
4. ^ 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. 566.
5. ^ Alan Young: The Political Rôle of Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, during the Minority of Alexander III of Scotland . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 57 (1989), p. 137.
6. ^ 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. 581.
7. ↑ John Milne: Comyn, Earl of Buchan . In: James Balfour Paul (Ed.): The Scots Peerage . tape 2 : Banff-Cranstoun . David Douglas, Edinburgh 1905, p. 254 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Donnchadh	Earl of Mar around 1244–1281	Domhnall I.
Office newly created	Guardian of Scotland 1249–1255 Co-regents: Alexander Comyn , Walter Comyn , John de Balliol , Robert de Keldeleth (until 1251), Gamelin (1251–1255)	Alan Durward , Alexander Stewart , Patrick III.