William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness

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William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness (* around 1410, † 1480 ) was a Norwegian - Scottish nobleman . He was the last Norwegian Jarl of Orkney and Scottish Earl of Caithness and Lord Sinclair .

Life

He came from the Scottish noble family Sinclair . He was the son and heir of Henry II. Sinclair , lord of the Scottish Barony of Roslin around Roslin Castle in Midlothian , and as a vassal of the King of Norway Jarl of Orkney (including Shetland ). His mother was his wife Egidia Douglas († after 1438), daughter of James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas and maternal granddaughter of King Robert II of Scotland .

When his father died, he was still a minor. In 1422 he traveled to Copenhagen from King Erik III. to be confirmed as Jarl of Orkney. He appointed David Menzies as his guardian on Orkney. It was not until 1434 that he was able to take direct control of Orkney from him.

He was one of the Scottish nobles who were sent hostage to England in 1421 to guarantee the payment of the ransom for the Scottish King James I, who was to be released from English captivity .

In 1438 he held the state office of the Admiral of Scotland and as such escorted Princess Margaret of Scotland to the wedding with the Dauphin and later King of France Louis XI.

In 1449 King James II awarded him the Scottish title of Lord Sinclair . Around 1453 he donated the Collegiate Foundation in Roslin . Between 1454 and 1456 he held the office of State of the High Chancellor of Scotland . From his mother's estate, he made an inheritance claim to the Lordship Nithsdale in Dumfries and Galloway . In compensation for the waiver of these claims, James II made him Earl of Caithness on August 28, 1455 .

When King Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden gave his daughter Margarethe to King James III in 1469 . of Scotland married, she received Orkney and Shetland as a dowry, whereby these territories fell to the Scottish Crown Domain in 1470. William Sinclair waived Jacob III. on September 16, 1470 on his local ownership claims and received in return Ravenscraig Castle in Fife along with associated lands.

In 1476 he renounced his title Earl of Caithness in favor of his younger son from his second marriage William († 1513) . He did this to exclude his eldest son from his first marriage, William († 1487), from the inheritance. The latter only received the title of Lord Sinclair and Ravenscraig Castle. His younger son Oliver received his property in Roslin.

Marriages and offspring

He was married three times. In his first marriage he married Lady Elizabeth Douglas around 1435 († around 1451), daughter of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas . He had five children with her:

In his second marriage he married Marjory Sutherland, daughter of Alexander Sutherland of Dunbeath, around 1456 . He had eight children with her:

His third marriage was to Janet Yeman († 1483). No children are known from this marriage.

He had at least one illegitimate son:

  • Sir David Sinclair.

literature

  • George Edward Cokayne , Vicary Gibbs (Eds.): The Complete Peerage . Alan Sutton Publishing, Gloucester 2000, Vol. 2, p. 478; Volume 1, p. 313.
  • William Thomson: The New History of Orkney. Birlinn, Edinburgh 2008, p. 174 ff.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Henry Sinclair Jarl of Orkney
1420-1470 		Revoked title
New title created Lord Sinclair
1449-1484 		William Sinclair
New title created Earl of Caithness
1455-1476 		William Sinclair
personal data
SURNAME Sinclair, William, 1st Earl of Caithness
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sinclair, William, Jarl of Orkney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian-Scottish nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH around 1410
DATE OF DEATH 1480