Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas
Archibald Douglas Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas (father) | |
|---|---|
| Family | Clan Douglas |
Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas,
Master of Douglas
The eldest legitimate son of
On 4 June 1400, King Robert appointed him Keeper of Edinburgh Castle for life, on a pension of 200 merks a year.[4]
Rites of Passage
Renewal of the Percy/Douglas feud
At
Siege of Edinburgh
Later that summer Douglas was second in command to David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, the lieutenant of the Kingdom, during the siege of Edinburgh Castle by Henry IV. Henry was unsuccessful in his endeavours and with Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion gathering apace in Wales, he became the last English monarch to ever invade Scotland in person.[6]
Inheritance
Archibald, the 3rd Earl died at Christmas 1400, and the new 4th Earl became the largest and most powerful magnate in the realm. His father's vast lordships stretched from Galloway Douglasdale, Moray, Clydesdale to the shires of Stirling and Selkirk. These were augmented by the forfeited lands of the Earl of Dunbar in Lothian and the Merse.[6]
Death of Rothesay
In 1402 Douglas' brother-in-law, the heir to the throne, David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay was held in close arrest, first at the Bishop's Palace at St Andrews, then at the Royal Palace of Falkland. At Falkland, Duke David died on 27 March, under mysterious circumstances. The Duke was 24 years old and in good health prior to his arrest, and rumours abounded that he had been starved to death in Falkland's pit prison by the Duke of Albany.[7]
Prince David had been arrested under a warrant issued in the name of his father, the decrepit Robert III, by his uncle, Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany and Douglas. Both Albany and Douglas were rumoured to have been the authors of any foul play suspected. This can be shown by the fact that both men were summoned to appear before
Homildon Hill
On 22 June the same year, a small Scots force was beaten by
Captivity
With the Lords of the North
If the Percys and the other English knights thought they had gained great immediate riches from ransoms, they were to be disappointed. They received a message from King Henry congratulating them on their victory but forbidding the release of any of their prisoners.
By 1403, Hotspur was in open rebellion against his King, joining with his kinsman
Prisoner of King Henry
Douglas was now a captive of King Henry. The cost of the ransom of the Scots nobles taken at Homildon was proving hard for the impoverished Scots exchequer. When Prince James of Scotland was captured en route to France by English pirates in 1406, the position seemed impossible. The aged King Robert III died of grief it is said soon after. The Kingdom of Scots was now in the hands of the Duke of Albany de facto.
Return to Scotland
After giving his oath on Holy Scripture to King Henry to be his man above all others excepting King James, and on the production of suitable hostages for his parole, Douglas was allowed to return to his estates to carry out his private affairs. Douglas had agreed again under oath to return to captivity in England upon an appointed day. At Easter, Douglas went north and did not return upon the aforesaid day. King Henry wrote to Regent Albany complaining of this "un-knightly" behaviour and warned that unless Douglas returned the hostages would be dealt with at his pleasure. Douglas did not return. Only upon payment of 700 merks in 1413 to the new King of England, Henry V, were the hostages liberated.[11]
Lord of Annandale
In a political volte-face, the Earl of March had been accepted back into the political fold in Scotland, both Douglas and Albany being reconciled to him. In 1409 March's lands in Lothian and the Merse were returned to him, on the condition of the Regent that his Lordship of Annandale be transferred to the Earl of Douglas. Combined with his Lordship of Galloway, Douglas now controlled the whole of southwest Scotland. The friendship between Douglas and Albany was confirmed in 1410 when they arranged the marriage of Douglas' daughter Elizabeth to John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, Albany's second son.
Political Machinations
Embassy to the continent
Douglas went to Flanders and France in 1412, whereupon arriving in
Warden of the Marches
Soon after his return to Scotland, Douglas resumed his duties as Lord Warden of the Marches, where he had free rein to defend it and keep the peace. However, it appears that Albany was not prepared to pay for this, so Douglas recovered his costs from customs fees on all trade goods entering the country.
The Foul Raid
In 1416, with King James still a hostage in England, Douglas twice visited London to enter negotiations for his release. Whilst there the
earned this title of the "Foul Raid".The Great Army of Scotland
Douglas's son, the Earl of Wigtoun, had been fighting in France with his son-in-law Buchan, where they defeated the English at the Battle of Baugé in 1421. In 1423 Wigtoun and Buchan returned to Scotland to raise more troops for the war effort, and with a personal request to Douglas from Charles VII of France to lend his aid. Douglas's ally and Charles' implacable enemy, John the Fearless of Burgundy, had died in 1419, so Douglas willingly consented to the French king's request. After considerable gifts to the church, Douglas left the Earl of Wigtoun in Scotland to oversee his estates and the negotiations for the release of King James, while Douglas prepared for war. Douglas and Buchan then sailed to La Rochelle, arriving with an estimated 6,500 men on 7 March 1424.
Duke of Touraine and Lieutenant General of France
On 24 April Charles VII reviewed his new troops at
Battle of Verneuil
The newly-created French duke was defeated and killed at Verneuil on 17 August 1424, along with his second son, James, and son-in-law Buchan. Douglas was buried in the choir of Tours Cathedral, alongside Sir James Douglas, his son.[12]
Marriage and issue
In 1390 he married Lady Margaret (d. 1451), eldest daughter of John Stewart, Earl of Carrick, who later became King Robert III. Of their children:
- Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas, and Wigton, &c., (1390–1439), who succeeded to the earldom.
- Elizabeth (d. c. 1451), who married first John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, secondly Thomas, son of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, and thirdly William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness (d. 1480).
- William Douglas (b. before 1401)
- Sir James Douglas (d. 17 August 1424)
- Mary Douglas, who married Sir Simon Glendinning of Parton. Their daughter Janet married Gilbert Grierson 1st Lord of Lag.
Douglas in Literature
The 4th Earl of Douglas is represented in
Notes
- ^ Maxwell Vol I, p. 118
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7862. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Maxwell, Vol I p. 130
- ^ ibidem
- ^ ibidem p.131
- ^ a b ibidem p.132
- ^ ibidem p.135
- ^ ibidem pp. 135–6
- ^ a b ibidem pp. 136–137
- ^ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H., Bt., Scottish Kings, Edinburgh, 1899, p. 178
- ^ ibidem pp. 139–140
- ^ Fraser, vol I, p. 394
References
- Boissont, Abbé C. H. Histoire et description de la cathédrale de Tours. Paris, 1920 (in French)
- Brown, Michael. The Black Douglases-War and Lordship in Late Medieval Scotland. Tuckwell. East Linton, 1998
- Chalmel, J.L. Histoire de la Touraine IV vols. Lafitte, Marseille 1981 (in French)
- Fraser, Sir William, The Douglas Book IV vols. Edinburgh 1885. [1]
- Maxwell, Sir Herbert. A History of the House of Douglas. Freemantle. London, 1902
- Nicholson, Ranald. Scotland – The Later Middle Ages. Oliver & Boyd. Edinburgh, 1978
- Thomson, Oliver. From the Bloody Heart – The Stewarts and the Douglases.Sutton. Stroud, 2003
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Douglas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 442–444.
- George Crawfurd's Peerage, (p. 91)
