William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named William Douglas, see William Douglas (disambiguation).

William Douglas
Earl of Douglas
Seal of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas.
Tenure26 January 1358 – 1 May 1384
PredecessorNew Creation
SuccessorJames Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas
Other titlesEarl of Mar
Lord of Liddesdale
Bornc. 1323
Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died1 May 1384 (aged 60–61)
Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Buried1384
Melrose Abbey[1]
NationalityScottish
ResidenceHermitage Castle
Tantallon Castle
Noble familyClan Douglas
Spouse(s)Margaret, Countess of Mar
IssueJames Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas
Isabel Douglas, Countess of Mar
George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus (illegitimate)
Lady Margaret Douglas (illegitimate)
ParentsSir Archibald Douglas
Beatrice de Lindsay

William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas (c. 1323 – 1 May 1384) was a Scottish nobleman, peer, magnate, and head of the Black Douglas family. Under his leadership, the Black Douglases continued their climb to pre-eminence in Scottish politics begun under his uncle, Sir James the Good, as well as their military dominance of the south of Scotland.

Early life

William Douglas was the son of

Hugh the Dull
resigned the Lordship of Douglas to him, though Liddesdale rapaciously administered his estates while it was in his ward-ship, and assumed direct ownership of some of the Douglas territories.

Douglas returned to Scotland in 1348 and immediately started to put his house in order. In 1346-47 following the

Ettrick Forest and Jedforests.[5]

Douglas next became one of the commissioners to negotiate with the English for the release of David II of Scotland.[6]

Death of the Knight of Liddesdale

In 1353,

desmesne. This was the match that lit the fuse of years of resentment over Liddesdale's assumption of the Douglas patrimony, notwithstanding Liddesdale's murder of Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie which John of Fordun gives as a reason for the enmity between the men.[8] Another more likely explanation for the killing was Liddesdale's treasonous agreement with the English to gain his own freedom from captivity. Liddesdale, once in high standing with the Crown, had fallen into disfavour following his murder of Ramsay and another Knight, Sir David de Barclay. Douglas set upon Liddesdale and killed him. In February 1354, William of Douglas received a new charter from King David bestowing all the lands held by his uncle Sir James, his father Sir Archibald, and Liddesdale itself.[9][10]

War with England and Battle of Poitiers

In 1355 the truce with England expired and Douglas with the

Berwick.[11]

After taking the town of Berwick, they failed to take the castle and had to retire from there before the advancing army of Edward III. King Edward laid waste to the Lothians in an event that would be known as the "Burnt Candlemas". His supply lines were overstretched. English supply ships were lost in a storm. The Scots' scorched earth policy prevented raiding for supplies, and Edward had to turn homewards, but not before being ambushed and nearly taken by Lord Douglas's men outside Melrose.[12][13] Following Edward's retreat into England, Douglas arranged a truce with William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton that would last until Michaelmas.[14]

He also arranged a

Archibald the Grim.[16][17]

Douglas returned to Scotland by mid-autumn, and was involved in peace negotiations with the English; one aspect of the treaty was the creation of

Eskdale.[18] Douglas was part of the parliament that met at Berwick in 1357, which finalised the release of King David through the Treaty of Berwick, Douglas himself being one of the securities for his release.[19]

Earl of Douglas and Mar

Douglas was created

Margaret Stewart, 3rd Countess of Angus, the mother of his illegitimate son, George Douglas, who would later be created Earl of Angus by the right of his mother.[23]

In 1364, Douglas joined King David II in seeking a treaty with England that would have written off Scotland's debt to England in return for depriving his nephew,

Lionel of Antwerp
, would have taken the Scottish throne, although the independence of Scotland was to be guaranteed, and a special clause was to be provided for the restoration of the English estates of the Douglas family.

The plan never succeeded, and on the accession of Robert the Steward as King Robert II, Douglas was nevertheless reconciled and appointed Justiciar South of the Forth in 1372. The last years of Douglas' life were spent in making and repelling border raids. He died at Douglas, South Lanarkshire, on 1 May 1384.

Marriage and issue

William Douglas married in 1357, Margaret of Mar, the daughter of Domhnall II, Earl of Mar and Isabella Stewart, who succeeded her brother Thomas as Countess of Mar.[24] They had two children:

The Earl of Douglas also fathered two illegitimate children by

Margaret Stewart, the widow of Thomas, Earl of Mar, who had been Douglas's brother-in-law. She was also Countess of Angus
in her own right:

  • George Douglas (1380–1403), who inherited the estates of Angus and was later created Earl of Angus, being the heir of his mother.
  • Lady Margaret Douglas, who received in 1404, the lands of Bonjedward from her half-sister, Lady Isabel Douglas.[25]

He is also said to have been the father of another illegitimate daughter, Joan Douglas, who married William Dacre, 5th Baron Dacre.[26]

In literature

William Douglas is one of the characters in The Road to Poitiers by Jonathan Lunn.[27]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Maxwell, vol I, p.93
  2. ^ G.E. Cokayne, with various editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), Volume IV, pg.430. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
  3. ^ Maxwell, Vol I, p.76
  4. ^ Fraser, Vol I, p.217
  5. ^ Fraser, VolI, p.217
  6. ^ Fraser, Vol I p.218
  7. ^ Maxwell, VolI p.57
  8. ^ Fordun, p.360 clxx
  9. ^ Maxwell, Vol I pp.78-79
  10. ^ Fraser, vol i, pp222-228
  11. ^ Maxwell, Sir Herbert (1902). A History of the House of Douglas from the Earliest Times Down to the Legislative Union of England and Scotland. London: Freemantle & Co. p. Vol I p. 79.
  12. ^ Fordun, CLXXVI, p. 374
  13. ^ Maxwell, vol I, p. 80
  14. ^ Maxwell, vol I, p. 80
  15. ^ Froissart,CLXII, pp.124-126
  16. ^ Fordun, CLXXVII pp.375-376
  17. ^ Fordun, p.377 note
  18. ^ Maxwell, Vol 1, p.80
  19. ^ Fraser, Vol.I,p.233
  20. ^ Maxwell, Vol.I, p.81
  21. ^ Fraser Vol.I, p.234
  22. ^ Tabraham, Tantallon Castle, p.16
  23. ^ Salter, The Castles of Lothian and the Borders, pp.86–88
  24. ^ G.E. Cokayne, with various editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), Volume IV, page 431. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage.
  25. ^ Fraser, Vol.I, pp.290-91
  26. ^ Cokayne, George Edward "Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Great Britain, Vol. 3" pg. 2
  27. ^ Lunn, Jonathan, The Road to Poitiers, Canelo Adventure 2024.

Sources

Peerage of Scotland
New creation
Earl of Douglas
1358–1384 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Earl of Mar jure uxoris
1374–1384 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lord of Douglas

1342–1384 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Douglas,_1st_Earl_of_Douglas&oldid=1218648606"