Adam of Kilconquhar (died 1271) was a
Scottish noble from the 13th century. Of
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
origin, he is notable for becoming the husband of the
Countess of Carrick and participating in the
Ninth Crusade
Lord Edward's crusade, sometimes called the Ninth Crusade, was a military expedition to the Holy Land under the command of Edward, Duke of Gascony (future King Edward I of England) in 1271–1272. It was an extension of the Eighth Crusade and was ...
under the command of Lord Edward, Duke of Gascony (future
King Edward I of England
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
).
Background
Evidence indicates that Adam was from the
MacDuff family; he was probably the son of Duncan of Kilconquhar, son of Adam (son of
Duncan, Earl of Fife), who appears frequently as a witness in the documents of
St Andrews Cathedral Priory
St Andrews Cathedral Priory was a priory of Augustinian canons in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was one of the great religious houses in Scotland, and instrumental in the founding of the University of St Andrews.
History
Plans were made for it ...
as ''Adam frater comitis'', i.e. brother of
Earl Duncan II. It is likely that Adam's mother was from the Comyn family: his brother William was called 'Comyn' in his papal letter of appointment as
bishop of Brechin
The Bishop of Brechin is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Brechin or angus, Scotland, Angus, based at Dundee. Brechin Cathedral, Brechin is a parish church of the established (presbyterian) Church of Scotland. The diocese had a long-es ...
.
Kilconquhar
Kilconquhar ( or ; sco, also Kinneuchar, from the gd, Cill Dhúnchadha or gd, Cill Chonchaidh, Church of (St) Duncan or Conchad) is a village and parish in Fife in Scotland. It includes the small hamlet of Barnyards. It is bounded by the paris ...
in south-east Fife was the seat of this family's holdings. The feudal arrangement that evolved in the 12th and 13th centuries was complicated, in that although the Kilconquhar was held of the
bishop of St Andrews
The Bishop of St. Andrews ( gd, Easbaig Chill Rìmhinn, sco, Beeshop o Saunt Andras) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews ( gd, Àrd-easbaig ...
, the bishop in turn held it from the earl.
Marriage and crusade
Adam appears to have enjoyed the favour of the Scottish king
Alexander III, and married
Marjorie
Marjorie is a female given name derived from Margaret, which means pearl. It can also be spelled as Margery or Marjory. Marjorie is a medieval variant of Margery, influenced by the name of the herb marjoram. It came into English from the Old Fre ...
, daughter and heiress of
Neil, Earl of Carrick. He was able to use the title of earl in his wife's name, but it is unlikely that he had much role ruling the province, as Earl Neil had left the position of kindred chief (') to his nephew Lachlan.
[MacQuarrie, ''Scotland and the Crusades'', p. 58] Their daughter Martha, step-daughter of
Robert Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...
, was the mother of
Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray one of the Bruce's closest companions-in-arms.
He died at
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
in 1271, while on
crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
.
[Anderson, ''Early Sources'', vol. ii, p. 667; MacQuarrie, ''Scotland and the Crusades'', p. 58 or actual date/ref> According to material in the ''Chronicle'' of ]John of Fordun
John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th cen ...
, he had been a participant in the Eighth Crusade
The Eighth Crusade was the second Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, this one against the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia in 1270. It is also known as the Crusade of Louis IX against Tunis or the Second Crusade of Louis. The Crusade did not see ...
.[ He had been one of a small Scottish contingent that attacked ]Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
in 1270, where fellow-Scot and fellow-MacDuff David, Earl of Atholl died.[MacQuarrie, ''Scotland and the Crusades'', p. 125] Adam survived, and withdrew with the rest to winter in Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
.[ The following spring the contingent joined with the army of Lord Edward and proceeded to Acre, where Adam was taken by disease.][
Adam's widow Marjorie went on to marry her husband's companion-in-arms ]Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale
Robert de Brus (11 July 1243 – 15 March 1304Richardson, Douglas, Everingham, Kimball G. "Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families", Genealogical Publishing Com, 2005: p732-3, ,link/ref>), 6th Lord of Annandale, ''jure ...
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilconquhar, Adam Of
13th-century births
1271 deaths
Christians of the Eighth Crusade
Christians of Lord Edward's crusade
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
Medieval Gaels from Scotland
People from Fife
Scottish soldiers
Earls or mormaers of Carrick