Colban, Earl of Fife (b. 1247–1253, d. 1270/2) was ruler 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 ...

in Scotland. The son of Earl Malcolm and his wife Elen ferch Llywelyn, he succeeded his father while still a teenager on Malcolm's death in 1266. He had been knighted by

King Alexander III Alexander III (Medieval ; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Scots from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. His ...

in 1264. His wife's name was Anna, and she was likely one of the three daughters and coheiresses of Sir Alan Durward. Colban and Anna had a son,

Duncan Duncan may refer to: People * Duncan (given name), various people * Duncan (surname), various people * Clan Duncan * Justice Duncan (disambiguation) Places * Duncan Creek (disambiguation) * Duncan River (disambiguation) * Duncan Lake (d ...

, who succeeded as Earl of Fife at the age of eight, and a daughter, Marjory, who married

Alan, Earl of Menteith Alan, Earl of Menteith (d. c. 1310) was a Scottish nobleman. Life Menteith was the son of Alexander, Earl of Menteith, and is first on record as a hostage in England, to ensure the good behaviour of his father in 1296. He and his brother Peter Men ...

.J. Ravilious, The Earls of Menteith: Murdoch, Earl of Menteith and the Ferrers family of Groby, The Scottish Genealogist (March 2013), Vol. LX, No. 1, p. 14. For a discussion of the evidence that Anna was the daughter of Alan Durward, see Matthew H. Hammond, "Hostiarii Regis Scotie: the Durward family in the thirteenth century," in Steve Boardman and Alasdair Ross, eds., The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c. 1200-1500 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2003), p. 133 Colban died while still a young man. His date of death is disputed, and depends on what evidence one interprets.

G.W.S. Barrow Geoffrey Wallis Steuart Barrow (28 November 1924 – 14 December 2013) was a Scottish historian and academic. The son of Charles Embleton Barrow and Marjorie née Stuart, Geoffrey Barrow was born on 28 November 1924, at Headingley near Leeds. ...

gives 1272, but Bannerman gives 1270.

References

Bibliography

* Grant, Rev'd Alexander, "The Ancient Earls of Fife", in

Sir James Balfour Paul Sir James Balfour Paul (16 November 1846 – 15 September 1931) was the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the officer responsible for heraldry in Scotland, from 1890 until the end of 1926. Life Paul was born in Edinburgh, the second son of the Rev Jo ...

(ed.
''The Scots Peerage''
Volume IV, (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 10–11 * Bannerman, John, "MacDuff of Fife," in A. Grant & K.Stringer (eds.) ''Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays Presented to G.W.S. Barrow'', (Edinburgh, 1993), pp. 20–38 * Barrow, G. W. S., ''The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century'', (Edinburgh, 2003) * Ravilious, J., "The Earls of Menteith: Murdoch, Earl of Menteith and the Ferrers family of Groby", The Scottish Genealogist (March 2013), Vol. LX, No. 1, pp. 12–25. * Hammond, Matthew, "Hostiarii Regis Scotie: the Durward family in the thirteenth century," in Steve Boardman and Alasdair Ross, eds., ''The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c. 1200-1500'' (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2003), pp. 118–138 1270s deaths Colban People from Fife Year of birth unknown Mormaers of Fife 13th-century mormaers Year of birth uncertain {{Scotland-bio-stub