Mormaer
In early Middle Ages, medieval Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, a mormaer was the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the Kings of Scots, King of Scots, and the senior of a ''Toísech'' (chi ...
Gille Míchéil (d. bef. July 1136) is the second man known for certain to have been
Mormaer of Fife
The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife was the ruler of the province of Fife in medieval Scotland, which encompassed the modern counties of Fife and Kinross. Due to their royal ancestry, the earls of Fife were the highest ranking nobles in the re ...
from 1130 to 1133, although it is unlikely he actually was the second. He had at least one son, called Aed (=Hugh). Aed would have succeeded
Donnchad I under a
Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
ic system, but as
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
rules of
primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
came into force during the reign of Donnchad I, it was Donnchad's son, and not Gille Míchéil's, who became the next mormaer. Aed, though, probably succeeded to the leadership of
Clann Duib, at least during Donnchad I's minority, and certainly became Abbot of Abernethy, an office which his own son, Orm, later inherited.
Bibliography
* 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
1130s deaths
Gille Micheil
Year of birth unknown
Mormaers of Fife
12th-century mormaers
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