John Sinclair (died 1529) was a Scottish nobleman, 3rd

Earl of Caithness Earl of Caithness is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, and it has a very complex history. Its first grant, in the modern sense as to have been counted in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held to hav ...

and chief of the Clan Sinclair, a

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Scottish Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared heritage and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure r ...

of the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

Early life

He was the son of William Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Caithness and Margaret, daughter of Sir Gilbert Keith of Inverugie. His father had been killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.

Earl of Caithness

Soon after Flodden, Adam Gordon, Earl of Sutherland and husband of Elizabeth Sutherland, 10th Countess of Sutherland, made overtures to John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Caithness in anticipation of dangers in the North, and they entered into a bond of friendship for mutual alliance and support. This included an exchange of lands. John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Caithness had

sasine Sasine in Scots law is the delivery of Feudalism, feudal property, typically land. Feudal property means immovable property, and includes everything that naturally goes with the property. For land, that would include such things as buildings, tre ...

of the earldom on 24 November 1513. He received a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

from the Crown for himself and his wife Elizabeth Sutherland of Duffus that was dated 14 July 1527 for the lands of Keiss, Stane, and Rowdale in the earldom of

Caithness Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland. There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...

and sheriffdom of

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

. This charter also granted to William Sinclair, the earl's son and heir apparent, the earldom of Caithness under reservation of his father's life-rent, and his spouse's reasonable

terce Terce is a canonical hour of the Divine Office. It consists mainly of psalms and is held around 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn. Along with Prime, Sext, None, and Compline, Terce belongs ...

. On 18 July 1527, the earl received a charter for the lands of Greeneland and Wester Clyth in Caithness. A bond of "manhood" was entered into by John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Caithness and William Sinclair, 5th Lord Sinclair dated 15 February 1528–29. The Earl of Caithness and Earl of Sutherland later came into continuous opposition with each other and eventually Sutherland brought a case before the Lords of Council and Session to recover his lands. Gavin Dunbar,

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

pronounced his decision at

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 24 March 1524, and both parties were satisfied and the two Earls lived in peace with each other from then onward. In 1528, the Earl of Caithness was one of those included in

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV a ...

's proposed

extirpation Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with extinction, global extinctions. Local extinctions ...

of the " Kin of Clanquhattane" (Clan Chattan), although nothings seems to have been done about that troublesome clan. This was during the time of William Mackintosh, 15th of Mackintosh who was chief of the confederation of Clan Chattan. John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Caithness was killed in an expedition to

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

in 1529. In 1528-29 there had been insurrection led by the brothers James Sinclair and Edward Sinclair who were from the Orkney Isles against William, Lord Sinclair who himself had wasted Orkney and

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

the previous year. According to Roland Saint-Clair there had been a formidable but abortive attempt to separate the Orkneys from the dominion of the Crown. There had been great cruelties practiced by both sides. The Earl of Caithness coming to the aid of his kinsmen was slain with many of his followers at the Battle of Summerdale on 18 May 1529. The Earl of Caithness had been the author of this rebellion but in the battle his insurgents were encountered by James Sinclair, the Governor of Orkney, who defeated Caithness, killing him and five-hundred of his men.

Family

He had married Elizabeth, daughter of William Sutherland, 5th of Duffus, and had the following children: #William Sinclair, Master of Caithness who died in 1527 without issue. #

George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness George Sinclair (died 1582) was a Scottish nobleman, the 4th Earl of Caithness and chief of the Clan Sinclair, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. Early life He was the son of John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Caithness and Elizabeth, daughter ...

, heir and successor. #Janet Sinclair, married to Alexander Ross of Balnagown. #David Sinclair, a ''natural'' (illegitimate) son who was Bailie to the

Bishop of Caithness The Bishop of Caithness was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Caithness, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics. The first referenced bishop of Caithness was Aindréas, a Gael who appears in sources between 1146 and 1151 as bishop. Ai ...

. His elder brother George obtained a remission to imprison him in Castle Sinclair Girnigoe. David is also believed to have been the paternal ancestor of the noble Sinclair of Dun and Forss families.Henderson, John W.S (1884). pp. 111-114. His wife was Margaret Calder, heiress of Dun, with whom he had the children: John the heir of Dun, William of Forss, Alexander, Henry, John the Archdeacon of Caithness, George and Donald.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caithness, John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of 1529 deaths Nobility from Highland (council area) John Earls of Caithness Scottish pre-union military personnel killed in action

Early life

Earl of Caithness

Family

See also

References