Sholto Douglas was the mythical progenitor of

Clan Douglas Clan Douglas is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands. Taking their name from Douglas in Lanarkshire, their leaders gained vast territories throughout the Borders, Angus, Lothian, Moray, and also in France and Sweden. The f ...

, a powerful and warlike family in medieval

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. A mythical battle took place: "in 767, between King '' Solvathius'' rightful king of Scotland and a pretender ''Donald Bane''. The victory was so nearly Donald's when a certain noble man, disdaining to see so bad a cause have good successe, struck in for the king and turned the fortunes of the day. When the king inquired about the knight who had done such valuable service, somebody exclaimed 'Sholto du glasse!'...'Behold the black man!'." In the story of Sholto Douglas, his youngest son is a commander of forces sent by the mythical Scottish king Achaius, to the court of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

to aid him in his wars against

Desiderius Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. Des ...

, King of the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

. Marius Douglas is said to have settled in

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

where his descendants the became powerful local magnates, and eventual leaders of the

Guelf The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, ri ...

faction of that city.Sansovino, pp. 111–117.

References

Sources

* Godscroft, David Hume of. ''Ane Historie of the House and Race of Douglas and Angus''. London 1820

* Herbert Maxwell, Maxwell, Sir Herbert. ''A History of the House of Douglas Vol.I''. Freemantle & co., London, 1902 * Sansovino, Francesco. ''Della origine e de'fatti delle famiglie illustri d'Italia''. Venice 160

European mythology, Douglas, Sholto Sholto Douglas {{Europe-myth-stub

See also

References

Sources