Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas (c. 1391 – 26 June 1439) was a Scottish nobleman and general during the Hundred Years' War.

Life

Douglas was the son of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas and Margaret Stewart, eldest daughter of Robert III. He was Earl of Douglas and

Wigtown Wigtown ( (both used locally); gd, Baile na h-Ùige) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart. ...

Lord of Galloway The lords of Galloway consisted of a dynasty of heirs who were lords (or kings) and ladies who ruled over Galloway in southwest Scotland, mainly during the High Middle Ages. Many regions of Scotland, including Galloway and Moray, periodically h ...

, Lord of Bothwell, Selkirk and

Ettrick Forest Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk ( gd, Siorrachd Shalcraig) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. ...

, Eskdale,

Lauderdale Lauderdale is the valley of the Leader Water (a tributary of the Tweed) in the Scottish Borders. It contains the town of Lauder, as well as Earlston. The valley is traversed from end to end by the A68 trunk road, which runs from Darlington to ...

, and Annandale in Scotland, and ''de jure'' Duke of Touraine, Count of Longueville, and

Seigneur ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (or ...

of Dun-le-roi in France. In contemporary French sources, he was known as ''Victon'', a phonetic translation of his Earldom of Wigtown. He fought with the French at Baugé in 1421, and was made count of Longueville in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. He succeeded to his father's Scottish and French titles in 1424, though he never drew on his father's French estates of the Duchy of Touraine. Douglas served as ambassador to England in 1424, during the ransoming of

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

. He also sat on the jury of 21 knights and peers which convicted

Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany ( gd, Muireadhach Stiubhart) (136224 May 1425) was a leading Scottish nobleman, the son of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, and the grandson of King Robert II of Scotland, who founded the Stewart dynasty. In 1389, h ...

and two of his sons of treason in 1425, leading to the execution of Albany and the virtual annihilation of his family. Following the murder of King

James I of Scotland James I (late July 139421 February 1437) was King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III and Annabella Drummond. His older brother David, Duke of ...

at Perth in 1437, Douglas was appointed

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

of Scotland, and held the office of Regent, during the minority of James II until 1439.Balfour Paul pp.169-70 Douglas died from a fever in

Restalrig Restalrig () is a small residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland (historically, an estate and independent parish). It is located east of the city centre, west of Craigentinny and to the east of Lochend, both of which it overlaps. Restalri ...

, Midlothian, and was buried at Douglas.

Marriage and issue

Between 1423 and 1425 he married Lady Eupheme Graham (before 1413–1468), daughter of Patrick Graham, '' de jure uxoris''

Earl of Strathearn Earl or Mormaer of Strathearn is a title of Scottish nobility, referring to the region of Strathearn in southern Perthshire. Of unknown origin, the mormaers are attested for the first time in a document perhaps dating to 1115. The first known mo ...

and Euphemia Stewart, Countess of Strathearn. They had three children. * William Douglas (c.1424–24 November 1440), who briefly succeeded as 6th Earl *

Margaret Douglas, Fair Lady of Galloway Margaret Douglas, Countess of Douglas (died c. 1474), known as the Fair Maid of Galloway, was a Scottish noblewoman, and a member of the Black Douglas family towards the end of the family's position as a major power in Scotland. She was the daught ...

(before 1435–1475) *David Douglas (before 1430–24 November 1440) Both sons were summarily beheaded at Edinburgh Castle on trumped up charges, in the presence of the child King James II. The so-called 'Black Dinner' thus broke the power of the 'Black' Douglases. The lordships of Annandale and Bothwell were annexed by the crown, Galloway to Margaret Douglas, and the Douglas lands and earldom passed to William's great-uncle James Douglas, Earl of Avondale, who was himself implicated, with Sir William Crichton, in the murder of the young earl.

References

Notes

Sources

The Scots Peerage ''The Scots Peerage'' is a nine-volume book series of the Scottish nobility compiled and edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, published in Edinburgh from 1904 to 1914. The full title is ''The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Rober ...

, Balfour Paul, Sir James, Edinburgh 1904 *A History of the House of Douglas, Maxwell, Sir Herbert. London 1902 *
thepeerage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl Of 14th-century births 1439 deaths Counts of Longueville Dukes of Touraine Earls of Douglas Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas Lords of Galloway People of the Hundred Years' War