Patrick IV, 8th Earl of Dunbar and Earl of March (124210 October 1308), sometimes called Patrick de Dunbar "8th" Earl of March, was the most important
magnate
The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
in the border regions of
Scotland. He was one of the
Competitors for the Crown of Scotland.
Succession
Said to be aged 47 at his
father's death, Sir Patrick de Dunbar, Knight, Earl of Dunbar, had livery of his
father's lands on 14 May 1290. It appears that this Earl of Dunbar assumed the additional alternate title Earl of March, as he appeared designated ''Comes de Marchia'' at the parliament at
Birgham in 1290, for the purpose of betrothing the Princess Margaret to the son of King
Edward I of England. (This failed to come about).
Ambition and submission
Patrick was one of the "seven earls of Scotland," a distinct body separate from the other estates of the realm, who claimed the right to elect a king in cases of disputed succession. He was one of the Competitors for the Crown of Scotland in 1291, when he entered a formal claim in right of his great-grandmother, Ada,
Countess of Dunbar
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New Yor ...
, an illegitimate daughter of
William The Lion, King of Scots.
[Anderson (1867), vol.iv, p. 74] Like so many Scottish noblemen, including the Bruces, Dunbar held lands in England also which required knights' services, and he was summoned by King Edward I in 1294 to assist him at war in
Gascony
Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...
.
Fealty, then disobedience
The Earl of Dunbar and March, with the
Earl of Angus,
Robert Bruce the elder, and his son the
Earl of Carrick, swore fealty to the English King at
Wark on 25 March 1296. In this turbulent year he appears to have been betrayed by his wife, who took the Scottish side and retained the castle of Dunbar for Balliol, but was obliged to surrender it to King
Edward I of England in April 1296.
In 1297 it appears that the Earl ceased his allegiance to Edward I, held his lands of the Scottish Crown, and was favourably received by Sir
William Wallace, with whom he had been in bitter battle the previous year.
In 1298 he was King's Lieutenant for Scotland, and in 1300 was present at the siege of
Caerlaverock Castle
Caerlaverock Castle is a moated triangular castle first built in the 13th century. It is located on the southern coast of Scotland, south of Dumfries, on the edge of the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve. Caerlaverock was a stronghold of th ...
, with his eldest son and heir, Patrick.
Marriage
The Earl married, before 1282, Marjorie, daughter of
Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan
Alexander Comyn, 2nd Earl of Buchan (died 1289) was a Scoto-Norman magnate who was one of the most important figures in the 13th century Kingdom of Scotland. He was the son of William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan, and Marjory, Countess o ...
by his spouse Elizabeth, daughter of
Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester by Ellen of Galloway.
They had known issue:
*
Patrick de Dunbar, 9th Earl of March (1285–1369).
* John de Dunbar of Derchester & Birkynside.
* George de Dunbar, ancestor of the Mochrum family.
[Burke, Sir Bernard, Ulster King of Arms, ''The Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire'', London, 1883: 606]
* Cecilia (not to be mistaken for Cecily, her aunt, who married James Stewart, High Steward of Scotland. Cecilia was probably born c.1291)
Notes
References
*Miller, James, ''The History of Dunbar'', Dunbar, 1830, pp. 24–34.
*Bain, Joseph, ''Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland'', vol.IV, 1357–1509, pps.xx - xxiv, Edinburgh, 1888, for relationships in this Dunbar family refer to the 'Introduction' with other references in the main sections of the volume.
*Dunbar, Sir Archibald H., Bt., ''Scottish Kings, a Revised Chronology of Scottish History, 1005 - 1625'', Edinburgh, 1899, pp. 87–93 and 282.
{{DEFAULTSORT:March, Patrick IV, Earl Of
1242 births
1308 deaths
Competitors for the Crown of Scotland
Scottish soldiers
People from East Lothian
Earls of March (Scotland)
13th-century mormaers
14th-century Scottish earls