Mormaer
In early medieval Scotland, a mormaer was the Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a '' Toísech'' (chieftain). Mormaers were equivalent to English earls or Continenta ...
Ailín I of Lennox, also Alún or Alwin, ruled
Lennox sometime before 1178. He is an obscure figure, known only in two sources, and remains characterless. It is not certain that he was ever recognized as a
Mormaer of Lennox, although one source does call him that. In the 1170s, Lennox was in the nominal possession of
David
David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament.
The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...
, the brother of King
William I William I may refer to:
Kings
* William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England
* William I of Sicily (died 1166)
* William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion
* William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...
. David was given the territory as a fief of the crown in 1178.
However, the land was restored to a native magnate, Ailin's son
Ailín, and recognized as a Mormaer (''comes''). The reasons for this are unknown. Perhaps the crown had never really controlled it; or perhaps, as Neville suggests (p. 15), the frontier region of Lennox lost its importance after the defeat and death of
Somhairle mac Gille Bhrigdhe. Part of the reason was undoubtedly the promotion of David to the
Earldom of Huntingdon.
See also
*
Alwyn MacArchill, sometimes confused with Ailín I
Bibliography
*
Neville, Cynthia J., ''Native Lordship in Medieval Scotland: The Earldoms of Strathearn and Lennox, c. 1140-1365'', (Portland & Dublin, 2005)
External links
The origin of the MacGilchrists of Western Scotland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lennox, Ailin 01, Earl Of
Nobility from West Dunbartonshire
Year of birth unknown
12th-century deaths
Mormaers of Lennox
12th-century mormaers