Donnchadh III or Duncan was

Earl of Fife The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife was the ruler of the province of Fife in medieval Scotland, which encompassed the modern counties of Fife and Kinross. Due to their royal ancestry, the earls of Fife were the highest ranking nobles in the re ...

(or

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 ...

) from 1270 to 1288. He succeeded as only a child, the son of the previous

Colbán, who died young. During his minority, William Wishart,

Bishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews (, ) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews (), the Archdiocese of St Andrews. The name St Andrews is not the town or ...

, became ''custos'' of the Mormaerdom. Perhaps owing to a power-struggle within the Mormaerdom, the Bishop confiscated some lands from the MacDuib chief, head of Fife's

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

society. Later, King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

ordered the

Guardians of Scotland The Guardians of Scotland were regents who governed the Kingdom of Scotland from 1286 until 1292 and from 1296 until 1306. During the many years of minority in Scotland's subsequent history, there were many guardians of Scotland and the post ...

to restore these lands. Donnchadh himself was one of these guardians, responsible for supervising the government of Scotland in the absence of the King. He had in 1284 joined with other Scottish noblemen who acknowledged Margaret of Norway as the heir of Alexander III. Donnchadh married Johanna (or Joan), daughter of

Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester (2 September 1243 – 7 December 1295) was a powerful English magnate. He was also known as "Red" Gilbert de Clare or "The Red Earl", probably because of his hair colour or fiery te ...

by his first wife Alice de Lusignan (div. 1271)Richardson, Douglas, ''Plantagenet Ancestry'', Baltimore, 2004, p. 505 and had at least two sons,

Duncan Duncan may refer to: People * Duncan (given name), various people * Duncan (surname), various people * Clan Duncan * Justice Duncan (disambiguation) Places * Duncan Creek (disambiguation) * Duncan River (disambiguation) * Duncan Lake (di ...

and an anonymous ''MacDuibh'' (=''MacDuff''). The latter's first name is unknown, but the style implies he was head of '' Clann mac Duib''. He also had a daughter,

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

, who married

John Comyn, Earl of Buchan John Comyn, 3rd Earl of Buchan (circa 1260 – 1308) was a chief opponent of Robert the Bruce in the civil war that paralleled the War of Scottish Independence. He should not be confused with the better known John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, ...

. The Mormaer's last historical appearance is in a document (possibly after his death) dated August 1289. He was murdered in his prime at Pittillock near

Falkland, Fife Falkland is a village, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, at the foot of the Lomond Hills. According to the 2022 census it has a population of 1,041. Etymology The earliest forms of this name include ''Falleland'' (c. 1128) and ...

, while on his way to

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

, the seat of Scottish government at that time, by some of his kinsmen in September. The

Chronicle of Lanercost The ''Lanercost Chronicle'' is a northern English history covering the years 1201 to 1346. It covers the Wars of Scottish Independence, but it is also highly digressive and as such provides insights into English life in the thirteenth century as w ...

called the mormaer "cruel and greedy beyond the average" (Barrow, ''Robert Bruce'', p. 332, note 33). He was buried at Cupar Abbey.

References

Sources

* Bannerman, John; "MacDuff of Fife", in A. Grant and K. Stringer (eds.), ''Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays'', presented to G. W. S. Barrow, Edinburgh, 1993, pp. 20–38. *

Barrow, G. W. S. Geoffrey Wallis Steuart Barrow (28 November 1924 – 14 December 2013) was a Scottish historian and academic. The son of Charles Embleton Barrow and Marjorie née Stuart, Geoffrey Barrow was born on 28 November 1924, at Headingley near Leeds. ...

; ''Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland'', Edinburgh, 1988. *

Rymer, Thomas Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 14 December 1713) was an English poet, literary critic, antiquary and historiographer. His lasting contribution was to compile and publish under royal warrant the 17 volumes (the last two posthumously) of the first ...

; ''Foedera Conventiones, Literae et cuiuscunque generis Acta Publica inter Reges Angliae'', London, 1745, (Latin

1288 deaths Donnchad 03 Guardians of Scotland Scottish murder victims Year of birth unknown Mormaers of Fife 13th-century mormaers {{Scotland-royal-stub