Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife
''Duncan IV(1289–1353) was a Scottish nobleman who was
Guardian 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 ...
and the last
native Scottish Mormaer 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 ...
from 1289 until his death.
He was born in late 1289, the same year as his father
Donnchadh III's murder. He therefore inherited the
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 ...
dom as a baby. He was so young that the honour of crowning
John Balliol
John Balliol or John de Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as Toom Tabard (meaning 'empty coat'), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...
– normally the hereditary right of the Mormaer of Fife – was delegated to a
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
, namely
John de St. John. He also missed the crowning of
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...
, owing to his captivity in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. Robert was forced to call upon Donnchadh's sister,
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 ...
, to officiate in his absence.
Donnchadh's initial support for Robert has been doubted, but in 1315, a year after the
Battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn ( or ) was fought on 23–24 June 1314, between the army of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and the army of King Edward II of England, during the First War of Scottish Independence. It was a decisive victory for Ro ...
, he resigned his Mormaerdom to King Robert for a regrant. The agreement with Robert ensured that the Mormaerdom of Fife would not be held by the king, and that the arms of Fife should always be unique from the similar royal arms. If Donnchadh were to die childless, King Robert would grant it to someone, by default
Alan of Menteith. This was because Donnchadh's wife was in the custody of the English, and there was obviously some pressure from the men of Fife to retain their own regional ruler. He was present at the negotiations which led to the
Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, and was a signatory to the
Declaration of Arbroath
The Declaration of Arbroath (; ; ) is the name usually given to a letter, dated 6 April 1320 at Arbroath, written by Scottish barons and addressed to Pope John XXII. It constituted King Robert I's response to his excommunication for disobey ...
.
The Earl of Fife fought with the Bruce loyalists at the
Battle of Dupplin Moor
The Battle of Dupplin Moor was fought between supporters of King David II of Scotland, the son of King Robert Bruce, and English-backed invaders supporting Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland, on 11 August 1332. It took place a l ...
where, he being made prisoner, changed sides and, with William Sinclair,
Bishop of Dunkeld
The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the firs ...
, a great adherent of
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...
, crowned
Edward Balliol
Edward Balliol or Edward de Balliol (; – January 1364) was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356.
Early life
Edward was the el ...
King of Scots at Scone on 24 September 1332. The following year, on 19 July 1333, he fought with the Scottish army at the
Battle of Halidon Hill
The Battle of Halidon Hill took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army under Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army commanded by King Edward III of England () and was heavily defeated. The year before, Edward Balliol had seized ...
, where he was again captured.
In 1306, Donnchadh married
Mary de Monthermer
Mary MacDuff, Countess of Fife (''née'' de Monthermer; October 1297 – ) was an English noblewoman. She was a daughter of Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer and his wife Princess Joan, thereby making her the grandchild of King Edward I ...
, a granddaughter of
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 ...
. He died in 1353 without any male heirs. He is important because he was the last male
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 ...
ruler of Fife. He was succeeded in his mormaerdom by his 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 four times:
*
William Ramsay of Colluthie. He succeeded as Earl of Fife, de
iure uxoris
''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title ''suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could becom ...
. William and Isabella had a daughter named Elizabeth Ramsey. Alternatively she may have been married to William Felton.
[Andy King, Michael A. Penman, England and Scotland in the fourteenth century: new perspectives, page 119. According to the ]Scalacronica
The ''Scalacronica'' (1066–1363) is a chronicle written in Anglo-Norman French by Sir Thomas Grey of Heaton near Norham in Northumberland. It was started whilst he was imprisoned by the Scots in Edinburgh Castle, after being captured in an ...
Isabella was arranged to marry Robert Stewart, but married William Felton who had been in charge of her wardship.
* Walter Stewart, son of
Robert II of Scotland
Robert II (2 March 1316 – 19 April 1390) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie Bruce, Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, h ...
and
Euphemia de Ross
Euphemia de Ross (1329–1386), a member of Clan Ross, was Queen of Scots as the second wife of Robert II of Scotland.
Life
Euphemia was a daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross, and Margaret de Graham, Hugh's second wife and daughter of Sir John de Gr ...
. He succeeded as Earl of Fife, de iure uxoris.
* Thomas Biset of Upsetlington, who succeeded as Earl of Fife, de iure uxoris.
* John Dunbar, possibly a son of
Patrick V, Earl of March
Patrick de Dunbar, 9th Earl of March,Anderson, William, ''The Scottish Nation'', Edinburgh, 1867, vol.iv:74 (c. 1285–1369) was a prominent Scottish magnate during the reigns of Robert the Bruce and David II.
Early years
The earldom, located ...
and his first wife Ermengarde. John Dunbar succeeded as Earl of Fife, de iure uxoris.
Isabella ceded the Earldom of Fife to
Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany
Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340 – 3 September 1420) was a member of the Scottish royal family who served as regent (at least partially) to three Scottish monarchs ( Robert II, Robert III, and James I). A ruthless politician, Albany ...
in 1371.
Notes
Bibliography
* Bannerman, John, "MacDuff of Fife," in A. Grant & 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)
*
Broun, Dauvit, "Anglo-French Acculturation and the Irish Element in Scottish Identity", in Brendan Smith (ed.), ''Britain and Ireland, 9001-300: Insular Responses to Medieval European Change'', (Cambridge, 1999), pp. 135–53
* McDonald, Andrew, "Macduff family, earls of Fife (per. c.1095–1371)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press'', 200
accessed 8 Sept 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fife, Donnchad 04, Earl of
1289 births
1353 deaths
Donnchad 04
Fife, Donnchadh IV, Earl of
People of the Wars of Scottish Independence
Signatories to the Declaration of Arbroath
13th-century mormaers
14th-century Scottish earls
Mormaers of Fife