Euphemia I (d. 1394 x 1398), also called Euphemia of Ross and Euphemia Ross, and sometimes incorrectly styled ''Euphemia Leslie'' and ''Euphemia Stewart'' (Scottish women in this period did not abandon natal names for married names), was a Countess of Ross in her own right.

Biography

Euphemia was the elder daughter of Uilleam III, the last O'Beolan

Mormaer of Ross The Earl or Mormaer of Ross was the ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland, as well as chief of Clan Ross. Origins and transfers In the early Middle Ages, Ross was part of the vast earldom of Moray. It seems to have been made a ...

. Her first marriage was compelled against the wishes of her father.

King David II David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scotland from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, bec ...

desired to bestow an earldom on Walter de Leslie, who had distinguished himself in combat in

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and in

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. To give the earldom of Ross to Leslie, he forced Euphemia to marry him and, on 23 October 1370, renewed the earldom of Ross to Euphemia’s father only on the condition that it pass to Euphemia and Leslie upon his death. The charter of the earldom of Ross and of the lands of

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

was made to them in their own favor and that of their heirs male and female in reversion. She married Leslie, by

papal The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

dispensation, dated 24 November 1366 (variously reported as December 1367), the dispensation being necessary in that Walter Leslie had had illicit intercourse with a woman related within the fourth degree of kinship with Euphemia Leslie predeceased her in 1382, whereupon she married, secondly, Alexander Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan, better known in history as "The Wolf of Badenoch." This marriage occurred on 24 or 25 July 1382. However, on 9 June 1392,

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

issued a commission to dissolve this marriage and then on 5 and 15 December to grant a divorce. The date of Euphemia's death is not certain. She was still alive on 5 September 1394, and it is possible that 20 February 1394/5, usually assigned as the date of Stewart's death, was that of her own.

Family

By Sir Walter Leslie she had issue: * Sir

Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross (died 1402) was a Scottish nobleman. Born between 1367 and 1382, he was the son of Walter Leslie, Lord of Ross and Euphemia I, Countess of Ross. In around 1394, or not later than 1398, he became Earl of Ross and s ...

, who became Earl of Ross. * Mariota, who married Donald (of Harlaw) Macdonald, and in her right, succeeded to the earldom of Ross, and carried it to a new family, the Macdonald

Lords of the Isles Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( or ; ) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Euphemia 1, Countess of 1390s deaths People from Ross and Cromarty Nobility from Highland (council area) Earls of Ross Year of birth unknown 14th-century Scottish earls Scottish countesses