![]() ![]() In 1365 bishop Bur persuaded David II that his lands in Badenoch and Strathspey should be governed as if in regality. The Randolph family did not hold the Earldom for long and it reverted to the crown on the death of Thomas's son John, in 1346, and lay vacant for the next 26 years. There was no dominant potentate in Moray during the 12th and 13th centuries and the bishops ruled their territories with a great deal of independence, but this ended when King Robert I of Scotland elevated his nephew Thomas Randolph to the Earldom of Moray sometime between 12 April and 29 October 1312. Alexander ruled these territories with the help of his own private cateran forces, building up resentment among other land owners and this included Alexander Bur, Bishop of Moray. His possession of the Barony of Kingedward, a large part of the former Earldom of Buchan allowed King Robert to give Alexander the title of Earl of Buchan only days after his marriage. Other lands belonging to his wife – including Lewis, Skye, Dingwall and Kingedward in Aberdeenshire – he held in joint ownership with her. Alexander became the jure uxoris Earl of Ross and this provided him the Ross lands (but only during his own lifetime). However Alexander effectively doubled his land holdings when he married Euphemia Countess of Ross, in June 1382. Īlexander de Ard, a principal claimant for the Earldom of Caithness as the eldest grandson of Earl Malise, resigned his territories to the crown in favour of both Alexander and his half-brother David. In the same year, he was Royal Justiciar in the Appin of Dull in Perthshire which meant that Alexander held crown authority from north Perthshire to the Pentland Firth. In October 1372, Alexander was given the Royal Lieutenancy for those lands outwith the Earldom of Moray north and west of Inverness and added lands in Aberdeenshire and north Perthshire. Alexander further extended his territorial gains in 1371 by leasing the Urquhart lands from his younger half-brother and then obtained possession of the Barony of Strathavon bordering his Badenoch lands. (based on map in Boardman, Early Stewart Kings, p. 87 & details in Young, Annals of the Parish and Burgh of Elgin, p. 102Īlexander's possession of Badenoch was unaffected by the restoration of the Earldom of Moray to John Dunbar in March 1372, nor were the territories of John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, in Lochaber-similarly with the lands of Urquhart (south of Inverness) which had been granted to David Stewart, Earl of Strathearn and King Robert's eldest son with his second wife, Euphemia. Lands held by Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan His nickname was earned due to his notorious cruelty and rapacity, but there is no proof that it was used during his lifetime. Alexander is remembered for his destruction of the royal burgh of Elgin and its cathedral. He held large territories in the north of Scotland before eventually losing a large part of them. Alexander was Justiciar of Scotia for a time, but not an effective one. He did have a large family by his longtime mistress, Mairead inghean Eachainn. Alexander married the widowed Euphemia I, Countess of Ross, but they had no children. He was the first Earl of Buchan since John Comyn, from 1382 until his death. 20 July 1405), was the third surviving son of King Robert II of Scotland and youngest by his first wife, Elizabeth Mure of Rowallan. Stewart's sarcophagus-effigy at Dunkeld Cathedral, where he was buried.Īlexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, Alasdair Mór mac an Rígh, and called the Wolf of Badenoch (1343 – c. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |