The origins of the Douglas family are many and most mythical, but they
were perhaps related to the Murray Clan. The name comes from Dubh-Glas, or
Dufglas, meaning dark stream, and their strength was in the Douglasdale, an
ancient Scottish lordship based around the upper Clyde valley in South
Lanarkshire, and abutting the more southerly Lordship of Galloway, which probably
led to its strategic importance.
Lords of Douglas (c.l200)
1st Lord of Douglas, William Douglas, b.1174, d.c.1214
William is the first Douglas to appear in historical records, though little
is known. He may have been a vassal of the Lord of Galloway, and was possibly
the brother or brother-in-law of Freskin of Moray, progenitor of the Murray
clan.
2nd Lord of Douglas, Archibald Douglas,
b.b.1198, d.c.1238
Son of William Douglas mentioned above, his dates of birth and death are
subject to a large error margin. His name appears as a signatory to several
royal charters.
3rd Lord of Douglas, William Douglas,
b.c.1220, d.c.1274
Son of Archibald Douglas and Margaret Crawford. He was a supporter of
Alan Durward, Justiciar of Scotland, during the minority of Alexander III.
4th Lord of Douglas, William Douglas,
b.a.1243, d.c.1298
Son of the previous William, and nicknamed “The Hardy”. He married
Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland. Elizabeth seems to have died early,
possibly in childbirth. William later attacked Fa’side Castle in Tranent, which
was held by Alan, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby, an English noble.
From here, he kidnapped Eleanor, the recently widowed wife of the son of the 5th
Earl of Derby, and whom he eventually married. His actions, however, offended
the English, and he was briefly imprisoned at Knaresborough Castle. His ransom
was paid by his wife, and William paid fealty to Edward I. However, by 1291, he
had fallen out of favour again with the English, and took a stand against the
inauguration of John Balliol as King. When Balliol was replaced by the
Guardianship in 1295, Douglas was appointed Governor of Berwick Castle, and was
there when the English sacked the town in 1296. After holding out at the
castle, he eventually surrendered, and was arrested and imprisoned until he
signed the Ragman Roll, promising fealty to Edward as overlord. In 1297, Douglas
was summoned to London with other nobles to aid Edward in Flanders, but refused
and threw his support behind William Wallace. In retribution, Edward ordered
Robert Bruce, later King of Scotland but at the time a supporter of the
English, to attack Douglasdale, with the Douglas family removed to Lochmaben
and Douglas himself sent to Berwick. After the Battle of Stirling Bridge, the
English retreated from Berwick, taking Douglas with them. He died imprisoned in
the Tower of London.
5th Lord of Douglas, James Douglas, b.1286,
d.1330
Son of the 4th Lord and Elizabeth Stewart, or possibly his
second wife Eleanor de Louvaine, offspring of an old French family. During the
Wars of Independence, he was sent for safety to France, and returned to
Scotland in 1306 as squire to Bishop William Lamberton of St. Andrews. His
lands having been handed to the Englishman, Robert Clifford, by Edward I, he
met Robert Bruce and committed himself to that man’s cause. Despite suffering
early defeats, he became an effective commander and tactician, employing
guerrilla warfare against an enemy superior in numbers but restricted in
mobility. While Bruce consolidated in the north of the country, he gradually
won back large parts of the south, in particular his own Douglasdale. In 1310,
Edward II led an army into Scotland to try to quell the rebels, but failed to
pin them down. By 1314, only a few strongholds were left in English hands.
Early that year, Douglas led a successful attack on the strategic and almost
impregnable Roxburgh Castle. Later that year, Edward sent a larger army north,
but was heavily defeated at Bannockburn, Douglas having a vital role. After
Bannockburn, Douglas and Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray,
took the fight well into England with punitive raids that reached as far south
as the Humber, while the Bruce’s concentrated on Ireland. In 1318, he was
closely involved in capturing Berwick Castle. Edward sent another army north,
but in order to avoid direct confrontation, Douglas and Moray raided into
Yorkshire, threatening the Queen, who had accompanied her husband as far as
York, and chasing her as far as Nottingham, where her supporters suffered a
heavy defeat. Upset by this news, Edward’s army at Berwick had no choice but to
return south. When Edward Bruce, Robert’s brother, was killed fighting the
Irish, Douglas became second Guardian of the Realm after Moray. Edward’s last
invasion, in 1323, was dealt with in a similar manner to previous attempt, with
Bruce pursuing a scorched earth policy in front of the invading army, while
Douglas harried deep into England in order to disrupt supplies and create
diversions. In 1327, Edward II was replaced in a coup by his son, Edward III,
breaking a short period of truce, and Bruce and Douglas resumed their raids
into England. Another large army was sent north, only for Douglas to lead a
surprise attack into their camp, which caused great chaos and almost resulted
in Edward being caught. With no other option, Edward was forced to recognise
Scotland’s independence and Bruce’s monarchy in the Treaty of Northampton. King
Robert’s last request was that the Good James Douglas carry his heart to the
Holy Land. Douglas departed from Montrose with a small group of knights and
squires, landing in Flanders. Here they heard of Castile’s war against the
Muslim kingdom of Granada and travelled to Seville. They joined the army of
King Alfonso XI at Teba, but were isolated during the battle and almost all of
them were killed, including Douglas. The survivors brought his remains and
Bruce’s heart back to Scotland.
6th Lord of Douglas, William Douglas,
b.b.1330, d.1333
Son of the 5th Lord and wife unknown. He accompanied his
uncle, Archibald Douglas (b.b.1298, d.1333), as a minor, to the Battle of
Halidon Hill, where so many were slain. It is worth expanding on Uncle
Archibald. While young, he was granted several estates now synonymous with the
Douglases, such as Cavers, Drumlanrig and West Calder, and he was rewarded by
Bruce with many more. On the death of his half-brother James, Archibald became
Guardian of Scotland. In 1332, Edward Balliol, son of King John, backed by
Edward III of England, invaded Scotland, supported by the Disinherited, those
nobles who had lost their lands after Bannockburn. This undertaking had some success
due to the fact that the infant King’s Guardian, Thomas Randolph, 1st
Earl of Moray, had died suddenly, and there was the
usual disunity amongst the Scottish nobility. At the Battle of Dupplin Moor,
Balliol defeated the Earl of Dunbar & March, which
allowed him to reach Scone, where he was crowned, before retreating to Annan.
While he was at Annan, a force of Bruce supporters, led by Archibald Douglas,
and including John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray, and Robert Stewart,
the High Steward, who happened to be the son of
Marjorie Bruce, King Robert’s daughter, mounted a surprise attack, forcing
Balliol to flee back to England. The following year, Edward III rejected the
Treaty of Northampton and led a large army north to besiege Berwick. Douglas
led a relief force, but in a major tactical error, launched a major charge
upslope to the English position at Halidon Hill. This resulted in total
disaster for the Scots, who lost huge numbers of troops as well as many senior
ranking nobles, including Douglas himself. Fortunately for Scotland at the
time, although Berwick was lost, Edward did not take full advantage, leaving a
remnant of Scottish resistance active.
7th Lord of Douglas, Hugh Douglas,
b.b.1298, d.c.1342
Younger brother of the 5th Lord of Douglas. He became a
priest, and only by the deaths of his two brothers did he take on any political
responsibilities, although he ceded much of this to his nephew William Douglas,
who inherited the Douglas domains after Halidon Hill.
8th Lord of Douglas, William Douglas,
b.c.1330, d.1384
Grandson of the 4th Lord, and son of that Archibald Douglas
mentioned above, younger half-brother to the 5th Lord, and Beatrice
Lindsay, from the family who would become the earls of Crawford.
After Halidon Hill, William was taken to France for safety, as also was the
young King David II, and did not return until 1348. In the meantime, his distant
relative, also William Douglas (b.b.1326, d.1353), known as the Knight of
Liddesdale, and the Flower of Chivalry, had begun the process of
re-establishing Douglas control over the Border regions, using similar tactics
to the Good Sir James. Liddesdale was captured during a skirmish at Lochmaben
in 1332 and spent two years in captivity before being released on payment of a
ransom. He then re-doubled his efforts to rid Scotland of the English and was
responsible for expelling them from various garrisons across the country. He
re-captured Hermitage Castle in 1338 and Edinburgh Castle in 1339, and managed
to persuade the King to return to Scotland. The English were at this time more
pre-occupied with the French, allowing David II time to consolidate his rule. In
1346, however, he was captured along with his King while leading the Right wing
of the Scottish Army at the Battle of Neville’s Cross and only granted his
freedom on agreeing to further the English cause. In 1353, William Douglas,
Lord of Douglas, murdered his namesake, who by this time had fallen out of
favour. Although the principal reason was punishment for his treasonous
activities, it was also presumably closely connected to the control of the
Douglas power and land. As part of the Auld Alliance, William, Lord of Douglas,
fought at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, where he was wounded. In 1357 he was
created 1st Earl of Douglas.
Earls of Douglas (1357)
1st Earl of Douglas, William Douglas,
b.c.1330, a.1357, d.1384
In later life he was involved in an attempt to negotiate one of Edward
the Third’s sons into the Scottish throne, having grave doubts over King
David’s ability to hold the country together. However, this fell through, with
Robert Stewart eventually succeeding David. He married twice, first to
Margaret, Countess of Mar, from whom the Black earls of
Douglas continued, and then Margaret Stewart, Countess of Angus,
from whom the Red earls of Angus continued.
2nd Earl of Douglas, James Douglas,
b.c.1358, a.1384, d.1388
Son of the 1st Earl and Margaret, Countess of Mar. He succeeded his father during a time of almost
constant Border warfare, and died at the Battle of Otterburn, although the
Scots won that day. He left no legitimate heirs, and so the earldom passed to
his distant cousin. However, he handed the estates of Drumlanrig to his natural
son William Douglas (b.a.1373, d.1427), who was ancestor the earls of Queensberry.
3rd Earl of Douglas, Archibald Douglas,
b.c.1325, a.1388, d.1400
Brother of the 6th Lord of Douglas. Known as the Black, and
the Grim, due to his dark complexion and dour demeanour, Archibald was a
soldier by inclination, and fought at Poitiers with the Scottish contingent. He
later became Constable of Edinburgh Castle and Warden of the West March. In
1369, he was given the lordship of Galloway, as he was viewed as being one of
the few people with the power to control that wild area. In 1371, he obtained
the lands and titles of the earl of Wigtown, later used as the courtesy title
for the heir, consolidating his power over the south-west. When he inherited
the Douglas domains from his cousin, he became the most powerful man in
Scotland, overshadowing the weak rule of Robert III, and used his influence to
obtain the marriage of David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne, to
his daughter Marjory Douglas (b.?, d.1421). He imposed a tight feudal order
over his lands, which allowed him to call upon large numbers of troops when
required.
4th Earl of Douglas, Archibald Douglas,
b.c.1370, a.1400, d.1424
Son of the 3rd Earl and Joan Moray (Joanna de Moravia)
(b.b.1339-1354, d.b.1403-1409), daughter of Sir Morice Moray, 1st
Earl of Strathearn. Shortly after he inherited his
father’s huge domains, he was implicated, with Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, in the death of Prince David, heir to the throne.
However, since these two men were vital to Scotland’s survival in the face of
the English threat, they were cleared of high treason. Later that year, George,
10th Earl of Dunbar & March, though a
Scottish noble of ancient origin, led a small force of Englishmen against a
raiding Scottish host, capturing several important Scottish nobles. In
reprisal, Douglas led an army into England. However, they were outmanoeuvred at
the Battle of Homildon Hill by Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and his son
Henry Hotspur, leading to additional captives being taken south, including
Douglas himself, Murdoch Stewart, Albany’s son, and George Douglas, 1st
Earl of Angus. The following year, Hotspur was in
revolt against his own king, and released his captives. Douglas chose to fight
for him against King Henry IV. At the Battle of Shrewsbury, with the exiled
Earl of Dunbar & March on the English King’s side, Hotspur was killed and
Douglas captured again. He obtained his release by swearing an oath to King
Henry, providing suitable hostages for his promised return to England on an
agreed day. However, he chose to ignore this condition, and it was not until
1413 that he paid for the hostages to be released. In the meantime, Prince
James of Scotland was captured en route to France, and his father died soon
after, leaving the new King of Scots as an hostage in England. Scotland was now
ruled by the Regent, Albany, with Douglas providing the strong-arm backup. The
Albany-Douglas arrangement was cemented by the marriage of Albany’s son John
Stewart, Earl of Buchan, to Elizabeth Douglas (b.1385-1401, d.c.1451), daughter of Douglas. In the following years, Douglas acted as Scottish
envoy to the courts of England and France, the former to negotiate for the
release of the King, the later to renew the Auld Alliance. In 1423, his son and
heir, the Earl of Wigton, together with Buchan, returned from France, where
they had been fighting alongside the French against the English, in order to
raise more troops. The following year, Douglas, with Buchan, led a large
contingent of men across the Channel. For this commitment, King Charles VII
made him Duke of Touraine, the first foreigner to receive ducal status in
France. Unfortunately, the new duke did not long enjoy his new rank, being
killed in battle at Verneuil along with another son, James Douglas. It was not
for nothing that his nickname was the Tyneman, that is, the Loser, in respect
of his ability to snatch defeat at every opportunity.
5th Earl of Douglas, Archibald Douglas,
b.1390, a.1424, d.1439
Son of the 4th Earl and Margaret Stewart, daughter of King
Robert III. When his father went over to France in 1424, he left Archibald in
Scotland to look after the Douglas estates. The new Douglas continued his
father’s attempts to negotiate for the release of James I. When James returned
to Scotland, Douglas was arrested along with Murdoch Stewart, but released soon
after, avoiding Murdoch’s fate. During the minority of James II after the
murder of his father, Douglas served on the Council of Regency and was made
Lieutenant-General of Scotland. However, as Scotland’s most powerful noble he
had little time for the upstart lords, Sir Alexander Livingston and Sir William
Crichton, who had been installed as the late King’s favourites, and stood back
while their squabbles tore the country apart.
6th Earl of Douglas, William Douglas,
b.c.1424, a.1439, d.1440
Son of the 5th Earl and Lady Eupheme Graham (b.?, d.1468),
daughter of Patrick Graham, Earl of Strathearn. At
the time of his father’s death, the realm was governed by William Crichton, the
Chancellor, and Alexander Livingston. Perceiving the risk to themselves from
the power of Douglas, they summoned the new young earl, and his younger brother
David Douglas, to Edinburgh Castle. Here they spent several convivial days in
the company of the James II. However, during a banquet, the brothers were
suddenly arrested on trumped up charges of treason and beheaded them on the
spot, in the presence of the young King. The lordship of Galloway and extensive
additional lands were given to William’s older sister Margaret, the Fair Maid
of Galloway, while the Douglas lands and title passed to James Douglas, 1st
Earl of Avondale.
7th Earl of Douglas, James Douglas, b.1371,
a.1440, d.1442-1443
Younger son of the 3rd Earl. He was created 1st
Earl of Avondale and 1st Lord Balveny in 1437, and it has been
conjectured that he was complicit in the death of the previous earl. He was
known as James the Gross in account of his obesity.
8th Earl of Douglas, William Douglas,
b.c.1425, a.1443, d.1452
Son of the 7th Earl and Beatrice Sinclair (b.?,
d.c.1462-1463), daughter of Henry Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Orkney. A better man than his father, he regained some of
the other titles lost on the death of the 6th Earl by marrying his
cousin Margaret Douglas, the Fair Maid of Galloway, and was initially on good
terms with the young King, obtaining the removal of Sir William Crichton from
the circle of power through an alliance with Sir Alexander Livingston, that
man’s rival, joining the Privy Council and becoming Lieutenant-General.
However, his relationship with the King was soured by his alliance with
Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford
and Alexander Ross, Lord of the Isles, and also by his growing arrogance and
ostentation, he making a grand expedition to Paris and Rome in the company of
many lesser nobles. While he was away, the King was forced to take matters into
his own hands, leading a punitive force into Douglas lands to preserve the
peace. When Douglas returned, there was a partial resolution of the discord,
with the King realising that he could not go against him in the field. This
just gave Douglas more licence to further acts of defiance, until it reached a
crisis point. With Crichton re-installed as Chancellor, Douglas was invited to
Stirling Castle, supposedly to come to some amicable agreement for the good of
the realm, and under a letter of safe conduct. However, when Douglas refused to
submit to the conditions demanded of him, the King, always of a fiery temper,
draw his dagger and stabbed him. The remaining nobles in attendance had little choice
but to join in, and the dead body was buried in the open court.
9th Earl of Douglas, James Douglas,
b.a.1426, a.1451-1452, d.1491
Younger brother of the 8th Earl, and the last of the Black
Douglases. To avenge his brother’s murder, he and his younger brothers tried to
take Stirling Castle, but this was too well defended and they burned the town
instead. Forced to back down, he was temporarily reconciled with the King.
However, he later joined forces with the Duke of York and rose in rebellion. At
this point, George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus,
decided to commit himself to the King rather than his distant family. This,
coupled with the loss of some allies such as the Hamilton’s, forced Douglas to
go to England to rally support. While he was away, his brothers lost at the
Battle of Arkinholm, Archibald, Earl of Moray by marriage, killed in the
fighting and Hugh, Earl of Ormonde, captured and executed soon after. The
youngest brother, John Douglas of Balveny, escaped to England. Douglas was
thereafter attainted, his lands falling to Angus. Douglas continued to plot and
scheme for many years, and was made a Knight of the Garter by Edward IV in
1463. In 1484, he joined the Duke of Albany, brother
of James III, in an invasion of Scotland. When they reached Lochmaben, the
annual fair was underway, and the townspeople, presuming another English raid,
rose against them, and, supported by re-enforcements from the local nobility,
defeated the invading force. Albany fled, but Douglas was captured and taken to
the King, who in a show of compassion, settled for keeping Douglas under house
arrest at the abbey of Lindores. The title became extinct on his death. He had
married his brother’s widow, the Fair Maid. However, she divorced him after he
was attainted and eventually married Sir John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl.
For the later title of Marquess of Douglas, please refer to the Angus page.
(Last updated: 29/11/2010)