Walter Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Menteith

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Walter Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, jure uxoris Earl of Menteith (d. 1258) was the son of William Comyn, Justiciar of Scotia and Mormaer or Earl of Buchan by right of his second wife.

Walter makes his first appearance in royal charters as early as 1211–1214. In 1220, he accompanied King Alexander II of Scotland during the latter's visit to York. He appears as "Lord of Badenoch" as early as 1229, after the defeat of the Meic Uilleim by his father. Like his father, Walter was given the hand of an heiress, Isabella, Countess of Menteith. By 1234, Isabella had inherited the Mormaerdom of Menteith, and so Walter became Mormaer or Earl of Menteith by right of his wife (jure uxoris). Walter appears to have had at least one child, a man called Henry who witnessed a charter, dated to 1250, of Maol Domhnaich, Mormaer of Lennox.

Walter was one of the leading political figures in the Kingdom of Scotland, especially during the minority of King Alexander III, when, along with Alan Durward, he essentially ran the country. He died suddenly in either the October or November of 1258. By this time, his son Henry must have been dead. Isabella remained countess until 1260–1261, when Walter Stewart, wife of Isabella's sister Mary, seized the province. As Walter had no surviving male children, the Lordship of Badenoch passed to Walter's nephew John. John was unable to inherit Menteith.

[edit] References

Paul, James Balfour, The Scots Peerage, Vol. VI, (Edinburgh, 1909)
Young, Alan, Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1213-1314, (East Linton, 1997)