Earl of Atholl
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Earldom of Atholl
The Arms of the Realm and Ancient Local Principalities of Scotland [1] |
The Mormaer of Earl of Atholl refers to a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl (Ath Fodhla), now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is reported from the Pictish period. The only other two Pictish kingdoms to be known from contemporary sources are Fortriu and Circinn. Indeed, the early thirteenth century document known to modern scholars as the de Situ Albanie repeats the claim that Atholl was an ancient Pictish kingdom. In the eleventh century, the famous Crínán of Dunkeld may have performed the role of Mormaer.
Royal connections continued with Máel Muire, who was the son of King Donnchad I, and the younger brother of Máel Coluim III mac Donnchada. Matad was perhaps the most famous of the Mormaers, fathering Harald Maddadsson, a notorious rebel of the Scottish King and perhaps the first Gael to rule Orkney as Earl of Orkney. The line of Máel Muire and Crínán came to an end when Forbhlaith, the daughter of Mormaer Henry married David de Hastings.
The latter marriage produced a daughter, Ada, who married into the Strathbogie family, a semi-Normanized Gaelic family with Fife origins. The Strathbogies ruled until the Wars of Independence, when the Campells took over. It finally passed to the Stewarts.
Early Mormaers/Earls of Atholl
- Dubdon (fl. 960s)
- ?
- Crínán? (d. 1045)
- ?
- Máel Muire (fl. 1130s)
- Matad, Earl of Atholl (d. 1151x1161)
- Máel Coluim, Earl of Atholl (d. 1190s)
- Henry, Earl of Atholl (d. 1211)
- Isabella, Countess of Atholl (d. ?)
- Padraig, Earl of Atholl (d. 1241)
- Forbhlaith, Countess of Atholl (d. ?)
- Ada, Countess of Atholl (d. 1264) m. John de Strathbogie
- David de Strathbogie, 8th Earl of Atholl (d. 1270)
- John de Strathbogie, 9th Earl of Atholl (d. 1306)
- David II Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl (d. 1326) (forfeited)
After David II, two of others of his name claimed the lordship, though neither exercised it:
Earls of Atholl; Second creation (1320)
Earls of Atholl; Third creation (1341)
Earls of Atholl; Fourth creation (1342)
- Other titles: Earl of Strathearn (1358, abd. 1369, regained 1370)
Earls of Atholl; Fifth creation (1398)
- Other titles: Duke of Rothesay (1398) and Earl of Carrick (c. 1390)
Earls of Atholl; Sixth creation (1403)
- Other titles: Duke of Albany (1398), Earl of Fife (1371, res. 1372) and Earl of Buchan (1382, res. 1406)
Earls of Atholl; Seventh creation (1404)
- Other titles: Earl of Caithness (1375, abd c 1428–1430), Earl of Strathearn (1427 for life), Earl of Caithness (1430) and Baron Cortachy (1409)
Earls of Atholl; Eighth creation (1457)
- Other titles: Lord of Balveny (1460)
- John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl (1440–1512) (a half-brother of James II (from a different Stewart family))
- John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl (d. 1521), only son of the 1st Earl
- John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Atholl (1507–1542), only son of the 2nd Earl
- John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl (d. 1579), only son of the 3rd Earl
- John Stewart, 5th Earl of Atholl (1563–1595), only son of the 4th Earl, died without issue
Earls of Atholl; Ninth creation (1596)
- Other titles: Lord Innermeath (1469)
- John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl (1566–1603) (only son of the 5th Lord Innermeath)
- James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl (d. 1625) (only son of the 1st Earl, died without issue and both titles became extinct)
Earls of Atholl; Tenth creation (1629)
See also
References
- ^ Bartholemew 1983. ISBN 0702817090
- Anderson, Alan Orr, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286, 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922)
- Roberts, John L., Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages, (Edinburgh, 1997)
External links