Adam of Kilconquhar

Adam of Kilconquhar
Born Adhamh [possibly Aedh] mac Donnchaidh
Probably Kilconquhar, in the earldom of Fife, Scotland
Died 1271
Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem
Ethnicity Scottish Gael & Anglo-Norman
Spouse(s) Marjory of Carrick
Children The mother of Thomas Randolph
Relatives Mac Duibh family; the Comyns

Adam of Kilconquhar (died 1271) was a Scottish noble from the 13th century. Of Fife origin, he is notable for becoming the husband of the countess of Carrick and participating in Crusade with Louis IX.

Background

Evidence indicates that Adam was from Mac Duibh family; he was probably the son of Donnchadh of Kilconquhar, son of Adam (son of Donnchadh I, Earl of Fife), who appears frequently as a witness in the documents of St Andrews Cathedral Priory as Adam frater comitis, i.e. brother of Earl Donnchadh II.[1] It is likely that Adam's mother was from the Comyn family:[2] his brother, William of Kilconquhar was called 'Comyn' in his papal letter of appointment as bishop of Brechin.[3]

Kilconquhar in south-east Fife was the seat of this family's holdings. The feudal arrangement that evolved in the 12th- and 13th-centuries was complicated, in that although the Kilconquhar was held of the bishop of St Andrews, the bishop in turn held it from the earl.[4]

Marriage and crusade

Adam appears to have enjoyed the favour of the Scottish king Alexander III, and married Marjory of Carrick daughter and heiress of Niall, the earl of Carrick.[5] He was able to use the title of earl in his wife's name, but it is unlikely that he had much role ruling the province, as Earl Niall had left the position of kindred chief (ceann cineil) to his nephew Lachlan.[6] Although they had no son to take over the earldom for the Kilconquhar family (that went to the Bruces), their daughter was the mother of Robert Bruce's companion in arms Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray.[7]

He died at Acre in 1271, while on crusade.[8] According to material in the Chronicle of John of Fordun, he had been a participant in the Eighth Crusade.[6] He had been one of a small Scottish contingent that attacked Tunis in 1270, where fellow-Scot and fellow-MacDuff David I Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl died.[9] Adam survived, and withdrew with the rest to winter in Sicily.[9] The following spring the contingent joined with the army of Lord Edward and proceeded to Acre, where Adam was taken by disease.[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Barrow, Robert Bruce, pp. 25, 331 n. 25
  2. ↑ Watt, Biographical Dictionary, pp. 107–08
  3. ↑ Watt, Biographical Dictionary, p. 108
  4. ↑ Barrow, Robert Bruce, p. 331 n. 25
  5. ↑ Barrow, Robert Bruce, p. 25
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 MacQuarrie, Scotland and the Crusades, p. 58
  7. ↑ Duncan, "Randolph, Thomas"
  8. ↑ Anderson, Early Sources, vol. ii, p. 667; MacQuarrie, Scotland and the Crusades, p. 58 [for actual date]
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 MacQuarrie, Scotland and the Crusades, p. 125

References

  • Anderson, Alan Orr, ed. (1922), Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500 to 1286 (2 vols), Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd
  • Barrow, G. W. S. (1988), Robert Bruce & The Community of the Realm of Scotland (3rd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-85224-539-4
  • Duncan, A. A. M. (2004), "Randolph, Thomas, first earl of Moray (d. 1332), soldier and guardian of Scotland", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, retrieved 9 October 2010
  • MacQuarrie, Alan (1997), Scotland and the Crusades, 1095–1560, Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers Ltd, ISBN 0-85976-445-1
  • Watt, D. E. R. (1977), A Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Graduates to A.D. 1410, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 0-19-822447-8