William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas 1323-1384

Paternal Family Tree: Douglas

Around 1323 William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas was born to Archibald Douglas [aged 25] and Beatrice Crawford.

                    On 19th July 1333 King Edward III of England [aged 20] defeated the Scots army at the Battle of Halidon Hill near Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland [Map]. John of Eltham 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 16] commanded.
                
                    English archers, just as at the Battle of Dupplin Moor one year previously, had a significant impact on the massed ranks of Scottish schiltrons. Edward's army included: Thomas of Brotherton 1st Earl Norfolk [aged 33], who commanded the right wing, Hugh Courtenay 1st or 9th Earl Devon [aged 56], Robert Pierrepont, Hugh Courtenay 2nd or 10th Earl Devon [aged 30], Henry Beaumont Earl Buchan [aged 54] and John Sully [aged 50]. One of the few English casualties was John Neville [aged 34] who was killed.
                
                    The Scottish army included King David II of Scotland [aged 9]. Alexander Bruce, Alan Stewart [aged 61], James Stewart [aged 57], John Stewart, William Douglas 1st Earl Atholl, [his father] Archibald Douglas [aged 35] who were all killed.
                
                    Hugh 4th Earl Ross [aged 36] was killed. His son William succeeded 5th Earl Ross.
                
                    Malcolm Lennox 2nd Earl Lennox was killed. His son Domhnall succeeded Earl Lennox.
                
                    Kenneth de Moravia Sutherland 4th Earl Sutherland was killed. His son William succeeded 5th Earl Sutherland. Johanna Menteith Countess Sutherland by marriage Countess Sutherland.

After 15th August 1352 [his future brother-in-law] Thomas Mar 10th Earl of Mar [aged 22] and Margaret Graham 3rd Countess Menteith [aged 18] were married. She by marriage Countess Mar. See Dispensation. She the daughter of John Graham Earl Menteith and Margaret Graham 2nd Countess Menteith and Mar. He the son of Domhnall Mar II Earl of Mar and Isabella Stewart. They were fourth cousin once removed.

In August 1353 William "Flower of Chivalry and Knight Liddesdale" Douglas 1st Earl Atholl [aged 53] was killed by William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas [aged 30] at Ettrick Forest, Ettrick.

Around 1354 [his future brother-in-law] Thomas Mar 10th Earl of Mar [aged 24] and Margaret Graham 3rd Countess Menteith [aged 20] were divorced, or the marriage annuled, probably as a consequence of there being no children from the marriage.

Around 1355 [his future brother-in-law] Thomas Mar 10th Earl of Mar [aged 25] and Margaret Stewart 3rd Countess Angus and Mar were married. She by marriage Countess Mar. She the daughter of Thomas Stewart 2nd Earl Angus [aged 24]. He the son of Domhnall Mar II Earl of Mar and Isabella Stewart. They were first cousin once removed.

Battle of Poitiers

                    On 19th September 1356 the army of Edward "Black Prince" [aged 26] defeated the French and Scottish army led by King John "The Good" II of France [aged 37] at the Battle of Poitiers
                
                    King John "The Good" II of France was captured by three captains including Ivon aka John Fane.
                
                    The the English army included: Bernard Brocas [aged 26], Thomas Felton [aged 26], James Audley [aged 38], Thomas Beauchamp 11th Earl Warwick [aged 43], Bartholomew "The Younger" Burghesh 2nd Baron Burghesh [aged 28], Reginald Cobham 1st Baron Cobham [aged 61], Edward Despencer 1st Baron Despencer, Baron Burghesh [aged 21], Ralph Ferrers [aged 27], William Scrope [aged 31], William Montagu 2nd Earl Salisbury [aged 28], Walter Paveley 4th Baron Burghesh [aged 37], Robert Ufford 1st Earl Suffolk [aged 58], William Ufford 2nd Earl Suffolk [aged 18], John de Vere 7th Earl of Oxford [aged 44], John Willoughby 3rd Baron Willoughby [aged 33], Thomas Arderne [aged 19], Enion Sais Brecon, John Chandos [aged 36], Richard Pembridge [aged 36], Jean Grailly [aged 25], Robert de Fouleshurst [aged 26] and John Sully [aged 73]
                
                    John Savile of Shelley and Golcar [aged 31] probably fought having received letters of protection to travel overseas.
                
                    Hugh Courtenay 2nd or 10th Earl Devon [aged 53] protected the baggage train.
                
                    The French and Scottish army included: King John "The Good" II of France, Philip "Bold" Valois II Duke Burgundy [aged 14], Jean Bourbon I Count La Marche [aged 12], Archibald "Grim" Douglas 3rd Earl Douglas [aged 26], John "Sans Terre" Artois 1st Count of Eu [aged 35]; all captured.
                
                    Guichard d'Angle 1st Earl Huntingdon and William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas [aged 33] fought.
                
                    Peter Bourbon Duke Bourbon [aged 45] was killed. His son Louis [aged 19] succeeded II Duke Bourbon.
                
                    Gauthier VI Comte de Brienne [aged 54] was killed.

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In 1357 William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas [aged 34] and Margaret Mar Countess Douglas 11th Countess Mar were married. She the daughter of Domhnall Mar II Earl of Mar and Isabella Stewart.

In 1358 [his son] James Douglas 2nd Earl Douglas was born to William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas [aged 35] and [his wife] Margaret Mar Countess Douglas 11th Countess Mar. He married his half third cousin once removed Isabella Stewart Countess Douglas, daughter of King Robert II of Scotland and Elizabeth Mure Queen Consort Scotland.

On 26th January 1358 William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas [aged 35] was created 1st Earl Douglas. [his wife] Margaret Mar Countess Douglas 11th Countess Mar by marriage Countess Douglas.

Archaeologia Volume 35 1853 XXXIII. On the 27th [May 1358], the Earl of Douglas [aged 35] dined with the Queen [aged 63]; and the Maréchal D'Audenham came to supper.

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The Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, Volume 2, comprising A Sorrowful Commendation on King Edward, the Life of Edward II by a Monk of Bridlington, Life of Edward II by a Monk of Malmesbury and Life of Edward by Thomas de la More, presents a rich collection of medieval English chronicles illuminating the political, military, ecclesiastical and social upheavals of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. The volume offers contemporary and near-contemporary accounts of the reigns of Edward I and Edward II, a period marked by war with Scotland, conflict between Crown and nobility, disputes over royal government, ecclesiastical tensions, rebellion, deposition and civil violence. Particular attention is given to the struggle surrounding Piers Gaveston, Thomas of Lancaster and the Despensers, as well as the turbulent final years of Edward II and the political circumstances that shaped the early reign of Edward III. These chronicles are especially valuable for their vivid narrative detail. They preserve speeches, political arguments, descriptions of battles and executions, accounts of parliaments and royal councils, reports of diplomatic missions, ecclesiastical controversies, prodigies and natural events, and contemporary judgements on the conduct of kings, magnates and churchmen. Written from differing institutional and regional perspectives, the texts reveal not only what happened but how medieval observers interpreted events, often through ideas of divine judgement, legitimate kingship, loyalty, treason and moral retribution. An important primary-source collection for readers interested in Edward I, Edward II, medieval politics, the Scottish wars, the baronial opposition, the fall of Edward II, church history and fourteenth-century England, Volume 2 provides an indispensable window into one of the most turbulent periods of the English Middle Ages.

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In 1360 [his daughter] Isabel Douglas Countess Mar was born to William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas [aged 37] and [his wife] Margaret Mar Countess Douglas 11th Countess Mar. She married 1404 her half fourth cousin Alexander Stewart 1st Earl of Mar, son of Alexander "The Wolf of Badenoch" Stewart 3rd Earl Buchan and Mariota Mackay Countess Moray.

Around 1380 [his illegitimate daughter] Margaret Douglas Lady Terregles was born illegitimately to William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas [aged 57].

In 1380 [his son] George Douglas 1st Earl Angus was born to William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas [aged 57] and Margaret Stewart 3rd Countess Angus and Mar at Tantallon Castle. He married before 1398 his half fourth cousin once removed Mary Stewart Countess Angus, daughter of King Robert III of Scotland and Annabella Drummond Queen Consort Scotland, and had issue.

In 1384 William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas [aged 61] died. His son James [aged 26] succeeded 2nd Earl Douglas.

Around 1391 [his former wife] Margaret Mar Countess Douglas 11th Countess Mar died.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. In the year of Christ 1348, the 22nd year of the king's reign, after the lord king had returned to England, David, King of the Scots, and Lord Charles of Blois were brought to the Tower of London,¹ Charles having recently been captured in Brittany at Easter after great and perilous battles by Lord Thomas Dagworth. They both remained in England for many years awaiting ransom. Likewise, Lord James [William] Douglas,² captured at the Battle of Durham and brought to London with the King of Scots, returned to the king's peace, having sworn him loyalty. But afterward, while peacefully returning to the border, William Douglas treacherously rode up behind him while he was out hunting and murdered him.

Anno Christi MCCCXLVIII, regis anno XXII, domino rege in Angliam reverse, adducti sunt ad turrim Londoniarum David rex Scotorum et dominus Karolus de Bloys, ad Pascha nuper in Britannia post magnos et periculosos conflictus per dominum Thomam Dagworthe captus; qui postea per multos annos manserunt in Anglia redimendi. Item, dominus lacobus Douglas, in bello Dunelmie captus, Londonias cum rege Scotorum adductus, rediit ad pacem regis, iurata sibi fidelitate; quem postea in marchiam pacifice reversum Willelmus Dowglas venacioni invitatum prodiciose equitans a tergo interfecit.

Note 1. David Bruce had been a prisoner in the Tower since the 1st January 1347. Rymer's Fœdera 3.99. Charles of Blois was captured at the battle of Roche-Derien, 20th June 1347.

Note 2. William Douglas, here wrongly called James, the knight of Liddesdale, made his peace with, and engaged to serve, Edward; and was set free on the 17th July 1352. Rymer's Fœdera 3.246. The next year he was murdered, when hunting in Ettrick Forest, by his kinsman William, afterwards earl Douglas.

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[his father] Archibald Douglas and [his mother] Beatrice Crawford were married.

William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas 1323-1384

Royal Descendants of William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas 1323-1384
Number after indicates the number of unique routes of descent. Descendants of Kings and Queens not included.

Ancestors of William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas 1323-1384

William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas 1323-1384

Royal Descendants of William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas 1323-1384Number after indicates the number of unique routes of descent. Descendants of Kings and Queens not included.

Ancestors of William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas 1323-1384

Royal Descendants of William Douglas 1st Earl Douglas 1323-1384
Number after indicates the number of unique routes of descent. Descendants of Kings and Queens not included.