David of Huntingdon

Who he is

Name

David of Scotland, earl of Huntingdon

Title

Earl of Huntingdon (in England), lord of the Garioch and of Dundee (in Scotland)

Since

The Garioch granted 1179-1182; Dundee 'superiority' 1190; the English earldom restored 1185

Born

1152; he is about 47

Family

Youngest surviving son of Earl Henry and Ada de Warenne; brother of Malcolm IV and of King William. Wife: Matilda (Maud) of Chester, sister of Ranulf III, earl of Chester, married 26 August 1190. Children living: Margaret (born about 1194), Ada, Matilda, Isabel (born 1199); sons Robert and Henry died young; John is born only in 1207. Natural children: Henry of Stirling, Henry of Brechin and Ada.

Confidence

high

David is the king's heir presumptive until the birth of Alexander in August 1198, and still the senior adult male of the house. He was a hostage and soldier of the Angevins and fought for Richard; he attended John's coronation (27 May 1199) as earl of Huntingdon (thin). His English honour (Huntingdon, Fotheringhay, Yardley and the rest) is the emd researcher's record.

Overlord

King William for the Scottish lands; King John for the honour of Huntingdon

What it holds

• The Garioch: Inverurie (motte and burgh), Kennethmont, Insch, Rayne lands (the bishop's), Fintray (thin)
• Dundee: the burgh and its port, with the church of St Mary (about 1190)
• Longforgan and Inchture in the Carse of Gowrie
• Lindores and Newburgh in north Fife, with the abbey he founded
• Lennox was his from 1174 or 1178; it has since gone back to its native earl (the date he gave it up is not pinned)
• In England: the honour of Huntingdon (see the emd researcher's record)

How it was acquired

Royal grants from his brother William.

Allies and rivals

Closest to the king; brother-in-law of Ranulf of Chester; patron of Lindores. His daughter Margaret will marry Alan of Galloway (1209) and Isabel Robert de Brus (about 1209).

How things stand that morning

Held by David. He is the bridge between the Scottish crown and the English court, and the man William sends south.

Wealth

The Dundee port and burgh tolls, the fertile Garioch, the Carse of Gowrie, and the English honour's rents. No figures.

Military

His knights of the Garioch and his English honour; mottes at Inverurie and, later, Dunnideer. No numbers.

Threats

• Divided loyalty if William and John fall out over Northumberland

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 22 November 1200David attends William's homage at Lincoln (thin).Depends on: The meeting taking place Stopped by: A breach between the kings

Places of note

• Bass of Inverurie: David's motte and caput of the Garioch
• Lindores Abbey: Tironensian abbey founded by David, 1190-1191
• Dundee: David's burgh and port

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: K. J. Stringer's study of Earl David documents the Scottish lands; the dates of the grants are well fixed.

On the map: Dundee is drawn as its own town record. The Garioch outline is approximate.

Primary sources for Scotland

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of Holyrood, Anonymous (canons of Holyrood, Edinburgh) (about 1150 to 1170, with later additions). Gives nothing for 1200: its original text ends in 1163 and the few additions stop before William the Lion's last decades. Read online
• Chronicle of Melrose, Anonymous (monks of Melrose abbey) (about 1173 to 1270, in many hands; the 1200 entries are near contemporary). The main Scottish annal for the year, kept at a Cistercian house on the Tweed. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Kings of Mann and the Isles, Anonymous (monks of Rushen abbey, Mann) (about 1257, with continuations to 1316). The only native record of the kingdom of Mann and the Hebrides. Read online
• History of English Affairs, William of Newburgh (about 1196 to 1198). Ends in 1198, so it gives no 1200 entries of its own; the Stanley continuation has only a line or two for 1200. Read online
• Saga of the Earls of Orkney, Anonymous (Icelandic) (about 1200 to 1230; surviving text mainly from Flateyjarbok, about 1390). The saga's last chapters are about Earl Harald Maddadsson, who in 1200 held Orkney under King Sverre of Norway and Caithness under William the Lion: his long rule, his quarrel with the Scottish king that cost him Caithness in 1196 to 1197, his recovery of it, and the maiming of Bishop John of Caithness and the king's revenge in 1201 to 1202. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Great Life of Saint Hugh of Lincoln, Adam of Eynsham (about 1210 to 1215). The last book is a day by day account of Hugh's final year by the chaplain who was with him: his dealings with John at the start of the reign, his journey to France and the Grande Chartreuse in 1200, his illness in London, his death at the Old Temple on 16 November 1200 and the funeral at Lincoln on 23 November attended by King John, William the Lion of Scotland, three archbishops and a crowd of bishops and earls. Read online

2 more in the sources library for The British Isles.