William (Dunkeld) King of Scots (abt.1143-abt.1214) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree
William I (Dunkeld) King of Scots
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William (Dunkeld) King of Scots (abt. 1143 - abt. 1214)

William (William I) King of Scots formerly Dunkeld
Born about in Roxburghshire, Scotlandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , , , and
Husband of — married 5 Sep 1189 in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Englandmap
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , , , , , , and
Died about at about age 71 in Sterling, Stirlingshire, Scotlandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 12 Sep 2010
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Scottish Nobility
William I (Dunkeld) King of Scots was a member of Scottish Nobility.
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Preceded by
Malcolm IV		 King of Scots
9 December 1165 - 4 December 1214		 Succeeded by
Alexander II

Contents

Biography

”The Lion”
House of Dunkeld

Family and Early Life

William was the second son of Henry Dunkeld, earl of Huntingdon and Northumberland, and Ada de Warenne, a daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd earl of Surrey, and Isabel de Vermandois.[1] His father died when William was only about ten years of age, and several charters written during his minority show that he originally used his mother's surname of de Warenne.[1][2] At his father's death in 1152 William became earl of Northumberland,[3] and in 1165 he was vested with the earldom of Huntingdon.[1] At the death of his elder brother Malcolm IV, King of Scots, on 9 December 1165 he became heir to the throne of Scotland, and on 24 December of that year he was crowned at Scone by the bishop of St Andrews.[4][5][6] He was approximately twenty-two years old.

King of Scots

William's reign was to last for almost forty-nine years and included too many significant events to detail in this profile. However, some of the defining moments/issues of his reign are discussed below.

Although he had been earl of Northumberland since his father's death in 1152, in 1157 that eardom was lost to William as part of his brother Malcolm's dealings with Henry II of England.[7] Regaining Northumberland, which had been held by his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, became almost an obsession with the young king and a recurring theme throughout the entirety of his reign.[8]

In 1168 he sent a delegation to France to make a formal alliance with King Louis VII.[9] In the spring of 1174, King William allied himself with Henry's eldest son who had organized a rebellion against his father, and promised William the earldom of Northumberland would be returned to him in exchange for his aid in this rebellion.[10] William consequently invaded England, besieging Carlisle and taking several castles in Northumberland and Westmoreland.[11] In July of the same year, he was captured by the English at Alnwick in Northumberland and eventually taken as a prisoner to France.[1][12] On 8 December 1174 , he was forced to sign a convention at Falaise in Normandy which completely surrendered Scotland's independence and put the entire nation under English domination.[13] William was released and allowed to return to Scotland in February 1175, when all of the terms of the convention had been met.[13][14]

During the following years King William was able to successfully subdue by force a number of rebellions, including a major uprising in the north led by Donald Ban MacWilliam,[15] and create a more unified Scottish kingdom.[7] He also championed the independence of the Scottish Church, insisting it should not come under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of York in England.[9] He gave substantial support to a number of churches, which included in 1178 founding and endowing the Abbey of Arbroath in Angus.[13][14]

By 1189 England had a new king, one who was very anxious to finance a crusade.[7] In a document later known as the "Quit-claim of Canterbury" Richard sold all rights in Scotland (which Henry II had forced William to give up at Falaise) back to King William for 10,000 merks, and formally acknowledged Scotland's independence.[16][1] The fate of the earldom of Northumberland was intentionally left ambiguous in the Quitclaim, as Richard did not want to give it up and William was determined to have it back.[16]

On 13 March 1192, Pope Celestine III decreed that the Scottish Church was a "special daughter" of the apostolic see and subject to it without intermediaries.[9] This was a formal acknowledgement that the Scottish Church was totally independent of the English Church, and another major victory for King William.

While King William did not greatly enlarge the boundaries of Scotland, he was able to regain everything that had been lost at Falaise and he did leave the nation more strongly unified than ever before.[7] He himself strongly identified with French culture, the legacy of his mother's family, and French was the language most frequently spoken in his court.[17] He was not known as "the Lion" during his lifetime, that is a nickname which appeared much later and may have been a reference to the lion on his shield.[7]

Marriage and Children

Although he had a number of mistresses and fathered more than a few illegitimate children, King William was over 40 years of age before he felt obliged to marry and provide Scotland with a legitimate heir to the throne.[8] He originally chose as his bride Matilda of Saxony, the granddaughter of Henry II and daughter of Duke Henry the Lion.[18][9] However, the pope forbade this marriage on the grounds of consanguinity.[9] [19] Henry II then proposed Ermengarde Beaumont, daughter of Richard de Beaumont, Vicomte of Beaumont-en-Maine and Lucy de l'Aigle as a potential bride. Because Ermengarde's paternal grandmother was an illegitimate daughter of Henry I, the Scottish nobles reacted negatively to this suggestion.[9] King William agreed to the match with some reluctance, after being promised Edinburgh Castle as part of the bride's dower.[9]

William and Ermengarde were married 5 September 1186 at Woodstock, Oxfordshire.[1][20] There were at least five children from this marriage:

  • Malcolm Dunkeld; b. bef. 1214[25]
Illegitimate Children of William the Lion:
  • Alexander; d. 1229 at Foigny, depart. Aisne, arrond. Vervins[36][37]

Death

William I, King of Scots, died at Stirling on 4 December 1214, at the age of 71.[49][50][51] He was buried in front of the high altar in the church at the monastery of Arbroath, which he had founded.[1][51]

Research Notes

  • Isabel de Avenal was originally attached to this profile as a wife of William the Lion. Because there appears to be no evidence advanced by any historian or genealogist suggesting there was ever a formal relationship between William and Isabel, her profile has been detached pending any future research which may be discovered. Stevens-17832 14:52, 2 September 2021 (UTC)
  • Robert Canmore has been detached as an illegitimate son of William the Lion, lacking any evidence whatsoever to support a familial relationship. Stevens-17832 20:18, 3 September 2021 (UTC)

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 583 SCOTLAND 4. William the Lion.
  2. ↑ Lawrie. Annals, 2, citing William de Newburgh [William as earl of Northumberland had used Warene as his surname, lacking a patronymic.] RRS, ii, nos. 1,2 cited in Chandler, Victoria. “Ada de Warenne, Queen Mother of Scotland (c. 1123-1178).” The Scottish Historical Review 60, no. 170 (1981), p. 133, available at jstor.
  3. ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 76.
  4. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgensis (1835),[A.D. 1165: ...Obit pie memorie Malcolmus rex Scotorum apud Gedewurt, v. idus Decembris [Dec 9] quod evenit v.o feria, anno etatis fuae xxovo, regnique ejus anno xij.k. cujus corpus honorifice ab omnibus perfonis ufque ad Dunfermelin delatum fepelitur; cui fucceffit Willelmus frater ejus, in virgilia natalis Domini [Dec 24] , more regio elevatus in regnum.], p. 80.
  5. ↑ Skene, William F. John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas (1862), Annals, VII, p 254.
  6. ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 77.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Ashley, Mike. The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf (1998), pp. 406-407
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Barrow, G.W.S. Kingship and Unity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (1981), rev. 2015, p. 56.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Scott, W.W. William I (known as William the Lion). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online, 23 Sep 2004, available here by subscription.
  10. ↑ Robertson, Eben William. Scotland Under Her Early Kings. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas (1862), vol. 1, p. 364.
  11. ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 77.
  12. ↑ Duncan, A.A.M. Scotland, the Making of the Kingdom. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd (1975), The Edinburgh History of Scotland, vol. 1, p. 174.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Mackay, A.J.G. William the Lyon. Dictionary of National Biography Online(1900), available here.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 78.
  15. ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 79.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Duncan, A.A.M. Scotland, the Making of the Kingdom. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd (1975), The Edinburgh History of Scotland, vol. 1, p. 235-236.
  17. ↑ Barrow, G.W.S. The Kingdom of the Scots. New York: St Martin's Press (1973). pp. 285.
  18. ↑ Lawrie, Archibald C. (ed). Annals of the Reigns of Malcolm and William 1153-1214. Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons (1910), p. 253.
  19. ↑ Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi. (William the Lion, King of Scots, and Maud, daughter of Maud, duchess of Saxony, stated to be related in the 3rd and 5th degrees of kindred), vol 1, p. 314.
  20. ↑ Scott, W.W. Ermengarde (Ermengarde de Beaumont). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online, 23 Sep 2004, available here by subscription.
  21. ↑ Skene, William F. John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas (1862), Annals, XXIII, p. 270
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scotts Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 1, p. 6.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, pp. 590-593 SCOTLAND 5. Alexander II.
  24. ↑ Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 90.
  25. ↑ Innes. Liber S. Marie de Dryburgh (1847), 102 [describing a grant from King William to Dryburgh Priory of 20s. per annum of the farm of his burgh of Roxburgh "for the salvation of my soul and of Malcolm my son and my ancestors and heirs."] cited in Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 584 SCOTLAND 4.ii. Malcolm of Scotland.
  26. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgensis (1835), ["...Eodem anno tradita est domina Margareta, filia pie recordationis Willelmi regis Scotie, et soror domini Alexandre regis, domino Huberto de Burc, justiciario Anglie, scilicet et Scotie..."], p. 138.
  27. ↑ Turnbull, William. Extracta e variis Cronicis Scocie. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Printing Co. (1842), ["Humbertus de Burgo, justiciarius Anglie, disponsauit Margaretam sororem regis Alexandri apud Londone, anno predicto."], p. 92.
  28. ↑ McCray Catalogue, Aynho Deeds, Magdalene College, Oxford University, p. 31 #36 undated grant of Thomas de Crewelton, son of Robert de Niweman, of Frutewelle, to the Hospital at Aynho, Northamptonshire "to hold upon condition of celebrating yearly on the day of St. Machute [15 November] the anniversary of Margaret Countess of Kent, deceased..." cited in Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 587 SCOTLAND 4.iii. Margaret of Scotland.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 587 SCOTLAND 4.iv. Isabel of Scotland
  30. ↑ 30.00 30.01 30.02 30.03 30.04 30.05 30.06 30.07 30.08 30.09 30.10 Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scotts Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 1, p. 5.
  31. ↑ Stevenson. J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgesis (1835), (A.D. 1235: "Item, desponsata est domina Mariori, soror domini Alexandri regis Scottorum apud Beruuich, in die sancti Petri ad vincula [August 1], cujus desponsationi interfuit ipse rex et magnates ejus regni, sicut ex altera parte dominus G. Anglie marschallus et comes de Penbruch, qui eam duxit in uxorem, cum multis nobilibus viris Anglie."), p. 147.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 588 SCOTLAND 4.v. Margery of Scotland
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 83.
  34. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 588 SCOTLAND 4.i. Robert de London.
  35. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 589 SCOTLAND 4.ii. Henry.
  36. ↑ Pertz. Monumenta Germaniae Historica. (Scriptores 23) (1874): 925 (Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium sub A.D. 1229: "Apud Fusniacum mortuus est quidam conversus frater Alexander, de quo inventum est, quod filius esset regis Scotie et frater Mathildis, qui requiescit in villa de Lapion."), cited in Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 589 SCOTLAND 4. iii. Alexander of Scotland.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Guyotjeannin. Chartrier de l'Abbaye prémontrée de Saint-Yved de Braine. (Mémoires et Docs. de l'École des Charter 49) (2000): p. 373, footnote 8, cited in Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 589 SCOTLAND 4. iii. Alexander of Scotland.
  38. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinburgesis (1835), (A.D. 1183): "Willelmus rex Scottorum filiam fuam Ifabel, quam genuit ex fiia Roberti Avenel, Roberto de Brus honorifice dedit."p. 92.
  39. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinurgesis (1835), (A.D. 1191): "Rex Scottorum dedit filiam fuam Yfembel, que fuit uxor Roberti de Brus, Roberto de Ros apud Haditum." p. 99.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, pp. 477-478 DUNBAR 5. Ada of Scotland.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 84.
  42. ↑ Stevenson, J. (ed). Chronica de Mailros. Edinburgh: the Societatis Edinurgesis (1835), A.D. 1191: "Willelmus rex Scottorum Dedit fuam Margaretam Eustatio de Vefci apud Rokefburch, quam genuit de filia Adam de Hythufum."p. 100.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, pp. 589-590 SCOTLAND 4.vi. Margaret (or Margery) of Scotland
  44. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p.590 SCOTLAND 4.vii. Aufrica of Scotland
  45. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p.590 SCOTLAND 4.viii. Christian (or Christine) of Scotland.
  46. ↑ Theiner, Augustinus. Vetera Monumenta Hibernorum et Scotorum. (1864), p. 50: "Christian/Christine, wife of Heinrich Borwin II, lord of Rostock, syled 'sister' of Alexander II, King of Scots, in 1248" cited in Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p.590 SCOTLAND 4.viii. Christian (or Christine) of Scotland.
  47. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p.590 SCOTLAND 4.ix. Maud (or Mathilde) of Scotland
  48. ↑ Pertz, G.H. Monumenta Germaniae Historica. (Scriptores 23), (1874), A.D. 1220: (from Chronica Albrici Monachi Trium Fontium) "Obiit quedam religiosa et sancta puella Mathildis de Lapion [Lappion, départ. Aisne, arrond. Laon], regis Scotie filia, que fugiens nuptias, venit occulte in Franciam et admirabilem egit vitam. In dyocesi Laudunensi sepulta est apud Sanctum Vicentirum Laudunensem," p. 911.
  49. ↑ Skene, William F. John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas (1862), Annals, XXVIII, pp 274-275.
  50. ↑ Skene, William F. Chronicles of the Picts and Scots. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1867), p. 175.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Dunbar, Sir Archibald H. Scottish Kings: A Revised Chronology of Scottish History 1005-1625. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1899), p. 82.
See Also:
  • Birch, Walter de Gray. Catalogue of Seals in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum. London: by the trustees of the museum (1887), pp. 3-4.
  • Bruce, M.E. Cumming. Family records of the Bruces and the Cumyns, with an historical introduction and appendix, etc. Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons (1870), pp. 43-52.
  • Pryde, E.B. (ed). Royal Historical Society Handbook of British Chronology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1941), reprt. 2003, William I (the Lion), p. 58.
  • Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families. London: The Bodley Head (1989), pp. 197-198.




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Stevens-17832 Jen (Stevens) Hutton
I have finished for the time being the work I intended to do on this profile. The children's LNABs are inconsistent and some should probably be changed. Scotland Project leadership is discussing this issue.
posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
Stevens-17832 Jen (Stevens) Hutton
Although William is said to have used an image of a lion on his shield, the first actual evidence of a rampant lion was on the shield of his son, Alexander II. Therefore, in the interest of historical accuracy, the image which has been posted of a rampant lion is being removed from this profile until an historically reliable image of William's shield can be found. If anyone has a source for such an image, please message me or post here. Thanks,

Jen

posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
Stevens-17832 Jen (Stevens) Hutton
The entire first portion of this biography (up to the 'Burial' section) has been lifted verbatim from an article which is currently under copyright protection, so will be removed effective today. The Scotland Project will be updating the profile and providing a new biography for William the Lion, and your patience is appreciated while this process is underway. If anyone knows of additional sources and information which they feel should be included, please message me or post here in the comments. Thanks,

Jen, for the Scotland Project

posted by Jen (Stevens) Hutton
Holland-3338 Bettye (Holland) Carroll
Adding a source: Douglas Richardson, "Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families," 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), Vol. IV, page 583.

William the Lion, King of Scots, younger son, born in 1143. He married at Woodstock, Oxfordshire 5 Sept. 1186 Ermengarde de Beaumont, daughter of Richard de Beaumont, Vicomte of Beaumont-en-Maine, by Lucy, daughter of Richer de I'Aigle. They had two sons, Alexander [II] [King of Scots] and Malcom, and three daughters, Margaret (or Margery), Isabel, and Margery (or Margaret). William the Lion, King of Scots, died at Stirling 4 Dec. 1214. His wife, Queen Ermengarde, died 11 Feb. 1232/3.

Thank you!

posted by Bettye (Holland) Carroll
Muller-141 Doris (Muller) Wheeler
William the Lion and William I were the same person; William the Conqueror was a different person.
posted by Doris (Muller) Wheeler
Hubbard-51 Krissi (Hubbard) Love
Known as "The Lion".
posted by Krissi (Hubbard) Love

Rejected matches › Malcolm (Dunkeld) King of Scots (1141-1165) › William (Beaumont) de Beaumont (abt.1139-1184) › John (Stewart) King of Scots (1337-1406)

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