ROSS, Euphemia Countess of Moray, then Queen of Scots 3 4
- Born: About 1326 1
- Marriage (1): RANDOLPH, John 3rd Earl of Moray probably circa 1343 1 2
- Marriage (2): STEWART, Robert II King of Scots 2 May 1355(papal dispensation) 3
- Died: by 1387(1388) 1
Another name for Euphemia was ROSS, Euphemia.1
User ID: K163.
General Notes:
"...she may well have been born before November 1329, when her parents received a papal dispensation for their marriage."
from History Scotland article 1
Research Notes:
TWO WOMEN NAMED EUPHEMIA
Two women, in medieval Scottish history, who are regularly confused in popular references, were both named Euphemia. Both were born in the early to middle part of the 14th century; and both lived till the latter decades of the century. Both had more than one husband; and both were granted a papal dispensation to marry one of their husbands. Both married a man surnamed Stewart, of the Royal House of Scotland. In fact one Stewart was the father of the other! Of the two, Queen Euphemia lived in the generation prior to Countess Euphemia of the O'Beolan family. The two women were:
1 EUPHEMIA DE ROSS, COUNTESS OF MORAY then QUEEN OF SCOTS (c1329-1386)
Euphemia de Ross was a member of the clan Ross; her parents were Aodh or Hugh, Earl of Ross and Margaret Graham, the earl's second wife. Euphemia married John Randolph, 3rd earl of Moray, but had no children by him. By this marriage she became Countess of Moray. Randolph was killed in 1346 at the Battle of Neville's Cross in Durham in England. Euphemia then remained a widow for about nine years.
After grieving Randolph's death and having been granted a papal dispensation on account of affinity, Euphemia married Robert Stewart, Earl of Strathearn, in 1355, as his second wife. Robert became Robert II, King of Scots in 1371, so Euphemia then, by right, became his Queen. She was crowned at Scone in Perthshire by Alexander de Kyninmund II, Bishop of Aberdeen, in 1372 and was queen until her death in 1386. The royal couple had four children. Neither of her sons became king, since the law of primogeniture then dictated that the first-born son of Robert's first marriage should succeed him.
2 EUPHEMIA O'BEOLAN, COUNTESS OF ROSS by birth (c1343-after1394)
Euphemia is often referred to as Euphemia of Ross, Euphemia Ross or Euphemia I. She was the elder of two daughters of Uilleam III, the last O'Beolan Mormaer of Ross (William III, earl of Ross), and since she had no brothers she inherited from her father and became Countess of Ross in her own right. The 'Mormaer', translated from the Gaelic as 'earl', and second only to the king, was the ruler of the province of Ross in Scotland. Uilleam III was a descendant of Ferquhard, from the Irish Ó Beólláin (O'Beolain, Boland, Bolan) family. The family is also referred to as Ross after the province itself, or sometimes Gillander or MacTaggart for historical or socio-cultural reasons.
Euphemia married Sir Walter Leslie, by papal dispensation, and, following the medieval practice, Leslie took possession of, for himself, by marriage, the title his wife had acquired by birth. After his marriage to Euphemia, therefore, he became Earl of Ross, a title which was then inherited by his descendants.
Leslie died in 1382, and Euphemia married for a second time. Her husband was Alexander Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan, nicknamed "The Wolf of Badenoch". He was the son of Robert II, King of Scots and Elizabeth Mure of Rowallan, the king's first wife, and had been given the lordships of Badenoch and Lochindorb by his father. The marriage to Euphemia gave Alexander control of large tracts of land from the Cromarty Firth to Torridon, making him one of the greatest landholders in Scotland, though it did not give him the title of Earl of Ross. He was a determined and at times violent man, his most infamous public act being the burning down of Elgin cathedral to thwart his perceived enemy, the Bishop of Moray. The match between Euphemia and Alexander was failing on account of his behaviour; it produced no children, and Alexander eventually had to accept the annullment of his marriage by the Pope. 5 6 7 8
Euphemia married John RANDOLPH 3rd Earl of Moray, son of Thomas RANDOLPH 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland and Isabel STEWART, probably circa 1343.1 2 (John RANDOLPH 3rd Earl of Moray was born about 1315 and died on 17 October 1346 in Battle of Neville's Cross, Durham, England 1 2 9.)
Marriage Notes:
"Euphemia remained a widow for nearly a decade, until her marriage to Robert Stewart."
from History Scotland article
"The Earl is said to have married an Isobel Stewart of the Bonkill family, but this appears to be a mistake, his wife being Euphemia, daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross, by whom he had no issue. She survived him, and married, in 1355, Robert Stewart, Earl of Strathearn, afterwards King Robert II."
from Scots Peerage (vol 6) 1 2
Euphemia next married Robert II STEWART King of Scots, son of Walter STEWART 6th High Steward of Scotland and Marjorie BRUCE Princess of Scots, 2 May 1355(papal dispensation).3 (Robert II STEWART King of Scots was born 2 March 1315(1316),3 died on 19 April 1390 in Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland 3 and was buried in 1390 in Scone Abbey, Perthshire, Scotland 3.)
Marriage Notes:
"King Robert II. married secondly, Euphemia, daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross, and widow of John Randolph, third Earl of Moray (dispensation by Pope Innocent VI., 2 May 1355)."
from Scots Peerage (vol 1) 3
|
