DOUGLAS, William 8th Earl of Douglas 1
- Born: About 1425
- Marriage (1): DOUGLAS, Margaret 'Fair Maid of Galloway' in 1444 1
- Died: 20 February 1452
- Buried: 1452, Dominican Priory, Stirling, Scotland 2
Cause of his death was murder by stabbing by King James II of Scots.2
User ID: A355.
General Notes:
THE DEATH OF WILLIAM DOUGLAS
"The Earl's favour with the King (James II), however, was brief. On 26 October 1451 he was probably, though not certainly, present at the Parliament then meeting at Stirling. He appears as a witness to royal charters at Stirling in November, and at Edinburgh in December 1451 and January 1452. He then appears to have gone to his own castle of Douglas, whence he was summoned by a special message from the King, under a safe-conduct. Setting aside as doubtful various stories told in the later, but not the earliest MSS. of Pitscottie, and not narrated by Boece, the main facts seem to be, that the King believed the Earl to be in league with Alexander, Earl of Crawford, then apparently in rebellion against the Government, and desired by a personal interview to dissuade Douglas from assisting Crawford. Douglas duly arrived at Stirling Castle, was graciously received, and was invited to dine and sup next day, the 20th February 1452. After supper the King privately urged the Earl to break off dealings with Crawford, but he refused ; the dispute grew warm, and the King, in a moment of passion, drew his dagger and stabbed Douglas twice, in the neck and body. These wounds, probably unpremeditated, might not have been fatal, but the courtiers rushed in, and ere the Earl could recover himself he was struck on the head by an axe, and was stabbed in various places, his body having no fewer than twenty-six wounds. His remains are said to have been buried quietly in the place of the Friars Preachers or Dominicans at Stirling."
from Scots Peerage (vol 3) 2
William married Margaret DOUGLAS 'Fair Maid of Galloway', daughter of Archibald DOUGLAS 5th Earl of Douglas Lieutenant General and Regent of Scotland and Euphemia GRAHAM, in 1444.1 (Margaret DOUGLAS 'Fair Maid of Galloway' was born in 1430 and died about 1474.)
Marriage Notes:
"He (John Stewart) married, first, Margaret Douglas, the Fair Maid of Galloway, only daughter and ultimate heiress of Archibald, fifth Earl of Douglas, Duke of Touraine. She married, first, in 1444, William, eighth Earl of Douglas..."
from Scots Peerage (vol 1) 1
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