Uilleam, Earl of Mar
Uilleam, also William ( German Wilhelm ), ( date of birth unknown; † before July 25, 1281 ), 5th Earl of Mar, was a Scottish nobleman.
Life
Uilleam, 5th Earl of Mar was the son of Donnchadh and Orabillis of Nessius and Mormaer ( Count ) of Mar in Scotland. His name was first mentioned as a signature witness for his father on a contract with the Abbey of St. Adrews in 1242. As a result, he took over his father's death also its title, because as a witness to a royal charter dated February 7, 1243 (or 1244) he was already out as Earl of Mar. In September 1244, he was one of the guarantors of the Treaty of Newcastle.
With the death of Alexander II, he took on a significant role in the policy: As a Great Chamberlain of Scotland, he was from 1252 to the College of Guardian of Scotland in which the regent for the minor King Alexander III. exercised. He held to 1255, when the competing power faction prevailed by Alan Durward at the court this office.
It was not until 1257 he was again a place in the government, from 1260 began on his behalf and with royal support the construction of Kildrummy Castle. From 1262 to 1267 he was again Great Chamberlain of Scotland. In 1264 he was one of two commanding officers of the troops should enforce royal law in the islands. 1270, he served as ambassador to England to (which had until 1237 owned Scottish nobility to ) about the future of the earldom of Huntingdon to negotiate.
Several attempts of Alan Durward (son of Thomas de Lundin and a grandson of Gille Crist ) to take back the title of the Earl of Mar failed. From 1254 have been collected in letters to Pope Alexander IV accusations of illegitimacy and Unehelickheit against Uilleam. It was only in 1268 decided the Pope for Uilleam as Earl of Mar, due to the differences between Celtic practice and canon law. Later in the year he was then, after a dispute with the Bishop of Moray, excommunicated for "accidentally repeated sacrilege ".
Uilleam was also known by the many castles that he built. The most famous is the Castle of Kildrummy.
He was married twice. The first marriage was with Elizabeth, a daughter of William Comyn, Earl of Buchan; from this marriage came two sons, Donald ( Domhnall I. ) and Donnchadh. His eldest son Domhnall I followed him after his death as Mormaer and later 6th Earl. The second marriage to Muriel, a daughter of Maol Iosa II, Earl of Strathearn, remained childless.