|
|
|
 Abt 1424 - 1440 (16 years)
-
| Name |
William 6Th Earl Of Douglas |
| Birth |
Abt 1424 |
Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
24 Nov 1440 |
Killed By James II At Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland [1] |
| Person ID |
I70176 |
Cecilie Family |
| Last Modified |
2 Mar 2009 |
| Family |
Janet Lindsay, b. Abt 1427, Glenesk, Angusshire, Scotland d. 1483, Ardross, Fifeshire, Scotland (Age 56 years) |
| Marriage |
1st Husband [1] |
| Family ID |
F30535 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
2 Mar 2009 |
-
-
| Notes |
- William, was sixteen when he succeeded his father, Archibald. His holdings and power were great enough to garner the enmity of then Chancellor Sir William Crichton, who used his position with the boy King, James II, to get to Douglas. In November of 1440 the 6th Earl and his brother, David, were guests of the King in Edinburgh Castle. After dining with the King both Douglases were seized by Crichton and his allies, hastily tried for treason and immediately executed. It is said that as the last course of the meal Crichton set a black bull's head in front of the doomed brothers as a symbol of their impending death. For this reason the event earned the name of the "Black Bull's Dinner". Sir Walter Scott penned the following lines in remembrance of the murders,
"Edinburgh Castle, toune and towre,
God grant thou sink for sin!
And that e'en for the black dinner
Earl Douglas gat therein."
As there was no heir at the time of the 6th Earl's murder, the Dukedom of Touraine reverted to the King of France, the Lordship of Galloway was inherited by Margaret, the late Earl's sister, while Annandale, as a male fief, reverted to the Crown. The Earldom of Douglas was passed to his Great-Uncle.
|
-
| Sources |
- [S1629] Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charl, 2324 (Reliability: 3).
|
|
| |
