Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde (died 1455) was a Scottish Soldier and nobleman, a member of the powerful Black Douglases.
He was the fourth son of James the Gross, 7th Earl of Douglas and his wife Beatrice, daughter of Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney. He was a younger brother of William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Moray and older to John Douglas, Lord of Balvenie.
He was created Earl of Ormonde before 1445 when he attended a meeting of the Parliament of Scotland, under that title. He received from his brother the 8th Earl, the lands of Rattray, Aberdour, and Crimond in Aberdeenshire, that of Dunsyre, Lanarkshire, and those of Ardmanach (Modern Redcastle, between Tore and Muir of Ord) and Ormonde, (modern day Avoch) in Invernesshire.
He led the Scots to victory at the Battle of Sark, against a scion of the old Douglas enemy, Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland. Ormonde was left in control of the vast Douglas estates when his brother went on pilgrimage to Rome in 1450. Following the assassination of his eldest brother by the hand of the King, James II, Ormonde along with his brothers renounced their allegiance to the King and went into open rebellion.
The brothers, excepting the new 9th Earl, faced the Royal forces at the Battle of Arkinholm. The royal army led by a kinsman George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus, defeated the Black Douglas brethren. Moray dying of his wounds, Balveny escaped, Ormonde, however was captured, tried and executed, his estates forfeit.
Ormonde had by an unknown wife, one child:
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
James II was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460.
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V, was the regent of Scotland for his half-nephew, the infant King James VI, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570. He was the first head of government to be assassinated by a firearm.
The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 the status of Moray's rulers was ambiguous and they were described in some sources as "mormaers", in others as "Kings of Moray", and in others as "Kings of Alba". The position was suppressed by David I of Scotland some time after his defeat of Óengus of Moray at the Battle of Stracathro in 1130, but was recreated as a feudal earldom by Robert the Bruce and granted to Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray in 1312.
Ormond Castle, also known as Avoch Castle, was a powerful stronghold, overlooking the village of Avoch, on the Black Isle, in the former county of Ross and Cromarty, now part of Highland, Scotland. It controlled a prominent position overlooking the Moray Firth and critical to the sea access to Inverness.
The Earl or Mormaer of Ross was the ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland.
Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray was a soldier and diplomat in the Wars of Scottish Independence, who later served as regent of Scotland. He was a nephew of Robert the Bruce, who created him as the first earl of Moray. He was known for successfully capturing Edinburgh Castle from the English, and he was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Arbroath.
Sir James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas and Mar was an influential and powerful magnate in the Kingdom of Scotland.
This page is concerned with the holders of the forfeit title Earl of Douglas and the preceding feudal barons of Douglas, South Lanarkshire. The title was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1358 for William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, son of Sir Archibald Douglas, Guardian of Scotland. The Earldom was forfeited by James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, in 1455.
Clan Douglas is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands.
James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, 3rd Earl of Avondale KG (1426–1491) was a Scottish nobleman, last of the 'Black' earls of Douglas.
Clan Murray is a Highland Scottish clan. The chief of the Clan Murray holds the title of Duke of Atholl. Their ancestors who established the family in Scotland in the 12th century were the Morays of Bothwell. In the 16th century descendants of the Morays of Bothwell, the Murrays of Tullibardine, secured the chiefship of the clan and were created Earls of Tullibardine in 1606. The first Earl of Tullibardine married the heiress to the Stewart earldom of Atholl and Atholl therefore became a Murray earldom in 1626. The Murray Earl of Atholl was created Marquess of Atholl in 1676 and in 1703 it became a dukedom. The marquess of Tullibardine title has continued as a subsidiary title, being bestowed on elder sons of the chief until they succeed him as Duke of Atholl.
Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, Duke of Touraine, was a Scottish nobleman and warlord. He is sometimes given the epithet "Tyneman", but this may be a reference to his great-uncle Sir Archibald Douglas.
James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas, 1st Earl of Avondale, latterly known as James the Gross, and prior to his ennoblement as James of Balvenie, was a late mediaeval Scottish magnate. He was the second son of Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas, and Joan Moray of Bothwell and Drumsargard, d. after 1408.
Sir William Douglas "le Hardi", Lord of Douglas was a Scottish nobleman and warlord.
George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus, Lord Douglas, Abernethy and Jedburgh Forest was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of William Douglas, 2nd Earl of Angus and Margaret Hay of Yester. Known as the Great Earl of Angus. He succeeded to the Earldom following the death of his childless brother James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus in 1446. He was to become the first Red Chief of Douglas.
The Battle of Arkinholm was fought on 1 May 1455, at Arkinholm near Langholm in Scotland, during the reign of King James II of Scotland. Although a small action, involving only a few hundred troops, it was the decisive battle in a civil war between the king and the Black Douglases, the most powerful aristocratic family in the country. As the king's supporters won it was a significant step in the struggle to establish a relatively strong centralised monarchy in Scotland during the Late Middle Ages.
George de Dunbar, 10th Earl of Dunbar and March (1338–1422), 12th Lord of Annandale and Lord of the Isle of Man, was "one of the most powerful nobles in Scotland of his time, and the rival of the Douglases."
John Douglas, Lord of Balvenie was the youngest of the five Black Douglas brothers, who rebelled against King James II of Scotland.
John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland (1525–1567) was a Scottish magnate. John Gordon supported the chief of his family, his cousin the Earl of Huntly against the Earl of Moray. After Huntly's defeat at Corrichie, he went into exile, and shortly after his return to Scotland he was murdered by a kinswoman.