William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal (died 7 October 1581) was a Scottish nobleman and politician.
William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal (died 7 October 1581) was a Scottish nobleman and politician.
William Keith was the son of Robert Keith, Master of Marischal and Lady Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of John Douglas, 2nd Earl of Morton. [1] He succeeded his grandfather, William Keith, 3rd Earl Marischal. [2] He was one of the earls who accompanied James V to France for his marriage to Madeleine of Valois, daughter of King Francis I of France. The wedding took place on 1 January 1537 at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and was followed by days of Jousting at the Louvre. [3]
He fought at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547, in which the Scots were defeated by the English forces led by Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset in a bloody battle that was part of the War of the Rough Wooing. [4] Keith was said to have been in favour of the proposed marriage between the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, and Prince Edward of England, son of King Henry VIII. [5] He held the Office of Extraordinary Lord of Session in 1541, 1561, and lastly in 1573. In 1561, he was a member of Queen Mary's Privy Council, [5] and while refraining from extreme partisanship, he was an adherent of the Reformation. [6] Later, the Earl Marischal retired with his great fortune to a secluded life at Dunnottar Castle becoming known locally as "William of the Tower." [7] [8] The Earl died on 7 October 1581. [2] [8]
He married Margaret Keith. William and Margaret had thirteen children:
Keith's chief residence was Dunnottar Castle in Aberdeenshire. [12]
When he died on 7 October 1581, he was succeeded by his grandson, George Keith, son of William, Master of Marischal; George became the 5th Earl Marischal. [9]
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Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, about 2 miles south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages. Dunnottar has played a prominent role in the history of Scotland through to the 18th-century Jacobite risings because of its strategic location and defensive strength.
Clan Keith is a Highland and Lowland Scottish clan, whose Chief historically held the hereditary title of Marischal, then Great Marischal, then Earl Marischal of Scotland.
The title of Earl Marischal was created in the Peerage of Scotland for William Keith, the Great Marischal of Scotland.
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