Gilchrist of Angus

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Between 1207 and 1211

Notes:

Also called Gille Crist. Earl of Angus; according to the Scots Peerage, the first to unambiguously use that title. According to some sources, his son Donnchad was by a marriage to Margaret of Huntingdon, who was at different times married to Conan IV, Duke of Brittany, and Humphrey de Bohun. But nothing of this is seen in SP, and CP calls it "doubtful."

"Gilchrist, Earl of Angus [S.], br. and h. He was witness in 1198 to a document in the Chartulary of Arbroath Abbey (no. 148), to which Abbey he was a great benefactor. He d. between 1207 and 1211." [Complete Peerage I:146]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Duncan of Angus died between 1207 and 1214.

Notes:

Also called Gille Brigte; Ghillebrite; Gilbert. Earl of Angus; one of the seven earls of Scotland. Present at the Scots defeat at the Battle of the Standard, 22 Aug 1138. In 1174 he was one of the hostages for William the Lion.

"Gillbride, Earl of Angus [S.], was at the battle of the Standard, 22 Aug. 1138, when the Scots were totally defeated at Northallerton, co. York, and was (long afterwards) one of the hostages for King William the Lion [S.] in 1174. He seems to have m., 1stly, a da. of Gospatrick, Earl of Dunbar [S.]. He apparently m.,, subsequently, the h. of the Earls of Caithness [S.], who was mother, by him, of Magnus, Earl of Caithness [S.] in 1232. He d. about 1187." [Complete Peerage I:145, as corrected in Volume XIV.]

Gillebride married (Unknown wife of Gillebride of Angus) of Dunbar. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Complete Peerage I:145: "[Gillebride] seems to have m., 1stly, a da. of Gospatrick, Earl of Dunbar." On chronological grounds, we make her a daughter of the Gospatric who d. 1166.

Notes:

Succeeded his father in the Scottish territories and the serjeanty of Beanley, Northumberland. Held to have been earl of Dunbar and Lothian. On his seal he styled himself earl of Lothian.

"In his role as a benefactor of the church, Gospatric also contrasts with his father. Not only was he a patron of the abbeys of Melrose and Kelso and the priory of Coldingham, but he also jointly founded, along with his wife, a Cistercian nunnery at Coldstream, probably in the later years of his life. He may also have founded the nunnery at Eccles, although the evidence for his involvement is uncertain. The chronicler Reginald of Durham relates an anecdote which reflects favourably upon the character of Gospatric. He records how one of Gospatric's tenants at Dunbar was a poor man afflicted with an incurable and agonizing disease. Reginald then describes how, out of his own goodwill and respect for the good works of this man, Gospatric allowed him to live on his lands free of any burdens for the remainder of his life." [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]

Gospatric married Derdere. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"She may have been the proprietrix of the lands of Hirsel, of which she gave a portion to the nuns of Coldstream." [The Scots Peerage, citation details below.]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 23 Aug 1138
• Alternate death: Bef 16 Aug 1139

Notes:

Possibly killed in the Battle of the Standard, commanding the men of Lothian; alternately, Moriarty (citation details below) thinks he was most likely killed at the battle of Northallerton.

Note from AR8: "Sybil Morel, dau. of Arkil Morel, d. 1095, was the wife of his son, Edward."

From The Scots Peerage, citation details below:

GOSPATRIC, who in one place calls himself Earl, and certainly held the rank and place of Earl or ruler of Lothian, does not appear on record until after 1100, the year of the accession of King Henry I of England, and his earliest mention in Scottish writs is in 1119. Another peculiarity about his designation is that during his lifetime he is never but once, by himself, in a charter to the monks of Coldingham, styled Earl in Scottish charters. He is referred to, whether as a witness to charters, or a granter or recipient of charters, in nearly every case as Gospatric, brother of Dolfin. In 1119 he is a witness to the charter to the monks of Selkirk, and to the Inquisition of the see of Glasgow, as well as, later, to the foundation charter of Scone. He has also the same designation in the first grant to Holyrood. These are the chief references to him during his life in Scottish records, and while he evidently held a high position, he is never styled Earl until after his death.

King Henry I, also in a charter of unknown date, but certainly some time after 1100, conferred upon him, as Gospatric, brother of Dolfin, a large tract of land lying between Wooler and Morpeth, in Northumberland. This extensive grant, which was confirmed at York about 1136, was held, not by knight's service or other service usual from a barony, though it is sometimes described as the barony of Beanley. It was held in grand serjeanty, the Earl and his descendants bound to be "inborwe" and "utborwe" between England and Scotland; that is, they were to be security for persons passing to and fro between the two countries, who would not be allowed to travel north or south without permission of the lords of Beanley, a fact which practically gave to the Earls of Dunbar the important position of Wardens on both sides of the East March.