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MALISE II, 40TH EARL, 1333-1345

BORN about 1300. married
  1. daughter of the Earl of Menteith.
  2. Marjory, daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross.

PRINCES CONTEMPORANEOUS
NORWAY: 1319 Magnus VII
SWEDEN: 1319 Magnus II
SCOTLAND; 1330 David II
ENGLAND; 1330 Edward III
ROME: 1334 Benedict XII; 1342 Clement VI
PRELATES
ORKNEY: 1328 William IV, to 1382 - [See Historiettes]
CAITHNESS: 1332 Nicholas; 1340 David; 1341 Alan; 1342 Thomas de Fingask - [See Historiettes]

At a time when the highest Scottish dignity was that of earl, and limited to some ten earldoms, this earl united in his person the three ancient dignities of Orkney, Caithness, and Stratherne and we have seen that in the lifetime of his father when in apparency only he had lodged a caveat to secure the Orcadian revenues.

Upon the death of Andrew Murray at Duplin in 1332, his son Sir William Murray of Tullibardine had a charter from his superior Malise, then Earl of Stratherne, of his estate of Tullibardine on the resignation of Adda, grandmother of Sir William. To this deed Sir William de Montefixo, jusicarius Scotae ex parte borealis aquae de Forth, is a witness; he executed that office in 1335. [From Nisbet's Heraldry]

There is in the Scottish Chamberlain Rolls of 1340 an entry in regard to a payment by John More for the lands of Berridale in Caithness, which, he says, he acquired from the Earl of Stratherne, and had confirmed by the king. There is no record of the movements of Malise, but we learn incidentally that he had betaken himself to his northern possessions upon the forfeiture of the Earldom of Stratherne by his father, which was thereon given by Edward III to John de Warrenne, Earl of Warrenne and Surrey, [stepfather to Malise], He appears to have made an effort in 1334 to recover the Earldom of Stratherne. In that year Edward III, by a letter dated the 2nd March, directed Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan, not to allow any process to be made before him respecting the earldom forfeited for treason by Earl Malise. He also wrote a letter of the same date to Edward Balliol, stating that he had heard that Malise, Earl of Stratherne, claimed the county of Stratherne, which he had granted to John de Warrenne, Earl of Surrey, and requesting him to act with deliberation.

The next appearance of Malise the Second is at Inverness, when by document dated 28th May 1344, he grants to William, Earl of Ross, the marriage of his daughter Isabella, securing to her the Earldom of Caithness on failure of heirs-male to himself and his wife Marjory, sister of the said William. William succeeded his father Hugh, who was slain at Halidon Hill in 1333, but it is stated that he was not confirmed in the earldom for three years on account of his absence in Norway. Thus it seems that Earl Malise must have passed over to Norway about the same period, in all likelihood to obtain investiture of the Earldom of Orkney from Magnus the Norwegian king, and William, Earl of Ross, may have accompanied his brother-in-law.

The Diploma states that Malise was first married to Joanna, daughter of the Earl of Menteith, and that by her he had a daughter Matilda, married to Weyland de Ard. The Diploma further states that Malise was married a second time to a daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross. From the deed of 1344 we find the name of Malise's then wife was Marjory. In a deed of 1350, William, Earl of Ross, styles his sister Marjory, Countess of Caithness and Orkney, and with her consent appoints his brother Hugh his heir in the event of his own death without male issue. From this it would appear that Malise was then dead. It is likely he died before 31st October 1345, when his cousin Sir Maurice Moray was created Earl of Stratherne. He must have been dead before 1353, when his son-in-law Erengisle Sunesson obtained the title of Earl of Orkney from the King of Norway; and he is mentioned as dead in 1357 and 1358, and the Earl of Ross is then said to have entered to his lauds in Caithness. While Malise was in Norway and Sweden two of his daughters had been married to Swedish noblemen, and from the Diploma we ascertain he had issue by his first wife, the Menteith, one daughter, and by his second wife Marjory four daughters: -

  1. MATILDA, married Weyland de Arde, and had issue:
    1. Alexander de la Ard, Governor and Commissioner of Orkney 1375, died without issue.
  2. ISABELLA, married William St.Clair, Lord of Roslin. Issue:
    1. Henry, 42nd Earl of Orkney, flourished 1379-1404.
    2. David St.Clair, of Newburgh, mentioned in 1391.
  3. ANNOT, or MERATTA, married Erengisle 41st Earl of Orkney (by right of his wife) 1353.
  4. A daughter married Gothorm Sperra. Issue:
    1. Sir Malise Sper, Lord of Skuldale, slain 1309, without issue
  5. [EUPHEMIA], a daughter died unmarried.

NOTE - It is difficult to locate the de Ards. There was a Gascon family de Lart, or de Lard, one of whom settled in England, coming in the train of the Black Prince. The de la Ards were once owners of "the Aird", a district lying between Inverness and Beauly. In 1342, Godfrey del Arde, son of Alexander del Arde, forcibly retains the ward and marriage of his heir and Isabel Fenton, wife of the latter. In 1368 Lord Fenton of Baky and Alexander de Chishelme (by right of his wife) are co-portioners of the barony of Ard. In 1403 Margaret de la Ard, domina de Erchless, and Thomas de Chishelme, her son and heir, on the one part, and William de Fenton of Baky, divide between them the lands of which they were heirs-portioners, and among these is the Barony of Aird or Ard. In 1513 Wiland de Chisholm obtains charter of the lands of Comer.

NOTE - The Spar or Sperra family are Shetlanders. Ivar Sperra appears there in 1299 and 1307, and Malis Sperra in 1386 (Diplomaticum Norvegicum). Sir Malise Spar held the lands of Holm and Quendale in Outer Westness, in Rousay (see Rental, 1503).

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