Mormaer of Fife
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The Mormaer or Mormaerdom of Fife refers to the Gaelic lordship of Fife which existed in Scotland until 1371, and continued as a non-Gaelic Earldom/County thereafter.
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[edit] Mormaership of Fife
The Mormaers of Fife were the highest ranking native nobles in Scotland. They frequently held the office of Justiciar of Scotia - highest brithem in the land - and enjoyed the right of crowning the Kings of Scots. The Mormaer's function, as with other medieval Scottish lordships, was kin-based. Hence, in 1385, the Earl of Fife, seen as the successor of the same lordship, is called capitalis legis de Clenmcduffe (=Lord of the Law of the Children of Macduff).
[edit] Clann meic Duib
There is little doubt that the style MacDuib, or Macduff, derives from the name of King Cináed III mac Duib, and ultimately from this man's father, King Dub (d. 966) (John Bannerman, "MacDuff of Fife" p. 24). Compare, for instance, that Domhnall, Lord of the Isles, signed a charter in 1408 as MacDomhnaill. The descendants of Cináed III adopted the name in the same way that the descendants of Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig called themselves Uí Briain, although it does seem that at least initially MacDuff was a style reserved for the man who held the Mormaership of Fife.
The earliest MacDuff Mormaer to appear in history - which does not equate to the first ever one - was the MacDuff of Shakespeare, recorded by both Andrew of Wyntoun and John of Fordun. This man is called Thenus de Fif (=Thane of Fife), but the reason for this is certainly linquistic and has nothing to do with Fife having a status lower than second-tier in the Scotland of Macbethad. A Mormaer could also be called a toisech, and thenus/thanus is the Latin word (imported from early medieval Anglo-Latin) used by the Scots to translate the word toisech into Latin.
The chieftancy of the clan was not always held by the Mormaer, especially after the Mormaerdom becomes subject to the laws of feudal primogeniture in the reign of Donnchadh I. For example, at the Battle of Falkirk, it is the head of the clan who leads the men of Fife, rather than the Mormaer.
[edit] Mormaer Reigns
Here is the table of Mormaer reigns, according to Bannerman (p. 33):
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[edit] Bibliography
- Bannerman, John, "MacDuff of Fife," in A. Grant & K.Stringer (eds.) Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays Presented to G.W.S. Barrow, (Edinburgh, 1993), pp.20-38
- Barrow, G.W.S., Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland, (Edinburgh, 1988)
- Roberts, John L., Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland and the Middle Ages, (Edinburgh, 1997)
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