David, Earl of Huntingdon


David of Scotland was a Scottish prince and Earl of Huntingdon. He was the grandson of David I and the younger brother of two Scottish kings, Malcolm the Maiden and William the Lion.

Life

Born in 1152, David was the youngest surviving son of Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and Ada de Warenne, a daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, and Elizabeth of Vermandois. His paternal grandfather was David I of Scotland. Huntingdon was granted to him after his elder brother William I of Scotland ascended the throne. David's son John succeeded him to the earldom.
In 1190 his brother gave him 'superiority' over Dundee and its port. The same year he endowed Lindores Abbey in Fife and a church dedicated to St Mary in Dundee.
In the Competitors [for the Crown of Scotland|litigation for succession to the crown of Scotland in 1290–1292], Floris V, Count of Holland, the great-great-grandson of David's sister, Ada, claimed that David had renounced his hereditary rights to the throne of Scotland. He therefore declared that his claim to the throne had priority over David's descendants. However, no explanation or firm evidence for the supposed renunciation could be provided.

Marriage and issue

On 26 August 1190, David married Matilda of Chester , daughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of Chester, and wife Bertrade de Montfort. He was almost twenty years Matilda's senior. The marriage was recorded by Benedict of Peterborough.
David and Matilda had:
  1. Margaret of [Huntingdon, Lady of Galloway|Margaret of Huntingdon], married Alan, Lord of Galloway, by whom she had two daughters, including Dervorguilla of Galloway.
  2. Robert of Huntingdon
  3. Ada of Huntingdon, married Sir Henry de Hastings, by whom she had one son, Henry de Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings.
  4. Matilda of Huntingdon
  5. Isobel of Huntingdon, married firstly, Henry de Percy and had issue and secondly, Robert Bruce, 4th Lord of Annandale, by whom she had two sons, including Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale.
  6. John of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon, married Elen ferch Llywelyn. He succeeded his uncle Ranulf as Earl of Chester in 1232, but died childless.
  7. Henry of Huntingdon
Earl David also had three illegitimate children:
  1. Henry of Stirling
  2. Henry of Brechin
  3. Ada, married Malise, son of Ferchar, Earl of Strathearn
After the extinction of the senior line of the Scottish royal house in 1290, when the legitimate line of William the Lion of Scotland ended, David's descendants were the prime candidates for the throne. The two most notable claimants to the throne, Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale and John Balliol were his descendants through David's daughters Isobel and Margaret, respectively.

In popular culture

's 1825 novel The Talisman features Earl David in his capacity as a prince of Scotland as a crusader on the Third Crusade. For the majority of the novel, Earl David operates under an alias: Sir Kenneth of the Couchant Leopard. Earl David's adventures are highly fictionalized for this novel.