Malise IV, Earl of Strathearn

Malise IV of Strathearn (Gaelic: Maol Íosa; died c. 1329) was a Scottish nobleman, the seventh known ruler of Strathearn. He was an ardent supporter of King Robert the Bruce, in contrast to his father, Malise III, who sided with Edward I of England.

Coat of arms of Earl of Strathearn

He is first recorded in January 1306, when he and his mother petitioned King Edward to release his father, who had been mistakenly imprisoned. In 1309 he is noted as having received gifts of money and wine from Edward; nevertheless, he joined King Robert's side, and fought with him at the siege of Perth Castle in 1312, while his father fought for the English defenders. On the fall of the castle, the elder Malise was captured by his son, who then took control of the earldom of Strathearn.

Little more is known of him, as his name does not often appear on record. He was one of the earls who signed the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, and married at least twice. Though the identity of his first wife is not known, we know that by her he had a son and a daughter: Malise, who succeeded his father as eighth Earl, and Mary or Maria, who married John de Moray of Drumsargard. His second wife, whom he married around 1323, was Jean or Joanna, daughter of Sir John Menteith of Ruskie. They had no issue. After the Earl's death around 1329, the Dowager Countess would go on to marry three more times. Her third husband, Maurice Murray, was granted the earldom of Strathearn after it was lost by the eighth Earl.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Malise IV, Earl of Strathearn

16. Gille Brigte, Earl of Strathearn 8. Robert, Earl of Strathearn 17. Matilda D'Aubigny 4. Malise II, Earl of Strathearn 2. Malise III, Earl of Strathearn 20. Magnus, Earl of Orkney and Caithness 10. Gilbert / Gille Brigte, Earl of Orkney and Caithness 5. Matilda 1. Malise IV, Earl of Strathearn 24. Richard Comyn 12. William Comyn 25. Hextilda 6. Alexander, Earl of Buchan 26. Fergus, Earl of Buchan 13. Marjory, Countess of Buchan 3. Agnes Comyn 28. Saer, Earl of Winchester 14. Roger, Earl of Winchester 29. Margaret de Beaumont 7. Elizabeth Quincy 30. Alan, Lord of Galloway 15. Helen of Galloway

Bibliography

• The Scots Peerage, ed. James Balfour Paul, Vol VIII (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1911), pp. 251-2
• Neville, Cynthia J., Native Lordship in Medieval Scotland: The Earldoms of Strathearn and Lennox, c. 1140-1365, (Portland & Dublin, 2005)