 Threave Castle |
Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas lived from 1328 to 24 December 1400. Also known as Archibald the Grim, he later became Lord of Galloway and easily one of the most powerful men in southern Scotland in his day. The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.
Archibald Douglas was the son of Sir James Douglas, "James The Good". As a young man, Archibald fought with the French against the English at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. Edward, the Black Prince, decisively defeated the French, and Archibald was amongst the prisoners taken by the English. Apparently unaware of his true status, they later released him and allowed him to make his way back to Scotland.
In September 1369, Archibald became Lord of Galloway and shortly afterwards started work on what was to become his main power base, the intimidating Threave Castle, standing on an island in the River Dee near Castle Douglas. From here he sought to maintain his grip as Warden of the West March: in effect, as the representative of King David II in this part of southern Scotland.
In 1372 he purchased the Earldom of Wigtown, and later became Lord of Bothwell after marrying Joan Moray, the heiress of Bothwell. In 1385 Archibald further tightened his grip by capturing the heavily defended Lochmaben Castle in Annandale, which had been held by the English since 1333. It was here that he was given his nickname by the English defenders. As one Scot later wrote: "He was callit Archibald Grym be the Englishmen becaus of his terrible countenance in wierfare {warfare}".
Archibald the Grim did much to impose feudal law in southern Scotland and was also sent as an ambassador of the Scottish King to France on two occasions in the late 1300s, during the weak reigns of Robert II and Robert III. By now, the power of the Douglases was growing so great that some began to see it as a threat to the Scottish crown. To help counter this, Archibald arranged for his daughter, Marjory Douglas, to marry Robert III's son and heir, David Stewart, 1st Duke of Rothesay This plan to bring together the lines of the Stewarts and the Douglases came to nothing when David Stewart, 1st Duke of Rothesay was starved to death by his uncle, Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, in 1402. But Archibald himself was to know nothing of this: he died on Christmas Eve, 1400 at Threave Castle.
