View source for Earl of Menteith

{{Short description|Ruler of the province of Menteith}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:The red book of Menteith. (With plates, including portraits, facsimiles and genealogical tables.) (1880) (14762519221).jpg|thumb|200px|Arms of the earls, from left to right: arms of [[Muireadhach I, Earl of Menteith]] (d. 1213), the Earl at the start of the age of heraldry (c.1200-1215); Walter Comyn (''jure uxoris'' Earl): ''Azure, three garbs or''; Stewart of Menteith]]
[[File:Menteith arms.svg|thumb|Arms of [[Muireadhach I, Earl of Menteith]] (d. 1213), the Earl at the start of the age of heraldry (c.1200-1215): ''Barry wavy of six or and gules'']]
[[File:Stewart of Menteith.svg|thumb|Arms of Stewart of Menteith: ''Or, a fess chequy azure and argent, over all a label of five points gules in chief'']]
The '''Mormaer''' or '''Earl of Menteith''' was the ruler of the province of [[Menteith]] in the [[Middle Ages]]. The first mormaer is usually regarded as [[Gille Críst, Earl of Menteith|Gille Críst]] (or Gilchrist), simply because he is the earliest on record.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fraser |first1=Sir William |title=The Red Book of Menteith |date=1880 |publisher=Edinburgh|page=3 |url=https://archive.org/stream/redbookofmentev100fras#page/2/mode/2up/search/gilchrist |access-date=4 July 2018}}</ref> The title was held in a continuous line from Gille Críst until Muireadhach IV (a.k.a. [[Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany]]), although the male line was broken on two occasions. A truncated version of the earldom was given two years later to [[Malise Graham, 1st Earl of Menteith]], in compensation for loss of the [[Earl of Strathearn|Earldom of Strathearn]], which was a likely result of the execution of the [[Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany|Duke of Albany]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Nicholas|first=Harris|title=History of the Earldoms of Strathern, Monteith, and Airth|year=1842|publisher=William Pickering: Stevens and Norton: Clark, Edinburgh|pages=17–24|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofearldom00nicouoft#page/n17/mode/2up}}</ref>

==List of holders==
===First line of mormaers/earls===
[[File:Mary Menteith & Walter Bailloch.jpg|thumb|200px|Effigy of Mary Menteith and Walter Bailloch Stewart. The arms depict Stewart distinguished by a label of five.]]

*[[Gille Críst, Earl of Menteith]] (Gilcrist) (d. 1189)
*[[Muireadhach I, Earl of Menteith]] (d. 1213)
*[[Muireadhach II, Earl of Menteith]] (d. 1234)
*[[Isabella, Countess of Menteith]]
**m. [[Walter Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, jure uxoris Earl of Menteith|Walter Comyn, Lord of Badenoch]] assumed the peerage in her right.
*[[Mary I, Countess of Menteith]]
**m. [[Walter Bailloch|Walter "Bailloch" Stewart]]

===Second line, Stewarts of Menteith===
*[[Alexander, Earl of Menteith]]  
*[[Alan, Earl of Menteith]]
*[[Alan II, Earl of Menteith]]
*[[Muireadhach III, Earl of Menteith]]  (d. 1332)
*[[Mary Menteith, Countess of Menteith]]
**m. [[John Graham, Earl of Menteith|Sir John Graham]] assumed the peerage in her right.
*[[Margaret, Countess of Menteith]] 
**m. [[Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany]] 
*[[Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany|Muireadhach IV Stewart, Earl of Menteith]], executed in 1425 and the peerages forfeited.

===Third line, Grahams of Menteith===
*[[Malise Graham, 1st Earl of Menteith]] (1406–1490) 
*[[Alexander Graham, 2nd Earl of Menteith]] (c. 1475–c. 1537)
*[[William Graham, 3rd Earl of Menteith]] (c. 1500–c. 1543)
*[[John Graham, 4th Earl of Menteith]] (c. 1529–c. 1565)
*[[William Graham, 5th Earl of Menteith]] (c. 1555–c. 1578)
*[[John Graham, 6th Earl of Menteith]] (c. 1571–c. 1598)  
*[[William Graham, 7th Earl of Menteith]] (c. 1591–1661), also created [[Earl of Airth]] in 1633
*[[William Graham, 8th Earl of Menteith]] (c. 1634–1694), extinct or dormant after his death on 12 September 1694

==See also==
*[[Stuart-Menteth Baronets]] 
The '''Stuart-Menteth Baronetcy''', of Closeburn in the County of Dumfries and Mansfield in the County of Ayr, is a title in the [[Baronetage of the United Kingdom]]. It was created on 11 August 1838 for Charles Stuart-Menteth. The Stuart-Menteth family traces its descent from [[Walter Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Menteith|Walter Comyn]] (third son of [[William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan|Walter Comyn]], [[Justiciar of Scotia]]), who in 1258 married [[Isabella, Countess of Menteith]] (or Menteth).

==References==
{{reflist}}
* [[James Balfour Paul|Paul, James Balfour]], ''[[The Scots Peerage]]'', Vol. VI, (Edinburgh, 1909)
* Roberts, John L., ''Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages'', (Edinburgh, 1997), p.&nbsp;52
* Clan Campbell Society of North America [http://www.ccsna.org/septs.htm#A22 CCSNA.org, information on the Macoran sept] that began in the latter half of the 17th century under the protection of the Earl of Menteith, who later gave this young Campbell of [[Earl of Melfort|Melfort]] a farm at Inchanoch.  That Macoran / Campbell married a Miss Haldane, niece of Haldane of Lanrick, and the family prospered.

{{Mormaer}}
{{Earls of Menteith}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menteith}}
[[Category:Extinct earldoms in the Peerage of Scotland]]
[[Category:Earls or mormaers of Menteith| ]]
[[Category:History of the Scottish Highlands]]
[[Category:People associated with Stirling (council area)]]
[[Category:History of Stirling (council area)]]
[[Category:Dormant earldoms in the Peerage of Scotland]]
[[Category:Clan Graham]]