![](https://assets11.geni.com/images/external/x_com_black_16.png?1718400071)
![](https://assets10.geni.com/images/facebook_white_small_short.gif?1718400071)
Recovery and relapse In the years after 1390 King Robert recovered some measure of political influence within the kingdom by promoting his son and heir, David, earl of Carrick, as an active participant in royal government. In February 1393 the Fife guardianship was brought to an end. But although Robert technically took back full personal authority after the termination of Fife's guardianship, in reality he continued to govern in association with his brother and with Carrick. Nevertheless the period 1393-7 provides instances of his assuming a more active and assertive role. In the winter of 1395-6, for example, he moved decisively to annul Carrick's marriage to Elizabeth Dunbar, daughter of George, earl of March, a match which had been concluded without royal consent.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Stewart (24 October 1378 – 26 March 1402) was prince and heir to the throne of Scotland from 1390 and the first Duke of Rothesay from 1398. He was named after his great-great-uncle, David II of Scotland, and also held the titles of Earl of Atholl (1398–1402) and Earl of Carrick (1390–1402). He shares with his uncle and arch-rival, Robert Stewart, first Duke of Albany, the distinction of being first Dukes to be created in the Scottish Peerage. David never became King. His marriage to Marjorie Douglas, daughter of Archibald the Grim, the third Earl of Douglas, was without issue.
David Stewart, as eldest son of the King Robert III of Scotland and his Queen, Anabella Drummond, was heir to the throne of Scotland. In 1399, at the age of 21, he was appointed "Lieutenant" of the kingdom, partly due to the infirmity of his father and at a time of civil unrest and conflict with England. Although this gave him an opportunity to flex political muscle, his room for manoeuvre was significantly constrained, however, by a combination of youthful inexperience and the ultimately mortal rivalry of his uncle, Robert Stewart, who had been protector of the kingdom prior to David's lieutenancy. Albany was a ruthlessly effective politician with a well developed power base, and his designs on the throne were well understood. David's subsequent marriage to Marjorie, forming a Douglas alliance with the throne, also caused a serious rupture with George Dunbar the tenth Earl of March, whose daughter Elizabeth had originally been betrothed to the Prince. David is known to have involved himself in the political life of the kingdom, playing a role for instance in peace negotiations with John of Gaunt in the Marches.
David appears to have had an ally in his mother, the Queen, who had worked to strengthen her son's hand, arranging the great tournament of 1398 in Edinburgh when he was knighted[1] and being present, along with the king, in that same year when David was created Duke of Rothesay, in the same ceremony, performed by Walter Trail, Archbishop of St Andrews, which also created the title Duke of Albany for his uncle. But both the Queen and Archbishop were dead by 1401. His father, the King, appears to have had little ability by that date to influence events effectively.
In late February 1402, while travelling officially to St Andrews, David was arrested just outside the city in a sting operation which had been arranged by Albany, at that time in complicit alliance with Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglas. (David's father-in-law, the highly influential third Earl, had died two years before, in 1400.) The pretext for David's arrest was that his lieutenancy had expired. He was initially held captive in St Andrews Castle, and soon afterwards taken to Falkland Palace, Albany's residence in Fife. According to Bower, the prince spent the journey hooded and mounted backwards on a mule. At Falkland David remained a prisoner and shortly died there, reputedly of starvation. A few weeks later, in May 1402, a public enquiry into the circumstances of David's death exonerated Albany of all blame.
Four years later, in 1406, David's younger brother, James Stewart, succeeded Robert III as king (although at that time remaining uncrowned and in captivity in England) while Albany secured himself as de facto ruler of Scotland.
As well as featuring in relevant historical novels by Nigel Tranter, David appears as a principal character in Walter Scott's The Fair Maid of Perth.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Stewart,_Duke_of_Rothesay
Scotland, David van Prince; Earl of Carrick; Duke of Rothesay[1] Male 1378 - 1402 (23 years)
Name Scotland, David van Prince; Earl of Carrick; Duke of Rothesay
Suffix Prince; Earl of Carrick; Duke of Rothesay
Born 24 Oct 1378 Dumferline, Fife, Scotland
Died 26 Mar 1402 Falkland Castle, Fife, Scotland
Buried Lindores Abbey, Scotland F
Father Stewart, John (=king Robert III) King of Scots (1390-1406) ; Of Innermeath, b. 1337, Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland , d. 4 Apr 1406, Rothsay castle // Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
Mother Drummond, Annabella of Stobhall; Lady, b. 1340, Perth, Scotland , d. 1401, Scone, Tayside, Scotland
Married 13 Mar 1367
Family Douglas, Marjory (Mary), b. Abt 1380, d. 10 May 1421 (Age ~ 41 years)
Married 1 Feb 1400 Bothwell Church, Scotland F
Notes
E:\E-S009\genealogy\Grab_A_Site_downloads\euweb\stewart02.htm
. David Stewart, Earl of Carrick (b 24.10.1378, dsp 26.03.1402)
m1. (before 1396, div by 1400) Elizabeth Dunbar (dau of George, 10th Earl of Dunbar, 3rd Earl of March)
m2. (1400) Mary Douglas (dau of Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas)
Sources
[S395] royal_lineage.ged, June 2006.
Source: http://genealogy.richardremme.com/tng/getperson.php?personID=I37677...
Scots Peerage states David had a natural son, Nicholas. No source documentation has been found.
http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stewart_18.html
In 1395, David married Elizabeth Dunbar, the daughter of George Dunbar, Earl of March, but the Papal dispensation required because they were close relatives was never obtained, and in 1397 the couple separated.
David later married (Marjorie) Mary Douglas, daughter of Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas, to form an alliance with the Douglases, which gravely offended George Dunbar. Dunbar accordingly switched his allegiance to Henry IV of England, who then invaded Scotland, briefly capturing Edinburgh before returning to England.
1378 |
October 24, 1378
|
Dumferline, Fife, Scotland
|
|
1390 |
1390
Age 11
|
1st Earl of Carrick, Scotland (United Kingdom)
|
|
1398 |
April 28, 1398
Age 19
|
Duke of Rothesay, Scotland (United Kingdom)
|
|
September 6, 1398
Age 19
|
1st Earl Atholl, Scotland (United Kingdom)
|
||
1402 |
March 26, 1402
Age 23
|
Falkland Castle, Fife, Scotland
|
|
???? |
Lindores Abbey, Scotland
|