Isabel (Fife) Seton (abt. 1259)

Born about 1259 in Seton, Scotland [uncertain]

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Isabel (Fife) Seton was an inhabitant of Medieval Scotland. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

Isabel was the daughter of Duncan, the ninth Earl of Fife and Joan de Clare, the daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester. She was the wife of John Comyn, the second Earl of Buchan. Isabel was later imprisoned in a room (referred to as a cage) at Berwick Castle by Edward I for exercising her familial privilege and crowning Robert Bruce.^[1]

Research Notes

No biographical information has been located regarding the birth, death, or notable events of Isabel, the daughter of Duncan MacDuff, the ninth or tenth Earl of Fife, who was the wife of Alexander Seton. Both Bruce Seton and David Dalrymple, while suggesting the possibility of this marriage, contined that^[2][3] it was unlikely, based the information provided below. While this profile had Alexander Seton attached as Isabel's husband, no additional sources were located that supported this marriage. Alexander Seton has, therefore, been detached as the husband of Isabel.

This decision was based upon the sources that are available for the "Isabel MacDuffs" in the appropriate time period. First, Isabel, daughter of Duncan MacDuff, ninth Earl of Fife, and Joan de Clare, was actually the wife of John Comyn, second Earl of Buchan.^[4][5][6][7] Another possibility was Duncan MacDuff, tenth Earl of Fife, and his wife, Mary Monthermer, who also had a daughter named Isabel who married four times, firstly to William Ramsay,^[8] then Walter Stewart,^[9] Thomas Biset, and finally John Dunbar.^[10][11] There is no evidence that Isabel was married to Alexander Seton.

This alleged marriage was referenced in the Annals of Scotland, but Dalrymple also questions the certainty of this union in a detailed analysis of the fourteenth century genealogy of the Seton family.^[3] Bruce Gordon Seton also referenced the uncertainty of this marriage, citing Dalrymple, above.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Balfour Paul, James. (1907). The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom (Vol. IV, p. 11). Edinburgh: D. Douglas. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 7 January 2022.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Seton, Bruce Gordon. (1939). The House of Seton. A Study of Lost Causes (pp. 71, 72). Edinburgh: Lindsay and Macleod. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 7 January 2022.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Dalrymple, David. (1819). Annals of Scotland: From the Accession of Malcolm III in the Year MLVII to the Accession of the House of Stewart in the Year MCCCLXXI, to Which are Added, Tracts Relative to the History and Antiquities of Scotland (Vol. II, pp. 356-362). Edinburgh: A. Constable. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 5 January 2022.
4. ↑ Cawley, C. (21 September 2020). Scotland, mormaers, earls, lords (Ch. 4, Malcolm MacDuff, 1i). Retrieved from Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: (Available online); accessed 6 January 2022.
5. ↑ Seton, Bruce Gordon. (1939). The House of Seton. A Study of Lost Causes (p. 72). Edinburgh: Lindsay and Macleod. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 5 January 2022.
6. ↑ King and Council. (abt 1330). Petitioners: John de Leycestre (Leicester). Name(s): de Leycestre (Leicester). Reference no.: SC8/261/13034. Retrieved from The National Archives, Kew (Available online); accessed 7 January 2022.
7. ↑ Bain, Joseph (Ed.). (1887). Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, 1307-1357 (Vol. III, p. 61). Edinburgh: H. M. General Register House. Retrieved from Google Play [];accessed 7 January 2022. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=KpfRAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PR1]
8. ↑ Laing, Alexaner. (1776). Lindores Abbey and its Burgh of Newburgh: Their History and Annals (p. 346). Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas. Retrieved from Genealogy Gopher (Available online); accessed 6 January 2022.
9. ↑ Anderson, William. (1860). The Scottish Nation; or, the Surnames, Families, Literature, Honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland (Vol. I, p. 33). Edinburgh: A. Fullarton & Co. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 3 January 2022.
10. ↑ Cawley, C. (21 September 2020). Scotland, mormaers, earls, lords (Ch. 4, Malcolm MacDuff, ii, a). Retrieved from Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: (Available online); accessed 6 January 2022.
11. ↑ Balfour Paul, James. (1907). The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom (Vol. IV, pp. 12, 13). Edinburgh: D. Douglas. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 7 January 2022.