The Making and Breaking of a Comital Family: Malcolm Fleming, First Earl of Wigtown, and Thomas Fleming, Second Earl of Wigtown. Part 1: The Making of an Earl: Malcolm Fleming

Abstract

The first part of a two-part study of the 14th-century Fleming earls of Wigtown, this paper explores the rise of Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld and Lenzie in the service of King Robert I. It traces the career of a significant administrative officer in Bruce service, exploring his establishment by Robert I as a key figure in the region around Glasgow, in possession of properties that extended from the Clyde valley near Motherwell round to Dumbarton, whose castle he held by virtue of his tenure of the office of sheriff. The paper explores his pivotal role in the survival of the Bruce cause after the disasters of 1332/3 and his complex relationship with the Steward in the period 1332-42. It considers the development of his powerbase in the south-west mainland, originally in Carrick but, following the return of King David II from exile in France in 1342, into western Galloway, where David made him 1st earl of Wigtown. The first part concludes with discussion of Malcolm's role in David II's government down to 1342.