The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Medieval Scotland 1300-1455

During the century and a half of their power, the Black Douglases earned fame as Scotland's champions in the front line of the war against England. On their shields they bore the bloody heart of Robert the Bruce, the symbol of their claim to be the protectors of the hero-king's legacy. But others saw the power of these lords and earls of Douglas differently. To their critics, the clan was lawless, arrogant, and violent, their power resting on coercion and defiance--the Douglases spelled disorder in the kingdom.The Black Douglases examines aristocratic power and its place in Scottish political society through the greatest and most notorious magnate dynasty of late medieval Scotland. Emphasizing the link between warfare and political power, author Michael Brown analyzes the rise and fall of the family as the dominant magnates of the south, from the deeds of the Good Sir James Douglas in the service of Bruce to the violent destruction of the Douglas earls in the 1450's.