Sholto Douglas was the mythical progenitor of

Clan Douglas Clan Douglas ( Gaelic: ''Dùbhghlas'') is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands. Taking their name from Douglas in Lanarkshire, their leaders gained vast territories throughout the Borders, Angus, Lothian, Moray, and also ...

, a powerful and warlike family in medieval

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. A mythical battle took place: "in 767, between King ''

Solvathius The Scottish Renaissance humanist George Buchanan gave a long list of Scottish Kings in his history of Scotland—published in Latin as ''Rerum Scoticarum Historia'' in 1582—most of whom are now considered by historians to be figures of legend ...

'' rightful king of Scotland and a pretender ''Donald Bane''. The victory was so nearly Donald's when a certain noble man, disdaining to see so bad a cause have good successe, struck in for the king and turned the fortunes of the day. When the king inquired about the knight who had done such valuable service, somebody exclaimed 'Sholto du glasse!'...'Behold the black man!'." In the story of Sholto Douglas, his youngest son is a commander of forces sent by the mythical Scottish king Achaius, to the court of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

to aid him in his wars against

Desiderius Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. De ...

, King of the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

. Marius Douglas is said to have settled in

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

where his descendants the became powerful local magnates, and eventual leaders of the

Guelf The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centurie ...

faction of that city.Sansovino, pp. 111–117.

References

Sources

* Godscroft, David Hume of. ''Ane Historie of the House and Race of Douglas and Angus''. London 1820

* Herbert Maxwell, Maxwell, Sir Herbert. ''A History of the House of Douglas Vol.I''. Freemantle & co., London, 1902 * Sansovino, Francesco. ''Della origine e de'fatti delle famiglie illustri d'Italia''. Venice 160

European mythology, Douglas, Sholto Sholto Douglas {{Europe-myth-stub

See also

References

Sources