William, 6th Earl of Douglas (c. 1424 – 24 November 1440) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

nobleman. In addition to his Earldom of Douglas, he was Earl of Wigtown,

Lord of Galloway The lords of Galloway consisted of a dynasty of heirs who were lords (or kings) and ladies who ruled over Galloway in southwest Scotland, mainly during the High Middle Ages. Many regions of Scotland, including Galloway and Moray, periodically ...

, Lord of Bothwell, Selkirk and

Ettrick Forest Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk ( gd, Siorrachd Shalcraig) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfrie ...

, Eskdale, Lauderdale, and Annandale in Scotland, and ''de jure'' Duke of Touraine,

Count of Longueville Count of Longueville is a French noble title, whose holder had the fiefdom of the Longueville-sur-Scie, County of Longueville. The County was erected into a Duchy in 1505. Origins The Lordship of Longueville-sur-Scie, Longueville was a fief th ...

, and Lord of

Dun-le-roi Dun-sur-Auron (, literally ''Dun on Auron'') is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Geography A farming area comprising a small town and a couple of hamlets situated by the banks of both the Auron and ...

in France. He was the eldest son of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas and Lady Eupheme Graham. He married Lady Janet Lindsay, daughter of David, Earl of Crawford, and succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father, who had served as regent of

James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...

. Following Archibald Douglas's death, Sir William Crichton, Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar, and James Douglas, Earl of Avondale (William Douglas's great-uncle) shared power. Together they conspired to break the power of the late Archibald Douglas's family, and summoned William and his younger brother David to

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

. The so-called ' Black Dinner' which followed saw the two boys summarily beheaded on trumped-up charges, over the protests of the young King

. The lordships of Annandale and Bothwell fell to the crown; Galloway to

Margaret Douglas Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (8 October 1515 – 7 March 1578), was the daughter of the Scottish queen dowager Margaret Tudor and her second husband Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. In her youth she was high in the favour of her unc ...

(William Douglas's sister), and the Douglas lands and earldom passed to William's great-uncle James Douglas, the Earl of Avondale, who was accordingly seen later as the main perpetrator.

In popular culture

S. R. Crockett Samuel Rutherford Crockett (24 September 1859 – 16 April 1914), who published under the name "S. R. Crockett", was a Scottish novelist. Life and work He was born at Balmaghie, Little Duchrae, Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway on 24 Se ...

based his book, ''The Black Douglas'' on the death of William. * His death at the "Black Dinner" served as one of the inspirations for " The Red Wedding" in George R. R. Martin's ''

A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, '' A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who in ...

''.

References

*
thepeerage.com
1424 births 1440 deaths William Douglas, 06th Earl of Douglas Earls of Douglas Dukes of Touraine Counts of Longueville Executed Scottish people People executed by Stuart Scotland People executed by the Kingdom of Scotland by decapitation {{Scotland-earl-stub