Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife

Who was Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife?

Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife [Duncan IV] was sometime Guardian of Scotland, and ruled Fife until his death. He was the last of the native Scottish rulers of that province.

He was born in late 1289, the same year as his father Donnchadh III's murder. He therefore came into the Mormaerdom as a baby. He was so young that the honour of crowning John Balliol – normally the hereditary right of the Mormaer of Fife – was delegated to a knight, namely Sir John de St. John. He also missed the crowning of Robert I, owing to his captivity in England. Robert was forced to call upon Donnchadh's sister, Isabella, to officiate in his absence.

His initial support for Robert has been doubted, but in 1315, a year after the Battle of Bannockburn, he resigned his Mormaerdom to King Robert for a regrant. The agreement with Robert ensured that the Mormaerdom would not be held by the king, and that the arms of Fife should always be unique from the similar royal arms. If Donnchadh were to die childless, King Robert would grant it to someone, by default Alan of Menteith.