Isabella of Mar, Countess of Carrick

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

Isabella of Mar with her husband from the Forman Armorial, produced for Mary, Queen of Scots in 1562; Credit – Wikipedia

Isabella of Mar was the first wife of Robert I (the Bruce), King of Scots, but she died before her husband became king. She was born about 1277 at Kildrummy Castle and was the daughter of Domhnall (Donald), 6th Earl of Mar and Elen the Younger ferch Llywelyn, an illegitimate daughter of the de facto Prince of Wales, Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn the Great), Prince of Gwynedd and Prince of Powys Wenwynwyn.

Isabella’s father was the Earl of Mar, in Gaelic, the Mormaer of Mar. A mormaer was a regional or provincial ruler, second only to the King of Scots, and more senior than a taoiseach or chieftain. Mormaers were equivalent to English earls. Mar was located in present-day Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Kildrummy Castle near Kildrummy in Aberdeenshire, Scotland was the Mar family seat.

Ruins of Kildrummy Castle; Photo Credit – By Van de Beek – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4644660

Isabella’s father Domhnall was very involved in the politics of Scotland. He was knighted by King Alexander III of Scotland in 1270 and succeeded his father as the 6th Earl of Mar in 1281. In the same year, his name appeared with that of other Scottish nobles on the marriage contract between King Eric II of Norway and Margaret, the only daughter of King Alexander III. In 1284, he was among those who recognized the daughter of this marriage, Margaret, Maid of Norway, as the heir to the throne of her grandfather King Alexander III of Scotland if he died without a male heir.

Isabella had at least five siblings:

After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway in 1290, Domhnall, 6th Earl of Mar became one of the first Scottish nobles who supported the claim of Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick to the throne of Scotland. Domhnall saw a great advantage to his family if one of his daughters married Robert. In 1295, Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick and Isabella of Mar married. Shortly after the wedding, Isabella became pregnant. Nineteen-year-old Isabella had a healthy pregnancy but died soon after giving birth to a daughter named Marjorie on December 12, 1296, at the Manor of Cardross in Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Isabella was buried at Paisley Abbey in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, but her tomb has not survived.

Isabella’s daughter, Princess Marjorie, once her father became Robert I, King of Scots in 1306, married Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland in 1315. On March 2, 1316, pregnant Marjorie, who was pregnant, was riding in Paisley, Renfrewshire. Her horse was suddenly startled and threw her to the ground. Marjorie went into premature labor and her child Robert was delivered by caesarean section at Paisley Abbey. Marjorie died within a few hours. She was 19-years-old at the time of her death, like her mother, who was the same age when she died in childbirth and like her mother, was also buried at Paisley Abbey. Her son became Robert II, King of Scots, the first monarch of the House of Stewart. Marjorie’s descendants include the House of Stuart, all their successors on the thrones of Scotland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, and many other European royal families.

Tomb of Majorie Bruce at Paisley Abbey; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

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