Gilchrist de Menteith, 1st Earl of Menteith

Gilchrist is the first known Earl of Menteith. As the owner of this extensive and valuable earldom, he must have been a nobleman of great power and influence; and, indeed, those ancient Earls of Scotland, wielding almost sovereign power over extensive territories, have been called monarchs in miniature. The charter of creation of his earldom is not known to exist, and in the absence of any other authentic evidence, it can only be conjectured that the ancient earldom included the larger portion of the district now known as Menteith.

Family

• 1. Eva de Menteith, Countess of Menteith, b. Abt 1170, d. Yes, date unknown
• 2. Murdach or Maurice ‘the elder’, 2nd Earl of Menteith, b. Abt 1170, d. Bef 1213 (Age ~ 42 years)
• + 3. Maurice 'the younger', 3rd Earl of Menteith, b. Perthshire, Scotland d. Bef Jan 1233-1234

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gille_Cr%C3%ADst,_Earl_of_Menteith

Gille Críst is the first known Mormaer (in Scotland, a regional or provincial ruler, equivalent to Latin comes, French comte and English earl) of Menteith, but almost certainly not actually the first. He is named in a charter of King Máel Coluim IV, dated to 1164, regarding the restoration of Scone Priory, which had recently been destroyed by fire. He appears again in a charter of King William the Lion, dated 1175x1178, as one of the witnesses to a grant of privileges to the newly established burgh of Glasgow.

Gille Críst had two known sons, Muireadhach Mór and Muireadhach Óg. He also had a daughter, Éua, who married Ailín II, Earl of Lennox.

Gille Críst had died by 1189/1198, when Muireadhach Mór appears as Mormaer for the first time.

Notes

• He served as Heritable Justiciar of Kintyre.
• He witnessed charters of William I in 1164.
• Of the original line of the Earls of Menteith only three are known—Gilchrist, Murdoch, and Maurice. On the death of Earl Maurice, about the year 1226, his title and estates descended to his daughter, Isabella, the wife of Walter Comyn, second son of the first Earl of Buchan

Sources

• https://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getpe...
• 1.[S265] Colquoun_Cunningham.ged, Jamie Vans
• 2.[S285] London 1910. Alan Sutton, 1982, G E C, (London 1910. Alan Sutton, 1982)
• 3.[S327] Lakey - Genealogy, Gilbert Marlow Lakey, (http://members.cox.net/benchrest/Genealogy.html)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gille_Cr%C3%ADst,_Earl_of_Menteith
• Paul, James Balfour, The Scots Peerage, Vol. VI, (Edinburgh, 1909). Available at: Archive.org, pages 124-125.
• Roberts, John L., Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages, (Edinburgh, 1997), pp. 52