John of Islay, Earl of Ross
| John of Islay Eoin a Ile Johannes de Yle |
|
|---|---|
| Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles Comes Rossie et Dominus Insularum Iarla Rois, Triath nan Eilean |
|
| Reign | 1449–1476/1493 |
| Predecessor | Alexander of Islay |
| Heir | Angus ÓgBoth titles went initially to King James IV; his grandson Donald Dubh would claim the Lordship of the Isles in the early 16th century. |
| Born | 1434 |
| Died | 1503 Dundee |
| Burial | Either Scone or Paisley Abbey |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Livingstone |
| Issue | Angus Óg |
| House | Clan Donald |
| Father | Alexander of Islay |
| Mother | Elizabeth Seton |
John of Islay (or John MacDonald) (1434–1503) was a late medieval Scottish magnate. He was Earl of Ross and the 4th Lord of the Isles as well as being Mac Domhnaill, chief of Clan Donald. John would however prove to be the last of the Lords of the Isles, overmighty subjects of the Stewart Kings of Scotland and virtual kings in their own right in the Western Isles. His struggle for power with King James III of Scotland ended in humiliation, following which his illegitimate son Angus Óg rebelled against his rule. In a bitter civil war, John's fleet of galleys met those of Angus sometime in the early 1480s off the coast of Mull at the Battle of Bloody Bay, in which John's cause was defeated. After Bloody Bay he became an inconsequential figure; and Angus continued to dominate the affairs of Clan Donald up until his murder in 1490. In 1493 James IV brought the Lordship of the Isles to an end. John died unlamented in 1503, having witnessed the almost complete destruction of his family inheritance.
John was born to Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, and Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Seton the lord of Gordon and Huntly. He succeeded to his father's territories in 1449 while a still a minor.
Early in his life he was forced to marry a woman he did not love for a promise that was never kept. John's marriage to Elizabeth Livingstone had been determined by the usual calculations of profit and position, as were those of other important people of the time. There was one important difference with the alliance of John and Elizabeth: he came from a great landed family, she did not. Elizabeth was the daughter of Sir James Livingstone, a powerful politician during the minority of James II, but in a conservative, land-based society, a figure of no lasting significance. John, with a large and hungry following at his heels, rich as he was, always needed more land. Sir James' power was purely personal, and his daughter would not normally have been considered as a suitable match for the Lord of the Isles. It seems he was persuaded to marry her after certain unspecified promises from the king. After Livingstone fell from power in the early 1450s James refused to honour these promises. Instead of growing to love or at least respect Elizabeth, John came to loathe her.
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