Colban, Earl of Fife

Arms possibly borne by Earl Colban, as shown (without colour) on his seal

Colban, Earl of Fife (d. 1270/2) was ruler of Fife in Scotland. The son of Earl Malcolm and his wife Elen ferch Llywelyn, he succeeded his father while still a teenager on Malcolm's death in 1266. He had been knighted by King Alexander III in 1264.

His wife's name was Anna, and she was likely one of the three daughters and coheiresses of Sir Alan Durward. Colban and Anna had a son, Duncan, who succeeded as Earl of Fife at the age of eight, and a daughter, Marjory, who married Alan, Earl of Menteith. Colban died while still a young man. His date of death is disputed, and depends on what evidence one interprets. G.W.S. Barrow gives 1272, but Bannerman gives 1270.

Ancestry

Family of Colban, Earl of Fife

16. Duncan, Earl of Fife               8. Duncan, Earl of Fife                       4. Duncan                             9. Ela                       2. Malcolm, Earl of Fife                                   10. Walter Corbet of Makerstoun                       5. Alice Corbet                             1. Colban, Earl of Fife                                         24. Owain, Prince of Gwynedd               12. Iorwerth                       25. Gladys ferch Llywarch               6. Llywelyn, Prince of Wales                             26. Madog, Prince of Powys               13. Marared ferch Madog                       27. Susanna ferch Gruffudd               3. Elen ferch Llywelyn                                   28. Henry II, King of England               14. John, King of England                       29. Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine               7. Joan of England                             15. Clemence

Bibliography

• Grant, Rev'd Alexander, "The Ancient Earls of Fife", in Sir James Balfour Paul (ed.) The Scots Peerage, Volume IV, (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 10-11
• Bannerman, John, "MacDuff of Fife," in A. Grant & K.Stringer (eds.) Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays Presented to G.W.S. Barrow, (Edinburgh, 1993), pp. 20–38
• Barrow, G. W. S., The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century, (Edinburgh, 2003)
• Ravilious, J., "The Earls of Menteith: Murdoch, Earl of Menteith and the Ferrers family of Groby", The Scottish Genealogist (March 2013), Vol. LX, No. 1, pp. 12–25.
• Hammond, Matthew, "Hostiarii Regis Scotie: the Durward family in the thirteenth century," in Steve Boardman and Alasdair Ross, eds., The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland, c. 1200-1500 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2003), pp. 118-138

Preceded by Malcolm

Earl of Fife 1266 – 1270/2

Succeeded by Duncan