Eric, duke of Orkney

Prince Eric
Duke of Orkney Earl of Orkney Lord of Banff
Tenure	1203 - 1218
Predecessor	Walan
Successor	Walan
Born	7 December 1170 Ellon
Died	3 September 1218 (aged 47) Birsay, Orkney
Buried	Scone Abbey
Spouse(s)	Ausonia Alliata (m. 1190)
Issue Annabella, countess of Orkney Edith, lady of Banff Helen Beitris
Father	Murdoch, king of Scots
Mother	Una of Dublin

Eric mac Murdoch (7 December 1170 - 3 September 1218) was a Scottish prince of the High Middle Ages, the second son of King Murdoch of Scotland, who held power in the north of the kingdom as duke of Orkney. After a prosperous career in the service of the crown, Eric rebelled against his nephew King Edward and was killed in battle in 1218.

Life

Eric was born at Ellon, the seat of his father's earldom of Buchan, during the reign of his grandfather King Hugh. In 1176 his father succeeded to the throne. In 1178 Eric's mother, Una of Dublin, returned to her native Ireland after his father had an affair with a German woman; she did not return to Scotland until 1185. There is scant record of Eric during his youth, but he seems to have married around 1190 and his first daughter, Annabella, was baptized by the king's chaplain in 1191.

In 1192 Eric took command of his father's army during the rebellion of Gilbride II, lord of Galloway. Eric defeated Gilbride in a battle near Whithorn and then burnt the town of Dumfries to the ground to frighten the Galwegians. On King Murdoch's orders, Eric took the lord of Galloway to Jedburgh after his surrender and had him decapitated by the local executioner. In 1194, Eric led a Scottish army in the final Scottish invasion of Mercia which installed Hereweard Ælfweardsson on the throne.

Eric's career continued to prosper after the death of his father in May 1199; at the inauguration of his uncle Lulach III he was made earl of Orkney, seemingly in opposition to his older brother Walan, who had already been made "duke of Orkney" by their father. A struggle for dominance in Orkney ensued that ended when King Lulach summoned Walan to Dunfermline in December 1203 and forced him to surrender the ducal title to Eric. During his uncle's reign Eric retired from leading soldiers in the field, and instead enjoyed a pleasurable life at court, also serving as a royal councilor.

Eric was careful to ingratiate himself with his cousin Kenneth, who came to the throne in April 1217; at Kenneth's inauguration, owing to the earl of Fife's absence in England, Eric was allowed to place the royal robe of gold around his cousin's shoulders. However, Kenneth reigned only 200 days and after he succumbed to pneumonia in November, Walan's son Edward was chosen as king. Heavily influenced by his father, Edward pushed for Eric to resign his dukedom to Walan or face arrest, pushing the duke into full rebellion against his nephew.

During the first months of 1218 King Edward's loyalists defeated Eric's forces in battle, and the duke's castle of Banff in Buchan, a gift from his father, was destroyed by a royal army. In August 1218, the king assembled a fleet and launched an invasion of the island of Orkney itself, threatening the safety of Eric's wife and children in his castle at Birsay. Eric gathered nine ships and 200 men and made a desperate attempt to defeat the king by landing on his flank, but was surrounded and defeated. During the brief battle, the duke of Orkney was mortally wounded when he was trampled underfoot by a royalist horse. Eric died of his wounds on 3 September and his mangled body was allowed burial at Scone Abbey, as befitting a Scottish prince, while his non-ducal titles were divided between his daughters.