page_title: Earl of Lennox
section_title: Ancient earls
hierarchical_section_title: Earl of Lennox / Ancient earls
caption_attribution_description: Loch Lomond
context_page_description: The Earl or Mormaer of Lennox was the ruler of the district of the Lennox in western Scotland.
context_section_description: The first earl recorded is Ailin I, sometimes called 'Alwin'. He is traditionally said to have been created Earl of Lennox by King Malcolm IV in 1154, but this is likely too early a date. [Note: Other sources say Arkil (Arkyll) was the first mormaer. He fled Northumberland for Scotland about 1070 and was made Mormaer of Levenax by Malcolm. That title was in the 12th century changed to earl of Lennox.] The earldom may in fact have been created in the late twelfth century by King William the Lion for his brother David, and after David gained the higher title Earl of Huntingdon, he resigned the Earldom of Lennox and it passed to Ailin.
  Earl Ailin's parentage and background is unknown. His line continued as Earls of Lennox until the time of Earl Duncan in the fifteenth century. Duncan's daughter Isabella married Murdoch, son of Robert, Duke of Albany. Duncan hoped this marriage would improve the family's prospects, but it would in fact be their downfall. Duke Robert had infamously murdered David, the heir to the throne, and when David's brother James became king, he wreaked his vengeance: almost the entire family were executed, including Earl Duncan, despite the fact he had had no part in the murder.
  Isabella was imprisoned in Tantallon Castle, but she escaped execution, and succeeded her father as Countess of Lennox. All four of her sons died in her lifetime: two from King James's retribution, and two from natural causes. She had several grandsons, but none of them were legitimate, and the earldom therefore died with her around the year 1457.
caption: Loch Lomond, the heart of the Lennox
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