William Sutherland, fifth earl of Sutherland (d. 1370/71)

He succeded as earl of Sutherland in 1333. When King David II returned to Scotland in 1342 after nine years in France, Sutherland clearly found considerable favour with the king, who gave him his sister Margaret in marriage (papal dispensation was given at the end of 1342). Sutherland must be the king’s brother-in-law whom Froissart calls earl of Orkney in § 152 of Book I. Penman (note 41) suggests that, while incorrect, this title attributed by Froissart may be indicative of Sutherland’s ambitions at the time. Sutherland was taken prisonner at the battle of Neville’s Cross in October 1346 and spent several years in English captivity.

Bibliographic References:

A. A. M. Duncan, ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense: David II and Edward III, 1346–52’, Scottish Historical Review, 67 (1988), 113–41 (p. 115); C. A. McGladdery, ‘Sutherland family (per. c.120–1510)’, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54333; Michael A. Penman, ‘The Scots at the Battle of Neville’s Cross, 17 October 1346’, Scottish Historical Review, 80 (2001), 157–80.

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