Máel Coluim II, Earl of Fife

Who was Máel Coluim II, Earl of Fife?

Máel Coluim II, was a 13th-century Mormaer of Fife who ruled the mormaerdom or earldom of Fife between 1228 and 1266. He was the nephew of Máel Coluim I, the previous mormaer, and the son of Máel Coluim I's brother Donnchadh, son of Donnchadh II.

He is one of the Scottish magnates whose name occurred as a guarantor in the Treaty of York, September 25, 1237. He participated in the famous inauguration of King Alexander III of Scotland at Scone on 13 July 1249, where the mormaers of Fife had a traditional senior role in the coronation. He played a role during the minority of Alexander III of Scotland, being appointed one of the guardians in the king, September 20, 1255.

He appears to have had a close relationship with Henry III of England, both during the minority and after, and in Scotland may have been allied with Alan Durward. He was fined in Northumberland on April 24, 1256, for not appearing before royal justices on the first day of their session, as presumably ordered. He disappears from the records after the coup against the minority administration in 1256-57, but reappears a few years later when he is recorded swearing an oath to Henry to promise to maintain the position of the young king and queen when the latter, Henry III's daughter Margaret, went to England in 1260.