{{Short description|Scottish noble and crusader (died 1270)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Adam of Kilconquhar | honorific_suffix = | birth_name = | birth_place = Probably Kilconquhar in Fife, Scotland | death_date = 1271 | death_place = Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem | spouse = Marjorie, Countess of Carrick | children = Martha, the mother of Thomas Randolph | parents = | relatives = MacDuff family; the Comyns | footnotes = }}

'''Adam of Kilconquhar''' (died 1271) was a Scottish noble from the 13th century. Of Fife origin, he is notable for becoming the husband of the Countess of Carrick and participating in the Ninth Crusade under the command of Lord Edward, Duke of Gascony (future King Edward I of England).

==Background== Evidence indicates that Adam was from the MacDuff family; he was probably the son of Duncan of Kilconquhar, son of Adam (son of Duncan, Earl of Fife), who appears frequently as a witness in the documents of St Andrews Cathedral Priory as ''Adam frater comitis'', i.e. brother of Earl Duncan II.<ref>Barrow, ''Robert Bruce'', pp. 25, 331 n. 25</ref> It is likely that Adam's mother was from the Comyn family:<ref>Watt, ''Biographical Dictionary'', pp. 107&ndash;08</ref> his brother William was called 'Comyn' in his papal letter of appointment as bishop of Brechin.<ref>Watt, ''Biographical Dictionary'', p. 108</ref>

Kilconquhar in south-east Fife was the seat of this family's holdings. The feudal arrangement that evolved in the 12th and 13th centuries was complicated, in that although the Kilconquhar was held of the bishop of St Andrews, the bishop in turn held it from the earl.<ref>Barrow, ''Robert Bruce'', p. 331 n. 25</ref>

==Marriage and crusade== Adam appears to have enjoyed the favour of the Scottish king Alexander III, and married Marjorie, daughter and heiress of Niall, Earl of Carrick.<ref>Barrow, ''Robert Bruce'', p. 25</ref> He was able to use the title of earl in his wife's name, but it is unlikely that he had much role ruling the province, as Earl Neil had left the position of kindred chief (''{{lang|gd|ceann cineil}}'') to his nephew Lachlan.<ref name=MacQuarrie-58>MacQuarrie, ''Scotland and the Crusades'', p. 58</ref> Their daughter Martha, step-daughter of Robert Bruce, was the mother of Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray one of the Bruce's closest companions-in-arms.<ref>Duncan, "Randolph, Thomas"</ref>

He died at Acre in 1271, while on crusade.<ref>Anderson, ''Early Sources'', vol. ii, p. 667; MacQuarrie, ''Scotland and the Crusades'', p. 58 [for actual date]</ref> According to material in the ''Chronicle'' of John of Fordun, he had been a participant in the Eighth Crusade.<ref name=MacQuarrie-58/> He had been one of a small Scottish contingent that attacked Tunis in 1270, where fellow-Scot and fellow-MacDuff David, Earl of Atholl died.<ref name=MacQuarrie-125>MacQuarrie, ''Scotland and the Crusades'', p. 125</ref> Adam survived, and withdrew with the rest to winter in Sicily.<ref name=MacQuarrie-125/> The following spring the contingent joined with the army of Lord Edward and proceeded to Acre, where Adam was taken by disease.<ref name=MacQuarrie-125/> Adam's widow Marjorie went on to marry her husband's companion-in-arms Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== {{refbegin}} * {{citation |editor-last=Anderson |editor-first=Alan Orr | editor-link = Alan Orr Anderson | title=Early Sources of Scottish History A.D. 500 to 1286 (2 vols) |year=1922 |publisher=Oliver and Boyd |location=Edinburgh }} * {{citation |last= Barrow |first= G. W. S. |author-link= G. W. S. Barrow |title= Robert Bruce & The Community of the Realm of Scotland |year= 1988 | edition = 3rd |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=0-85224-539-4}} * {{cite ODNB |last=Duncan |first=A. A. M. |author-link= A. A. M. Duncan |contribution=Randolph, Thomas, first earl of Moray (d. 1332), soldier and guardian of Scotland |year=2004 |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/23121 |url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23121 |access-date=9 October 2010}} * {{citation |last=MacQuarrie |first=Alan |title=Scotland and the Crusades, 1095&ndash;1560 |publisher=John Donald Publishers Ltd |year=1997 |location=Edinburgh |isbn=0-85976-445-1}} * {{citation | last = Watt | first = D. E. R. | author-link = D. E. R. Watt | title = A Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Graduates to A.D. 1410 | publisher = Clarendon Press | year = 1977 | location = Oxford | isbn = 0-19-822447-8 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000watt }} {{refend}}

{{Earls of Carrick}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilconquhar, Adam Of}} Category:13th-century births Category:1271 deaths Category:Nobility from Fife Category:13th-century Scottish nobility Category:Christians of the Eighth Crusade Category:Christians of Lord Edward's crusade Adam Category:Medieval Gaels from Scotland Category:Scottish soldiers Category:Earls or mormaers of Carrick