GOSPATRIC II, EARL OF LOTHIAN

'Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian' or (later) 'Earl of Dunbar', (possibly died 1138), was an Anglo-Saxon noble from the early 12th century. He was the son of Gospatric I, Earl of Northumbria. In the earliest sources, occurring at dates between 1120 and 1134 he is not styled "earl", but the "brother of Dolfin", the latter style being used in his own seal. Although later accounts say that he was granted his territory by king Máel Coluim III, it seems more likely that he received his lands from his father, while his brother received much of Cumberland. As Gospatric held his lands from both King David I of Scotland and King Henry I of England it is impossible to label him either "English" or "Scottish". Gospatric enjoyed the benefits of the renewed prominence given to native Englishmen in the reign of Henry I. He and his children obtained many lands in "England"-proper, and he himself gained jurisdiction over some northern English legal duties. He appears to have attained the status of "earl" by the year 1134, when that style first appears in documentary sources. Gospatrick had four sons, Gospatric III (his successor), Adam, Edward, and Edgar. Gospatric appears to have died in 1138, which makes it likely that he died at the Battle of the Standard.

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★ Macdonald, Alastair J., "King's of the Wild Frontier? The earls of Dunbar or March, c. 1070-1435", in Steve Boardman and Alasdair Ross (eds.), ''The Exercise of Power in Medieval Scotland'', (Portland/Dublin, 2003), pp. 139-58

★ McDonald, R. Andrew, ‘Gospatric, first earl of Lothian (d. 1138)’, in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press'', 2004 accessed 22 Nov 2006