Before William: The Douglas Line from the Clyde Registers to the Kelso Witness Lists (1174 – 1330)

This paper reconstructs the rise of the Douglas lineage from its first attestation in the Kelso charters (1174) through its consolidation of secular and ecclesiastical power by 1455. Drawing on the Liber S. Marie de Calchou, Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, and Registrum Moraviense, it shows how the Douglases advanced simultaneously through the Moray clerical hierarchy and the baronial network of Clydesdale, culminating in the creation of the earldom of Douglas and its parliamentary dominance. The integrated Evidence Appendix provides ten text-based figures drawn directly from primary charters, abbey records, and architectural inventories. The study reframes the Douglases as both feudal and ecclesiastical actors whose lineage was rooted in the reform networks of the Clyde and Moray. Douglas, Sean (2025). Before William: The Douglas Line from the Clyde Registers to the Kelso Witness Lists (1174 – 1330). Douglas – Clyde – Arthur Research Series. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17392219