Helen verch Llewelyn ^{1 2 3}

  General Notes:

[HELEN] (before [1230]-after 16 Feb 1295). John of Fordun´s Scotichronicon (Continuator) records the death in 1228 of "Malcolmus comes de Fyfe" and the succession of "Malcolmus nepos eius, filius…fratris eius", adding that the latter later married "filiam Leulini regis Walliæ". The Chronicle of Melrose records the death in 1230 of "Malcolm earl of Fife" and the succession of "his nephew Malcolm, the son of his brother", adding that the latter "afterwards married the daughter of Leulin". The Chronicle of Lanercost records the death in 1229 of "comes de Fif, Malcolmus", the succession of "nepos eiusdem…Malcolmus", adding that the latter married "filia Leulini senioris domini Walliæ". The last source is the only one of the three which does not state that the new earl´s marriage was later than his succession. Her birth date is estimated on her having given birth to her known son in [1244/46], which suggests that the couple married at least ten years after Malcolm became earl. It is assumed that she was illegitimate. If she had been her father´s legitimate daughter, the absence in the sources of any reference to her descent from John King of England would be surprising. The second marriage of the widow of Malcolm Earl of Fife is confirmed by the documents under which "Elenæ comitissæ de Marre" accounted for payment of "xl s pro parte dotis suæ" in the accounts of lands formerly belonging to Duncan Earl of Fife 20 Nov 1293 and 16 Feb 1294. However, it is not certain that this widow of Earl Malcolm was the same person as his wife who was the daughter of Prince Llywelyn. The birth of Earl Malcolm´s son Colban is estimated to [1244/46]. However, Earl Malcolm´s widow had four known children by her second husband. This would mean that she gave birth to children over an approximately thirty year span, which although not impossible would be unusual. In addition, it seems unlikely that Earl Donald would have married, as his first marriage, a woman who would have been more than 35 years old.

m [firstly] [as his first wife,] MALCOLM Earl of Fife, son of DUNCAN Macduff of Fife & his wife Alice Corbet (-1266).

[m secondly (after 1266) DONALD Earl of Mar, son of WILLIAM Earl of Mar & his first wife Elizabeth Comyn of Buchan (-after 25 Jul 1297).]

[FMG/Medieval Lands]

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Helen, daughter of Llewellyn ap Iorwerth, Prince of Wales. [Magna Charta Sureties, Line 41-5]

Helen or Elen, illegitimate daughter of Llewellyn ap Iorwerth, Prince of Wales, widow of Malcolm, Earl of Fife.

[Magna Charta Sureties, Line 41b-5]

This Helen was illegitimate and born very late- shortly before Llewellyn's death.

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His [Donald 6th Earl of Mar's] wife, and mother of Isabel, was Helen, widow of Malcolm, 7th Earl of Fife, d. 1266, and daughter of Llewellyn, Prince of North Wales. Helen's first husband must have been an old man when she married him, for he succeeded his uncle in 1228. When he died, his son and heir was Colban, the 8th Earl, then under age, who had been knighted in his teens in 1264. Colban was married in his nonage, for when he died in 1270, when he could not have been more than 24, his heir was his son Duncan, aged 8. (Mr. Balfour Paul believes Colban's wife Alice was one of three daughters and co-heirs of Sir Alan Durward. If so, his issue shared with the Soulis family the descent from Alexander II of Scotland. However, since the line of his heir Duncan has died out, remaining descendants of this line would stem from younger children of Colban and Alice, if there were any.) The Helen, daughter of Llewellyn, who was successively the wife of Malcolm and of Donald, and mother of the children of both, appears clearly the daughter of Llewellyn ap Iorwerth but must not be confused with his daughter Helen, successively the wife of John le Scot, Earl of Chester, and of Robert de Quincy, whose mother was Princess Joan.

[Ancestral Roots, Line 252-30]

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He [Malcolm MacDuff 7th Earl of Fife] m. Helen, daughter of Llewellyn, Prince of Wales. He d. 1266. His widow m. Donald, Earl of Mar, who d. about 1292. She was living 1291. [Complete Peerage V:373] ⁴