Уильям Синклер: Норвеж-шотландиялық ақсүйек және Рослин капелласының құрылғышысы

Norwegian Scottish nobleman

William Sinclair (1410–1480), 1st Earl of Caithness (1455–1476), last Earl (Jarl) of Orkney (1434–1470 de facto, –1472 de jure), 2nd Lord Sinclair and 11th Baron of Roslin was a Norwegian and Scottish nobleman and the builder of Rosslyn Chapel, in Midlothian. In The Scots Peerage by James Balfour Paul he is designated as the 1st Lord Sinclair, but historian Roland Saint Clair designates him the 2nd Lord Sinclair in reference to his father, Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, being the first person recorded as Lord Sinclair by public records.

He was the son of Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and Egidia Douglas, daughter of Sir William Douglas of Nithsdale and maternal granddaughter of Robert II of Scotland. He was also the grandson of Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney. His father Henry, who had been a de facto Jarl of Orkney, died in 1420; William travelled to Copenhagen in 1422 to establish his claim to the Jarldom, but David Menzies was appointed instead, to rule as William's guardian until he came of age. In 1424, William succeeded in wresting de facto control of the earldom from his guardian, but it was not until 1434 that he was acknowledged as Jarl of Orkney by King Eric VII of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, sovereign of Orkney.

On succeeding to the Earldom of Orkney, William had barely been in possession of it for a year when he was one of five earls selected to be among twenty hostages, proposed on 31 May 1421, for the redemption of James I of Scotland. When that redemption could not be obtained, he was then placed on the list of nobles who received a passport to visit James I, who was then a prisoner in England. The earl received a safe conduct for himself and twenty four persons. James I returned to Scotland in 1424 and he was met at Durham by the Earl of Orkney as well as the Earls of Lennox, Wigtown, Moray, Crawford, March, Angus and Stratherne. In the same year the Earl of Orkney was called to the Norwegian Riksråd to take the oath of Christopher of Bavaria who was the successor of King Eric of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The same year the Earl of Orkney appears obtaining the patronage of the chapel of Saint Duthac in Kirkwall. in return for William quitclaiming his rights in Orkney and Shetland, an offer William accepted.