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- BIOGRAPHY
Sir William Keith added greatly to the power and possessions of the family by his marriage to Margaret, the only child and heiress of Sir John Fraser, eldest son of Alexander Fraser, High Chamberlain of Scotland, by his wife Mary, sister of Robert The Bruce. He obtained with her large estates in Kincardine or Mearns, which from this time forward became the principal residence of the Keith family.
When Sir William Keith resolved to erect a castle as a place of safety during the troubled times in which he lived, he took the precaution first of all to build a church for the parish in a more convenient place; but the Bishop of St. Andrews thought it fit to excommunicate him on the pretence that he had violated consecrated ground. Sir William, however, appealed to Pope Benedict XIII stating the whole circumstances of the case, the urgent need of such a fortress, and the compensation he had made for the site by building another church. The Pontiff, on learning the real state of matters, issued a Bull, dated 18 July 1394, decided the appeal in Sir William's favour, directing the Bishop to remove the excommunication, and to permit the baron to retain possession of the castle on the payment of a certain sum to the Church.
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