Sir Walter Leslie was a 14th century Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 nobleman

Nobility

Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

 and crusader. Along with his brother Norman Leslie, he participated in a 1356 reysa against the Prussians. He had returned by 1356. On 25 November 1363, King David II of Scotland

David II of Scotland

David II was King of Scots from 7 June 1329 until his death.-Early life:...

 obtained from King Edward III of England

Edward III of England

Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

 a safe-conduct for Walter and Norman to travel to the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

. They traveled via Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

; they appear as witnesses to a deal signed by the authorities of Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 with the notorious English "White Band", a group of English mercenaries who had fought in the Hundred Years War plying their trade in Italy. Walter and Norman eventually joined the crusade of King Peter I of Cyprus

Peter I of Cyprus

Peter I of Cyprus or Pierre I de Lusignan was King of Cyprus, and Titular King of Jerusalem from his father's abdication on 24 November 1358 until his own death in 1369. He was also Latin King of Armenia from either 1361 or 1368...

, as the latter attacked the Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

ian city of Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

. The city was captured, but King Peter was unable to hold it, and abandoned the city after looting it.

Walter returned to Scotland in 1366, and was warmly welcomed back by King David. The king was fascinated by the cult of the crusader, and Walter's previous exploits had already made him one of the royal favorites. As a reward for his latest adventures, King David married him to Euphemia

Euphemia I, Countess of Ross

Euphemia I , also called Euphemia of Ross and Euphemia Ross, and sometimes incorrectly styled Euphemia Leslie and Euphemia Stewart , was a Countess of Ross in her own right.Euphemia was the elder daughter of Uilleam III, Mormaer of Ross...

, daughter and heiress to Uilleam III, Earl of Ross

Uilleam III, Earl of Ross

Uilleam III of Ross was the fourth successor of Ferchar mac in tSagairt, as Mormaer of Ross .Uilleam came into his inheritance at a torrid time, his father Aodh dying at the Battle of Halidon Hill. Uilleam temporarily lost many of his lands. However, he returned from Norway in 1336 and regained them...

, who was bullied by David into allowing the marriage. The marriage took place on 13 September the same year. When King David died in 1371, Walter may have been worried that the new king, Robert Stewart

Robert II of Scotland

Robert II became King of Scots in 1371 as the first monarch of the House of Stewart. He was the son of Walter Stewart, hereditary High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert I and of his first wife Isabella of Mar...

, who was an ally of Earl Uilleam's, may have rescinded the patronage. However, the new king did not, and when Earl Uilleam died in 1372, his wife inherited the title, and he became Lord of Ross.

Walter died at Perth on 27 February 1382. He left two children, Alexander

Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross

Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross was a Scottish nobleman. Born between 1367 and 1382, he was the son of Walter Leslie, Lord of Ross and Euphemia I, Countess of Ross. In around 1394 he became Earl of Ross and sometime before 1398 he married Isabel Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany....

 (the future Earl of Ross

Earl of Ross

The Mormaer or Earl of Ross was the leader of a medieval Gaelic lordship in northern Scotland, roughly between the River Oykel and the River Beauly.-Origins and transfers:...

) and Mariota

Mariota, Countess of Ross

Mariota, Countess of Ross was the daughter of Euphemia I, Countess of Ross and her husband, the crusading war-hero Walter Leslie, Lord of Ross...

, who would marry Domhnall, Lord of the Isles. Although Alexander did eventually inherit the Earldom, after Walter's death, de facto control of the Ross passed temporarily into the hands of Alexander Stewart, Lord of Badenoch

Lord of Badenoch

The Lord of Badenoch was a magnate who ruled the lordship of Badenoch in the 13th century and early 14th century. The lordship may have been created out of the territory of the Meic Uilleim, after William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan, Justiciar of Scotia and Warden of Moray defeated Gille...

, who married Countess Euphemia.