Alexander Bruce (clergyman)

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Alexander Bruce († February 17, 1307 in Carlisle ) was a Scottish clergyman and rebel.

Origin and advancement as a clergyman

Alexander Bruce came from the Scottish Bruce family . He was a younger son of Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick and his wife Marjorie, Countess of Carrick . As a younger son, Alexander was to become a clergyman and studied at Cambridge University . His older brother Robert Bruce had submitted to the English King Edward I during the Scottish War of Independence in 1302 and fought on the English side for the next few years. Alexander benefited from his brother's change of sides and received a spiritual benefice from the English king . He was considered an excellent student and is said to have had an excellent career as a scholar. In the first half of 1303 he obtained a Master of Arts degree , the cost of the celebration was borne by his brother Robert Bruce. In 1306 he became Dean of Glasgow , probably with the support of the English King .

Supporting his brother's rebellion and death

Robert Bruce, however, rebelled against English supremacy in Scotland from March 1306 and rose himself to be King of the Scots. However, he was defeated by the English in the summer of 1306 and had to flee to western Scotland and probably on to the Hebrides or Ulster . Alexander supported his brother. Together with his brother Thomas , he presumably served as Robert's envoy to ask Irish chiefs for support in the fight against the English. At the beginning of February 1307, Robert sent him along with Thomas, Reginald Crawford and Malcolm MacQuillan, Lord of Kintyre, as an advance division to south-west Scotland. They landed in Galloway with a small force on February 9, 1307 . There they should try to get support from the local population. The company ended in utter disaster. They were quickly captured by the English-side Dungal Macdowell . Macdouall had MacQuillan and other less important prisoners immediately executed and their severed heads sent to the Prince of Wales . However, Alexander and Thomas were extradited to the English king alive. The seriously wounded Alexander was first sent to the Prince of Wales in Wetheral in Cumberland . From there he was to the execution to Edward I of Carlisle brought. There he was hanged and beheaded on the orders of the king. The contemporary English poet Robert Mannyng described the tragic end of Alexander, whom he described as the best student of his time at Cambridge.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 74.
  2. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 203.
  3. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 104.
  4. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 510.
  5. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 113
  6. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, pp. 240-242.
personal data
SURNAME Bruce, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish clergyman and rebel
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH on February 17, 1307
Place of death Carlisle