Christopher Seton

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Sir Christopher Seton (* around 1278; † after August 1306 in Dumfries ) was an English knight and rebel. He switched sides during the Scottish War of Independence , whereupon he was executed after his capture.

Origin and heritage

Christopher Seton came from a gentry family who apparently named themselves after Seton in the North Riding of Yorkshire . The Seton family belonged to the vassals of the older line of the Brus family until they died out in the male line in 1272. She was not related to the Seton family from Lothian , Scotland . Christopher Seton inherited his estates in Yorkshire and Cumberland after the death of his father, Sir John of Seton , who died before July 7, 1299 . His father had bought the estates in Cumberland from an heir of Richard Levington . In 1285 his father had been a knight in the service of Robert V de Brus from the younger line of the Brus family. He had leased land in Cumberland to this and his second wife Christina of Ireby . After the death of Christina of Ireby in 1305, these fell back to Christopher Seton.

The ruins of Loch Doon Castle, vainly defended against the English by Seton in 1306

Military service

Christopher Seton belonged in July 1296 together with the younger Robert VI de Brus to the army of King Edward I , with whom he had moved to Galloway during the war with Scotland . From at least April 1303 to March 1304, Seton belonged to the garrison of Lochmaben in Scotland under John de Botetourt . He may have come into contact with Christian Bruce († 1356), a daughter of Robert VI de Brus. She was the widow of Gartnait, 7th Earl of Mar . He married her before 1305.

Change to the Scottish side, capture and death

Through his marriage, Seton became a brother-in-law of Robert Bruce . In February 1306, Seton, along with his younger brothers Sir John Seton and Humphrey Seton, witnessed Bruce's murder of John Comyn . When Comyn's uncle, Sir Robert Comyn , tried to defend his nephew, Seton killed him with his sword. Therefore, the Seton family was declared supporters of Robert Bruce by the King of England and persecuted. Bruce was proclaimed King of Scotland a little later and entrusted Christopher Seton with the command of Loch Doon Castle , a small castle of the Brus family in Ayrshire . His brother John Seton, who had served in the English army in 1301, became commandant of Tibbers Castle , which Bruce had occupied. Seton's wife Christian stayed with her brother and was taken prisoner by Tain in Ross-shire in 1306 . Despite Bruce's defeat in the battle against the English, the garrisons of Loch Doon and Tibbers Castle resisted the English's request to surrender. From the beginning of August 1306, Loch Doon Castle was besieged by English troops and captured before August 16. Edward I had the supporters of the rebellion ruthlessly punished by Bruce. Seton was taken to Dumfries , the site of his murder of Robert Comyn. There he was dragged to the place of execution, then hanged and then beheaded. His widow later donated a chapel on the site with financial support from Robert Bruce.

Christopher Seton's marriage to Christian Bruce had remained childless. His possessions were confiscated by the English crown. His widow was imprisoned in the Sixhills Gilbertine Convent in Lincolnshire after her capture .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 208.
  2. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 229.
  3. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 438.
  4. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 230.
personal data
SURNAME Seton, Christopher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seton, Sir Christopher
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English knight and rebel
DATE OF BIRTH around 1278
DATE OF DEATH after August 1306
Place of death Dumfries