Gilbert de Umfraville, 7th Earl of Angus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Funerary monument of Gilbert de Umfraville and his wife Elizabeth in Hexham Abbey

Gilbert de Umfraville, 7th Earl of Angus , 1st Baron Umfraville ( lat. Gilberto de Umfravill , * around 1244 ; † before October 13, 1307 ), was an English - Scottish nobleman .

Origin and youth

Gilbert de Umfraville came from the Umfraville family . He was the eldest son of Gilbert de Umfraville and his wife Matilda, Countess of Angus . His father, an English baron with extensive holdings in Northumberland , had acquired the Scottish title of Earl of Angus by marriage . He died in April 1245, after which his young son became the heir of his possessions as a toddler. Richard of Cornwall , a brother of King Henry III of England , applied for the guardianship of the wealthy heir . and his brother-in-law Simon de Montfort . The king finally gave the guardianship to his brother-in-law Montfort, who had offered him 10,000 marks for the administration of the inheritance . Heinrich III waived this sum. finally his brother-in-law who had an annual income of £ 330 from the guardianship administration. Under the influence of his guardian, Umfraville initially supported the aristocratic opposition to King Henry III during the Second Barons' War . However, he switched sides and supported the royal party before the decisive Battle of Evesham in 1265, in which Montfort fell. The death of Montfort released Umfraville from the obligation to pay 1200 marks to his guardian when he came of age. After the death of his father, Umfraville's mother had married Richard of Dover, Lord of Chilham, in third marriage . She died before 1267, with which Umfraville inherited the Scottish title Earl of Angus.

Activity as an English baron

After he came of age, Umfraville saw himself first as an English nobleman, despite his Scottish possessions. This was also evident in his donations: in Scotland he only made small donations for the benefit of monasteries, while he gave rich donations to the Church of Loders in Dorset . In 1277 he took part in King Edward I's campaign to Wales . During the Franco-English War from 1294 , he took part in the campaign in Gascony in 1294 . In 1295 he was appointed to a parliament by Writ of Summons , which is why he is considered Baron Umfraville . In addition to this title, he was occasionally referred to in royal correspondence as the Earl of Angus with his Scottish title as a courtesy.

Role during the succession contest in Scotland

In Scotland, as the Earl of Angus, he was one of the seven ancient Celtic earls who were said to have the right to choose the king. Nevertheless, Umfraville played in the politically troubled time after the death of King Alexander III. no major role in Scotland. In 1284 he had participated in the Scottish Parliament , in which the king's granddaughter, Margaret of Norway, was recognized as heir to the throne. After the death of Alexander III. In 1286 he was given the management of the royal castles of Dundee and Forfar . In 1290 he took part in the parliament in Birgham , which approved the marriage contract between the Scottish heir to the throne Margarete and the English heir to the throne Edward . When Margaret died in October 1290, the line of succession was completely open. Like other administrators of royal castles, Umfraville initially hesitated to hand over his castles to the English King Edward I, to whom the Scottish nobles had entrusted the decision of the succession to the throne . Eventually he accepted the English king's claim to supremacy during the trial and handed over the castles to him as long as no new king had been appointed. Together with numerous other Scottish barons, he swore allegiance to the English king as overlord on June 13, 1291. This decision was certainly easier for him because, as the English baron Edward I, he had already sworn allegiance.

Role in the Scottish War of Independence

When war broke out between Scotland and England in 1296 because of the English king's claim to suzerainty , Umfraville loyally supported the English king. He took part in the successful campaign of Edward I against Scotland. As Earl of Angus he paid homage like other Scottish nobles, including Patrick, Earl of March and Dunbar , Robert VI de Brus and his son Robert Bruce . At that time there was an incident between Umfraville's eldest son Gilbert and Sir Hugh Lowther , a member of the royal household. It is not known exactly why Gilbert attacked Lowther, but he had to compensate him. In 1298 Umfraville took part in the renewed campaign of the English king in Scotland. The English had advanced as far as Lothian . Since the Scots had destroyed the harvest and driven away the cattle, the English soldiers went hungry. The provisions brought by ships from England to Scotland were insufficient to alleviate the increasing famine of the English soldiers. To make matters worse, the English did not encounter any Scottish enemies. Then Umfraville and the Earl of Dunbar arrived and delivered the news of where the Scottish Guardian William Wallace was with the Scottish Army. The English army could now provide the Scots and defeat them in the Battle of Falkirk . In July 1299, Umfraville took part in a meeting of the English commanders in York , where they discussed the English garrisons in Scotland. After that he withdrew more and more due to his age, but remained loyal to the English king until his death.

Marriage and offspring

Before 1276 Umfraville had married Elizabeth Comyn , the third daughter of the Scottish magnate Alexander Comyn, 6th Earl of Buchan and his wife Elizabeth de Quincy . He had three sons with her:

Like his wife, he was buried in Hexham Priory , where her funerary monument has been preserved. His eldest son Gilbert had married Margaret de Clare , a daughter of the Anglo-Irish Baron Thomas de Clare . But since he had died childless in 1303, his second son Robert de Umfraville became his heir.

Allegedly Ingram de Umfraville should also be a son of him, but he was born around 1260, whereby his exact ancestry is unclear.

literature

  • James Balfour Paul (Ed.): The Scots Peerage . tape 1 . David Douglas, Edinburgh 1904, Umfraville, Earl of Angus , p. 167 f . ( online at www.archive.org [accessed September 1, 2014]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Henry Summerson: Sir Gilbert de Umfraville (d. 1245). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
  2. ^ Nicholas Harris Nicolas: A Synopsis of the Peerage of England. Volume 2, London 1825, p. 655.
  3. ↑ Thomas Rymer (Ed.): Foedera Conventiones. Literae et cuiuscunque generis Acta Publica inter Reges Angliae. London 1745, p. 228.
  4. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 49.
  5. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 389.
  6. ↑ Clan MacFarlane and associated clans genealogy: Sir Ingram de Umfraville, Guardian of Scotland. Retrieved April 8, 2015 .
  7. ^ AAM Duncan: Umfraville, Sir Ingram de (d. In or after 1321). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
predecessor Office successor
Matilda Earl of Angus
before 1267-1307 		Robert de Umfraville
New title created Baron Umfraville
1295-1307 		Robert de Umfraville
personal data
SURNAME Gilbert de Umfraville, 7th Earl of Angus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gilberto de Umfravill
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English-Scottish nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH around 1244
DATE OF DEATH before October 13, 1307