Hugh Abernethy (nobleman)

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Sir Hugh Abernethy (also Hugh of Abernethy ) († 1291 or 1292) was a Scottish nobleman.

origin

Sir Hugh Abernethy was an important baron with extensive holdings in Fife , Angus and northern Perthshire , and was considered the most important baron in Fife. He was politically active since the 1250s. When his liege, Malcolm, 6th Earl of Fife, supported the overthrow of the Regency Council led by Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith in 1255 , he got into an argument with Abernethy and several other vassals who supported Comyn. Abernethy belonged to the armed forces with other local nobles, with whose help Walter Comyn settled on October 29, 1255 in Kinross of the young king Alexander III. empowered. When several Scottish magnates, including the Earl of Fife, 1260 Isabella, Countess of Menteith , urged the widow of Walter Comyn to surrender her title and lands, Abernethy obtained extensive land holdings at Aberfoyle . When after the death of Colban, 7th Earl of Fife around 1270 a long minority administration was established for Fife, Abernethy took advantage of this to get stronger contacts with the king and other magnates himself. Subsequently, Abernethy temporarily served as sheriff of Roxburghshire and witnessed numerous documents from Alexander III in the 1260s and 1270s. The king had rewarded him with several fiefs and gifts of money, and after 1271 Abernethy was allowed to marry Mary († 1302), a daughter of Ewen of Argyll . She was widowed twice after her first two husbands were King Magnus III. of Man and Malise, 5th Earl of Strathearn, had died.

Conflict with the Earl of Fife

Hugh was a descendant of Hugh, a son of Gille Micheil, 2nd Earl of Fife and thus belonged to the extensive MacDuff family . After the young Duncan, 8th Earl of Fife came of age in 1284, he may have wanted to assert his authority over the MacDuffs and thus also over Abernethy after his long minority. Earl Duncan's estates adjoined Abernethy's and there appears to have been a dispute between the two of them. Since it was in Scotland after the death of Alexander III. Having come to an interregnum in 1286 , Abernethy had little chance of asserting himself against Earl Duncan's claims. He could not turn to the king or to the Regency Council, since Earl Duncan was a Guardian . The influential Alexander Comyn, 6th Earl of Buchan , with whom he was on good terms, died in the summer of 1289.

Assassination of the Earl of Fife and imprisonment

On September 10, 1289, Abernethy murdered the Earl of Fife in an ambush near Brechin . He was assisted by Walter Percy , another vassal of the earl. Perhaps Abernethy hoped the remaining Guardians would not punish the murder severely. However, this was not the case. Percy and Abernethy were captured. Percy was convicted and executed, Abernethy imprisoned in Douglas Castle . In doing so, the Guardians demonstrated that they would severely punish such feuds. However, given the unstable political situation in Scotland after the death of the heir to the throne Margaret , Abernethy was not charged and his possessions were not confiscated. He was believed to have been taken from Douglas Castle to an unknown royal castle, where he was believed to remain imprisoned until his death. His widow Mary married the English baron William Fitzwaren after his death .

family

With his wife Mary, Abernethy had at least one son who became his heir:

Consequences of the murder

The murder of one of the Guardians during a feud highlighted the instability Scotland found itself in during the interregnum. Given Abernethy's ties to the Comyn family, the Earls of Mar and Atholl saw their own possessions threatened, which reinforced their support for Robert de Brus' claim to the throne .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 52.
  2. ^ Archibald AM Duncan: Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (The Edinburgh History of Scotland; Vol. I ). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1975. ISBN 0-05-00203-7-4 , p. 583.
  3. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 62.
  4. ^ Alan Young: Noble Families and Political Factions in the Reign of Alexander III . In: Norman H. Reid (ed.): Scotland in the Reign of Alexander III, 1249-1286 . Edinburgh, John Donald 1990, ISBN 0-85976-218-1 , p. 12.
  5. ↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 6.
  6. ^ A b Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 9.
  7. ↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 7.
  8. ↑ Cynthia J. Neville: The earls of Strathearn from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, with an edition of their written acts . Dissertation, University of Aberdeen, 1983, p. 113.
  9. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 27.
personal data
SURNAME Abernethy, Hugh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abernethy, Sir Hugh; Hugh of Abernethy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH 1291 or 1292