John of Strathbogie, 9th Earl of Atholl

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Coat of arms of the Earls of Atholl

John of Strathbogie, 9th Earl of Atholl (* around 1260; † November 7, 1306 in London ) was a Scottish magnate .

Origin and youth

John of Strathbogie was a son of David of Strathbogie, 8th Earl of Atholl and his wife Forueleth . His father died as a crusader off Tunis in 1270 . His father had married Isabella Chilham in his second marriage . She was the heiress of lands in Kent and a great-granddaughter of King John Ohneland of England . After the death of John's father, she married Alexander de Balliol from Cavers , who also took over the guardianship of the underage John. John of Strathbogie probably came of age before 1284 and inherited his father's inheritance, which included Atholl in the Highlands and Strathbogie in Aberdeenshire , as well as the title of Earl of Atholl .

Role in the Scottish succession dispute

When in October 1290 the aspirant to the throne Margarete , the granddaughter of King Alexander III, who died in 1286 . died, the line of succession was completely open. Atholl supported along with his father Domhnall, 6th Earl of Mar the claim to the throne of Robert de Brus . Strathbogie and Mar united their troops at Perth with those of Brus, which threatened a war of succession against the Comyn family and their supporters. John Comyn of Badenoch had taken over part of his offices after the murder of the Earl of Fife . Perhaps Atholl felt threatened by Comyn's dominant position in northern Scotland, so he backed Brus' claim to the throne against the claim of Comyn-backed John Balliol . The Guardians of Scotland managed to prevent a civil war. A court assembly chaired by the English King Edward I was to decide on the succession to the throne . Like Mar, Atholl was one of the representatives whom Brus nominated for the assembly in June 1291. When the congregation finally proclaimed John Balliol king in November 1292, Atholl was present at the homage the new Scottish king paid to the English king.

Military in the Scottish War of Independence

The question of English sovereignty led to a break between John Balliol and Edward I. In February 1296, Atholl testified to the alliance between Scotland and France , which led to war against England . At the beginning of the war, Atholl and the Earl of Buchan raided northern England. Then he was one of the leaders of the force that occupied Dunbar Castle . When the castle was handed over to the English after the Battle of Dunbar , Atholl was taken prisoner and was brought to the Tower of London . He was released on condition that he would take part in Edward I's campaign in Flanders during the Franco-English War in 1297 . He then returned to Scotland and possibly fought again on the Scottish side in 1298 in the Battle of Falkirk . In 1299 he was one of the Scots who led a raid into the English-occupied south-east of Scotland. A little later he took part in the meeting of the Scottish magnates in Peebles . Through his possessions of Stratha'an and Strathbogie , Atholl had interests in north-east Scotland, so he served as the Scottish Sheriff of Aberdeen , while Sir Alexander Comyn , the younger brother of the Earl of Buchan, claimed this office as sheriff of the English King. As sheriff, Atholl attended a court held by the Earl of Buchan. A few months later he took part in the Scottish Parliament in Rutherglen , during which he supported the bishop in a dispute between the Bishop of St Andrews and John Comyn the Younger of Badenoch .

Submission to English rule

It is believed that Atholl submitted to King Edward I of England in 1303 when he advanced to northeastern Scotland. In return, he appointed him on March 29, 1304 as defense counsel and judge for Scotland north of the Forth . The Earl of Strathearn was appointed as his deputy . Atholl then complained to the king about his old opponent Sir Alexander Comyn, who owned four castles north of the Forth, whereupon the English king withdrew two of the castles. As a judge, Atholl presided over a hearing against his deputy Strathearn, in which actions by the Scottish government, which Atholl himself had previously supported, were investigated. In 1305 Edward I commissioned him to choose a building site for a new castle north of the Forth. In July 1305, Atholl complained that his salary was insufficient for his duties. Although the English king accepted his complaint, Atholl had doubts whether his service was being fairly rewarded.

Another fight against English supremacy

After the murder of John Comyn of Badenoch by Robert Bruce in February 1306, Atholl initially stayed in Berwick , but then he joined the rebellion of Bruce when he was crowned King of Scotland in Scone . That made him one of only three earls to attend the ceremony. Perhaps Atholl arranged for Isabel, Countess of Buchan to attend the ceremony and put Bruce on the crown. After the coronation, Atholl is said to have threatened Strathearn with death so that he submitted to Robert Bruce. After the Scottish defeat in the Battle of Methven, Robert I, as Bruce was now called, entrusted him with the responsibility for the safety of his wife Elizabeth , his sister Mary and his daughter Marjorie Bruce . Atholl took them first to Kildrummy Castle and then to church asylum in Tain , where they were later captured. He himself was captured in August 1306 after being shipwrecked in the Moray Firth . He was taken to London, tried and sentenced to death for treason. Due to his high rank and his maternal descent from King Johann Ohneland , he was hanged on an extra high gallows on the king's orders, then beheaded and burned.

Marriage and offspring

In 1286 Atholl was engaged to a daughter of Sir William de Soulis , but he married Marjory , a daughter of Domhnall, 6th Earl of Mar. She was a sister of Isabel , the first wife of Robert Bruce. Atholl had several children with Marjory, including:

After the execution, Edward I initially awarded the title of Earl of Atholl to his son-in-law Ralph de Monthermer , who, however, had to give up the title a few months later in favor of Strathbogie's son David.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 10.
  2. ↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 11.
  3. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 69.
  4. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 104.
  5. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 213.
  6. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 219n.
  7. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California Press, Berkeley et al. 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 508.
  8. ↑ RC Reid, T. M'Michael: The Feudal Family of De Soulis. In: Transactions and journal of the proceedings of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society. Series III, Volume 26 (1947-48), p. 183.
predecessor Office successor
David of Strathbogie Earl of Atholl
1270-1306 		Ralph de Monthermer
personal data
SURNAME Strathbogie, John of, 9th Earl of Atholl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Atholl, John Strathbogie, 9th Earl of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish magnate
DATE OF BIRTH around 1260
DATE OF DEATH November 7, 1306
Place of death London