Macduff (nobleman)

Macduff († July 22, 1298 near Falkirk ) was a Scottish nobleman and military. About his possessions there was a dispute over the English supremacy over Scotland, which led to the war between England and Scotland.

Origin and heritage

Macduff came from the Scottish clan MacDuff . He was a younger son of Malcolm, 6th Earl of Fife . When his father died in 1266, he was still a minor when his older brother Colban, 7th Earl of Fife inherited their father's estates and the title of Earl of Fife . Macduff presumably received the estates of Creich north of Cupar and Rires near Kilconquhar in Fife as part of his father's inheritance. He then leased these properties for an annual payment to his brother and, after his death in 1270, to his nephew Duncan, 8th Earl of Fife .

Dispute over his possessions

Conflict with Bishop Fraser and King John Balliol

When Macduff's nephew was murdered in 1289, leaving only one minor son as heir, William Fraser , Bishop of St Andrews and one of the Guardians of Scotland , took over the administration of Fife. Macduff occupied Rires and Creich in 1290 or 1291 to take over the administration again. The bishop did not recognize his claims, whereupon Macduff turned to the English King Edward I in the summer of 1292 . This should decide on the claims of the aspirants to the Scottish throne and therefore claimed supremacy over Scotland during this process. The king now instructed Bishop Fraser to have Macduff's claims examined by a court, whereupon Macduff probably got the claimed goods back. In November 1292, John Balliol was installed as the new King of Scotland. As king, Balliol himself took over the administration of Fife. During his first parliament in February 1293, he asked Macduff to prove his title to the two estates. Since the two estates had been under royal administration during the minority of Duncan, 8th Earl of Fife from 1270, the King accused Macduff of having illegally occupied the estates. Macduff claimed he had leased the property during this time, but Parliament agreed with the king. Balliol then had the property occupied and Macduff even temporarily imprisoned.

Expansion of the dispute between John Balliol and Eduard I.

After his release, Macduff turned to the English king again in March 1293. Edward I now permanently claimed supremacy over Scotland and saw in the case an opportunity to further enforce this claim. In addition, he did not want to allow the Scottish king to change a judgment that had been passed during the time of his suzerainty. On March 25, 1293 he wrote to the Scottish Parliament that it had unlawfully disregarded a decision made by him as ruler. To this end, he called the Scottish king to England, where he was to answer to him on May 24th. Balliol did not appear before the English king, whereupon the latter placed Macduff and his family under his protection in early June. At the end of September 1293 Balliol finally had to appear before the English Parliament . In the dispute with Macduff Balliol had to give in, but he tried to delay the surrender of the disputed goods. In November 1293, Macduff complained that Andrew Fraser , a brother of the Bishop of St Andrews, had forcibly entered his home and ransacked his property. The English king now tried to expand his sovereignty and claimed the administration of Fife himself on November 20, 1293. A representative of his actually took over the administration of Fife in early 1294, without the Scottish king preventing this. This and other disputes over the question of English sovereignty deteriorated the relationship between England and Scotland rapidly.

Macduff's role in the Scottish War of Independence

When the open war broke out in 1296 , Macduff was probably still on the English side, while Andrew Fraser was arrested as an opponent of the English king. But Macduff was not permanently in the English camp. When William Wallace led a rebellion against English rule, Macduff joined him. In August 1297, Macduff and his two sons were captured by the Earl of Strathearn , but then the Earl also switched sides and released Macduff. At the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 he fought at the head of the Fife contingent and fell in battle.

Web links

Andrew McDonald: Macduff family (per. C. 1095-1371). 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

Individual evidence

↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 18.
↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 19
↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 20.
↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 21.
↑ Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 22.
^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 122.
^ Cynthia J. Neville: The political allegiance of the earls of Strathearn during the war of independence . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 65 (1986), pp. 139-140.

personal data
SURNAME	Macduff
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Scottish nobleman and military
DATE OF BIRTH	13th Century
DATE OF DEATH	July 22, 1298
Place of death	at Falkirk

[1] Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 18.

[2] Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 19

[3] Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 20.

[4] Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 21.

[5] Michael Brown: Aristocratic Politics and the Crisis of Scottish Kingship, 1286–96 . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 90 (2011), p. 22.

[6] Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 122.

[7] Cynthia J. Neville: The political allegiance of the earls of Strathearn during the war of independence . In: The Scottish Historical Review , 65 (1986), pp. 139-140.