Mary Bruce

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Mary Bruce († before September 22, 1323 ) was a Scottish noblewoman.

origin

Mary Bruce came from the Scottish Bruce family . She was a younger daughter of Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick and his wife Marjorie, Countess of Carrick .

Fate during the Scottish War of Independence

During the Scottish War of Independence , her eldest brother Robert Bruce rebelled against the supremacy of the English King Edward I and rose to be King of the Scots in March 1306. It is possible that Mary attended her brother's coronation in Scone with her siblings in March 1306 . However, Robert Bruce was defeated by the English at the Battle of Methven in June 1306 . He fled west with Mary, his wife Elizabeth , his daughter Marjorie , the Countess of Buchan and a few hundred faithful. The small force was defeated in July or August 1306 in the battle near Dalry by John Macdougall, who was fighting on the English side . Bruce and his family were able to escape again, but now the group has split up. While Robert Bruce tried with a few faithful to flee further to West Scotland, the women should try to escape to Northern Scotland together with Mary's brother Neil Bruce , with the Earl of Atholl , David Lindsay and Robert Boyd . They reached Kildrummy Castle , where they learned that an English army was approaching. Thereupon Atholl fled further north with the women. Maybe they wanted to reach the Orkneys , which were under Norwegian rule. They would have been safe there, because Isabella Bruce , a sister of Mary and Robert Bruce, was Queen of Norway. However, when the group reached Tain , they were captured by the Earl of Ross . Edward I had Atholl executed and the women severely punished. He had Mary locked in a cage that was hung on the wall of Roxburgh Castle . She was forbidden from any contact except with the English women who brought her to eat and drink. Edward II , who had succeeded his father as king in 1307, had them brought to Newcastle in 1310 . Her brother's efforts to exchange Mary and the other women for English prisoners remained unsuccessful for a long time. It was still in Newcastle in September 1312, and it may have been exchanged shortly afterwards. It is more likely, however, that it was not exchanged for the Earl of Hereford captured in the battle until after the English defeat in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, together with her sister-in-law Elizabeth and her niece Marjorie , and probably before mid-February, at the latest before 23 March 1315 came free.

Marriages and offspring

After her return to Scotland at the latest, Mary was married by her brother Robert, who was now the undisputed King of Scotland, to his close supporter Neil Campbell . She may have married Campbell before she was imprisoned. Her husband died around 1316. She was then married to Sir Alexander Fraser of Touch-Fraser and Cowie , another early supporter of her brother.

From her first marriage she had a son:

She had at least two children with her second husband, Alexander Fraser:

  • John Fraser of Touchfraser
  • William Fraser (around 1318–1346)

Mary received from her brother Robert Bruce possessions of the 1314 expropriated Earl of Atholl , which she was allowed to administer for her son from her first marriage. This was later elevated to the Earl of Atholl. Mary, like other members of her family, was buried at Dunfermline Abbey .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 98.
  2. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, pp. 227-228.
  3. ↑ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , pp. 508-509.
  4. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 230.
  5. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 126.
  6. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 150.
  7. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 158.
  8. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 161.
  9. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 102.
  10. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 396.
  11. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 244.
  12. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 306.
personal data
SURNAME Bruce, Mary
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish nobles
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH before September 22, 1323