Neil Campbell (nobleman)

Sir Neil Campbell (also Niall mac Cailein ) († around 1315 ) was a Scottish nobleman.

Rise as a follower of Robert the Bruce

Neil Campbell is considered to be the first member of the Campbell family who achieved greater importance. In 1296 he served as steward of the crown estates at Lochawe and Ardskeodnish . During the Scottish War of Independence , he supported the rebellion of Robert the Bruce against English rule from February 1306 . He was one of the few loyal followers with whom Bruce, who had been crowned King of Scotland as Robert I in April 1306, fled from the English to western Scotland in the winter of 1306-1307. Their escape was made easier as Campbell had possessions and influence in Kintyre . Campbell, along with Thomas Hay and Alexander Seton , swore in 1308 to defend the King and the independence of Scotland to the death. In 1309 and 1314 Campbell served as negotiator in negotiations with the English crown. Robert I rewarded Campbell, who was one of his closest confidants, with various lands in western Scotland that had previously belonged to his opponents, especially the MacDougalls of Argyll . Campbell was allowed to marry Mary Bruce , a sister of the king. Either the marriage took place in 1306 before Mary was captured by the English or, more likely, only after her release around 1313 or after 1314. After the betrayal of David Strathbogie, 10th Earl of Atholl in 1314, Campbell and his wife received part of his possessions. After the Battle of Bannockburn in September 1314 he was one of the negotiators who were to negotiate an exchange of prisoners with the English government in Durham .

Descendants and inheritance

Campbell's first marriage in 1302 or 1303 was Alice , a daughter of Sir Reginald Crawford . Previously, Colin Campbell and his brother Donald allegedly kidnapped Alice and her sister. Colin and Donald were likely illegitimate children of Neil Campbell, their mother's name is unknown. Alice Crawford died between 1306 and 1314 at the latest, presumably the marriage had remained childless. From his second marriage to Mary Bruce, Campbell had at least one son:

• John Campbell, Earl of Atholl († 1333).

Colin Campbell received his father's holdings at Lochawe and Ardskeodnish on February 10, 1315 as a crown fief. This was probably done while his father was still alive to take care of Colin. It is believed that Neil Campbell died shortly afterwards. His main heir was his son John Campbell. Probably in November 1315, Robert I decided to marry Campbell's widow to his Chamberlain Alexander Fraser .

Web links

• Sir Neil Campbell of Lochow on thepeerage.com , accessed February 23, 2018.
• SI Boardman: Sir Neil Campbell (d.1315?). 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

1. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 406.
2. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 231.
3. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 102.
4. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 158.
5. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 154.
6. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 150.