Simon Fraser (rebel)

Simon Fraser coat of arms

Sir Simon Fraser (* around 1270; † September 7, 1306 in London ) was a Scottish knight and rebel.

origin

Simon Fraser was a son of his father Sir Simon Fraser and his wife Mary . His father was a Scottish nobleman who owned estates at Tweedsmuir and served as administrator of the royal forests of Traquair and Selkirk . After his death in 1291, the younger Simon Neidpath and Oliver inherited Castle and his father's other estates.

Changing attitudes during the Scottish War of Independence

During the Scottish succession controversy in 1291 he swore allegiance to the English King Edward I as overlord of Scotland and at the end of 1292 he witnessed the homage of the new Scottish King John to the English king. When the Anglo-Scottish War broke out in 1296 , Fraser fought on the Scottish side in the Battle of Dunbar . After the English victory, he swore allegiance to the English king again in October 1296. Nevertheless, he remained in English captivity. In return for his release he took part in 1297 as Knight Banneret and knight of the royal household in the campaign of the English king in the war against France to Flanders, whereupon the king also returned his possessions. In Flanders, Eduard I was apparently so impressed by Fraser that he probably appointed him administrator of the Selkirk Forest. Back in Scotland, after the Battle of Falkirk in 1298, he was involved in fighting with fleeing Scots in Selkirk Forest. At the end of 1298 he was to take part in an attempt at relief from the Stirling Castle , which was besieged by Scottish rebels . From 1299 at the latest, the Scottish rebels tried to persuade Fraser to change sides. As a result, the English officials in Scotland increasingly doubted Fraser's loyalty. A sheriff alleged that Fraser had secretly supported the Scots when they led a campaign in southeastern Scotland. The Scots probably actually used Selkirk Forest as a retreat, with Fraser's approval. In August 1299 the Guardians of Scotland appointed Sir Robert Keith as Scottish administrator of Selkirk Forest. Fraser was captured in Scotland and held in a Scottish prison from September 4, 1299 to June 12, 1300. This convinced the English king of Fraser's loyalty, and when Fraser was released he returned to the service of Edward I and was reappointed administrator of the Selkirk Forest.

Leading role in the Scottish Resistance

In the entourage of the Earl of Dunbar , Fraser took part in the siege of Caerlaverock Castle by an English army in the summer of 1300 . In March 1301, Fraser was still receiving his pay and the robes he was entitled to for his service as Knight of the King in Lincoln , but by September 1301 he had switched sides again and supported the Scottish struggle for independence. Perhaps Fraser's replacement as forest manager of Selkirk by Sir Hugh Audley was the reason for his change of sides, perhaps also because of the low wages he received from the king. He now quickly became the leader of the Scottish resistance to the English occupation in south-east Scotland. Together with Herbert Morham and Alexander Abernethy , he led a guerrilla war against the troops at Strathaven in Lanarkshire in the summer of 1301 , who led a new campaign in Scotland under Edward I. In the last months of 1302 he led together with John Comyn of Badenoch and William Wallace from Selkirk forest forays to Annandale , Liddesdale and as far as Cumberland . In early 1303 he was the leader of a futile attack on Roxburgh Castle . Then he and Wallace turned against the newly built Peel Tower of Selkirk , which they could conquer. Fraser's subsequent attempt to capture Linlithgow failed, but on February 24, 1303 he and John Comyn had a notable success when they were able to defeat an English force under governor John Seagrave at the Battle of Roslin . Before June 1303, he led a raid to northern England with Edmund Comyn .

Submission and condemnation to exile

After France, allied with the Scottish rebels, made peace with England , the Scots' military situation became hopeless. In February 1304, John Seagrave, Robert Clifford, and William Latimer nearly captured Fraser and Wallace at Peebles in an advance . Given the military superiority of the English, John Comyn and most of the remaining Scottish nobles surrendered. Fraser also wanted to submit again, but Edward I demanded that he should go into exile for three years because he had broken his oath of allegiance. He was not allowed to stay in Scotland or England or in the English possessions in France. Fraser turned down this offer, whereupon he and William Wallace were ostracized by Parliament in March 1304 . Fraser then surrendered, the exact time being unknown. As a token of his loyalty, the king now demanded that he take Wallace prisoner. By April 1305, Fraser had still not gone into exile and was in Scotland when he received permission to come to Berwick for further negotiations . After the capture of Wallace, the king allowed him in September 1305 that he could buy back his confiscated property against payment of three times the annual income. For this, the king extended the required exile to four years.

Again rebellion and death

When Robert Bruce openly rebelled against the English King in February 1306 and was crowned King of Scots, Fraser changed sides again and joined Bruce. The English governor Aymer de Valence then had Fraser's estates in Tweeddale burned down. Edward I had initially ordered Valence to execute captured rebels immediately, but he revoked this order a little later, as he had planned a more cruel punishment, especially for Bruce and Fraser. Fraser took part in the Battle of Methven and was captured by England a few days after the Scottish defeat. He was taken to London, where he was executed as a traitor by hanged, drawn and quartered . His severed head was displayed on a pole next to the head of Wallace, who was also executed in September 1305.

family

Fraser had two daughters with his wife, Mary, who were believed to be Margaret and Joanna . With his death the line of the Frasers of Tweeddale became extinct in the male line.

Web links

• Fiona Watson: Fraser, Sir Simon (c. 1270-1306). 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. ↑ James Balfour Paul: The Scots peerage. Volume 7, David Douglas, Edinburgh 1910, p. 422.
2. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 151.
3. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 171n.
4. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 171.
5. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 75.
6. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 74.
7. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 201.
8. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 79.
9. ^ ^{A b} Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 218.
10. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 215.