Thomas Bruce

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Sir Thomas Bruce († around February 17, 1307 ) was a Scottish knight and rebel.

origin

Thomas Bruce came from the Scottish Bruce family . He was probably the fourth son of Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick and his wife Marjorie, Countess of Carrick and was probably named after Thomas Becket, who was particularly revered in the family . Like his brothers, he probably spent part of his childhood with befriended Gaelic families.

Role in the Scottish War of Independence

Bruce was knighted and is believed to have developed a hatred of the English during the Scottish War of Independence . He supported his older brother Robert Bruce when he rebelled against the supremacy of the English King Edward I in March 1306 and rose to be King of the Scots. However, Robert I was defeated by the English in the summer of 1306 and had to flee to western Scotland and probably to the Hebrides or Ulster . Thomas Bruce supported his brother. Together with his brother Alexander he probably served as Robert's envoy to ask Irish chiefs for support in the fight against the English. At the beginning of February 1307 Robert sent him along with Alexander, Reginald Crawford and Malcolm MacQuillan, Lord of Kintyre as advance detachment to south-west Scotland. They landed in Galloway with a small force on February 9, 1307 . There they should try to get support from the local population. The company ended in utter disaster. They were quickly captured by the English-side Dungal Macdowell . Macdouall had MacQuillan and other less important prisoners immediately executed and their severed heads sent to the Prince of Wales . However, Alexander and Thomas were extradited to the English king alive. Thomas was executed on the orders of the king, probably as a traitor cruelly by hanging, gutting and beheading .

Thomas had married Helen , a daughter of Sir John Erskine .

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. 17.
  2. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 18.
  3. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 104.
  4. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 510.
  5. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, pp. 240-242.
personal data
SURNAME Bruce, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bruce, Sir Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish knight and rebel
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH on February 17, 1307