Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray

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Coat of arms of Thomas Randolph as the Earl of Moray

Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray († July 20, 1332 in Musselburgh ) was a Scottish nobleman, diplomat and military man. He was one of the leading figures in the First Scottish War of Independence and served as the Guardian of Scotland from 1329 until his death .

His father was a supporter of the Balliols, was with Bruce at Methven, but after his capture he was on the English side. Had ideas about knightly combat and initially rejected guerrilla warfare. He was then given conditions before fully supporting Bruce

Origin and heritage

Thomas Randolph was a son of Sir Thomas Randolph , a nobleman with possessions in Stichill in Roxburghshire . His mother's name is unknown, she was a daughter of Marjory, Countess of Carrick from her first marriage to Adam of Kilconquhar . His mother was a half-sister of the future Scottish King Robert I , who called Thomas his dearest nephew . But since Thomas was not a biological relative of the king, he had no claim to the Scottish throne. Both his father and grandfather had held higher offices, including the office of Chamberlain of Scotland . Probably shortly after 1296 his father died, after which Thomas became his heir.

Rise to lead Robert Bruce supporter

Nothing is known about Randolph's role during the first phase of the Scottish War of Independence until 1304. He probably supported Robert Bruce when he claimed the Scottish throne on March 25, 1306 as Robert I. On June 19, 1306, he was captured by the English at the Battle of Methven . He quickly switched sides, as confirmed by the Earl of Pembroke . This saved his life, because shortly afterwards Pembroke received the order from the English King Edward I to condemn and execute the prisoners. Nonetheless, Randolph remained in captivity for over a year, first in Inverkip and then under the supervision of the Earl of Lincoln . In September 1307 he was one of the English troops who unsuccessfully pursued the fugitive Sir James Douglas near Paisley . In late 1307, however, he was caught by Douglas troops in a house in Peeblesshire and taken prisoner. Douglas sent Randolph to Robert I. There was a dispute between Randolph and the king when Randolph preferred the knightly fight and criticized the guerrilla war that the king waged against the English. Nonetheless, the two eventually came to an understanding, and in March 1309 Randolph participated as Lord of Nithsdale in the first parliament held by the king. The south-west Scottish Nithsdale was still in English hands at that time, so the title should probably serve as an incentive for Randolph to take part in the fighting to drive the English troops out of the region. In Nithsdale, however, Randolph was not active, instead he was designated on February 19, 1310 as the Scottish King's deputy in the region between the Forth and the Orkneys . At the latest by this time he was one of Robert I's closest advisers. The king rewarded his nephew by making him Earl of Moray between April 12 and October 29, 1312 . This was the first time in over 100 years that a new earldom was created in Scotland. The Moray area stretched from the west coast of Scotland from the Moray Firth to the Perthshire border . This gave Moray a new earldom before Edward , the king's brother, which was also much larger than his earldom Carrick . At that time Edward Bruce was the prospective heir to the throne of King Robert I. If Robert I should have a son, Moray and not Edward should be appointed Guardian in the event of the king's death. After Edward Bruce fell in Ireland in 1318, Moray was sustained as Guardian in December 1318. In addition, he received the lucrative Annandale rule , which had previously been owned by the Bruce family. This clearly made him the second man in Scotland next to the ailing king, whom he served with unshakable loyalty.

Inscription in honor of Thomas Randolph at Edinburgh Castle, which he captured in 1314

Military service

Battle against the English in Scotland

Moray is not mentioned in the capture of Dundee or Perth , but in early 1314 he besieged Edinburgh Castle . With a bold attack over the rocks, Moray was able to conquer the castle, which was then razed . When the English King Edward II invaded Scotland with a strong army in the summer of 1314 , Robert I appointed Moray to one of the commanders of the Scottish army. At the Battle of Bannockburn he commanded one of the two front Scottish battalions formed as a Schiltron , while the King commanded the third battalion as a reserve. On the first day of the battle, on June 23, a division of the English cavalry tried to relieve the besieged Stirling Castle through the Torwood forest . However, the Scottish infantry led by Moray was able to stop the English advance and kill numerous English knights. On the second day of the battle, Moray and his battalion attacked the main English army after the English vanguard attacked Edward Bruce's battalion. The battle ended in a catastrophic British defeat.

Support of the expedition to Ireland

Despite the defeat of Bannockburn, the English king was not ready for peace with Scotland. The Scots then continued their raids into northern England and tried to overthrow English rule in Ireland . Moray belonged to the Scottish army with which Edward Bruce landed in Ulster , Northern Ireland in May 1315 . Together with Bruce he led a campaign in the summer of 1315, during which they advanced as far as Louth . He then returned to Scotland to lead reinforcements to Ireland. Back in Ireland, he joined his brought in troops at Dundalk with Bruce's army. Together they then led a raid as far as Castledermot in southern Ireland in the winter of 1315-1316. Then Moray returned to Scotland. On July 16, 1316 he is first mentioned as Lord of Man . At a meeting of the Scottish nobility in Cupar on September 30, 1316, Robert I confirmed Moray as Earl of Moray and Lord of Man. The certificate was confirmed not only with the Scottish great seal, but also with the seal of Edward Bruce as King of Ireland and with the seals of the prelates and magnates present. It is not clear why the king had the rank of Moray confirmed so extraordinarily, possibly it was due to the hesitant recognition of Moray's possession of Man by Edward Bruce. The Scots had recaptured the island in the Irish Sea, but then lost it again. In the first half of 1317 Moray supported Robert I in his campaign in Ireland. He led a raid to Tipperary before returning to Scotland in May. Obviously at the end of 1317, Moray was able to conquer the Isle of Man again.

Raids to the north of England

Over the next few years, Moray led numerous raids into northern England. He increasingly offered the residents of the northern English counties the payment of ransom so that their properties and fields were not devastated. In 1318 he achieved the surrender of several castles in Northumberland. In 1319 he was one of the commanders of a Scottish army, which defeated an English army in the battle of Myton and thus led to the breakdown of the English siege of Berwick . After the armistice that was then concluded had expired in 1321, the English king undertook an unsuccessful campaign to Scotland in the summer of 1322. Together with Robert I, Moray followed the retreating English across the English border. During the Battle of Byland in October 1322 he led the Scottish attack up the hill, after which the battle was a humiliating defeat for the English.

Service as a diplomat

Negotiations with England

Moray invoked the armistice with England, which the English had to conclude in December 1319 after the failed siege of Berwick and after further Scottish raids. As the king's deputy, he negotiated with the Earl of Lancaster in January 1322 , when he openly rebelled against the English king, but was then beaten and executed by the English king. On January 3, 1323 Moray swore the unusual peace agreement with the English military Andrew Harclay , whereupon the latter was also executed as a traitor in England. When Moray was to travel to England in 1323 for new negotiations, he demanded, in view of the deteriorating health of the king, that the English provide very high-ranking hostages as a guarantee of his integrity. After these hostages arrived in Scotland, he traveled to England and negotiated with Bishop William de Lamberton the armistice of Bishopthorpe , which was signed on May 30, 1323. This thirteen-year and thus long-term armistice clearly showed that England could apparently no longer win the war against Scotland.

Negotiator at the papal court

Already in 1320 Moray had sealed with the Declaration of Arbroath . After the conclusion of the long-term armistice with England in 1323, the Scots could again ask for the lifting of ecclesiastical sanctions that Pope John XXII. had imposed on them as alleged warmongers. The Scots also asked the Pope to recognize Robert Bruce as King of Scots. The letter was undoubtedly written by the royal chancellery, but sealed by Moray. Before the middle of January 1324, Moray himself arrived in Avignon and finally managed to get the Pope to dub Robert king in a letter. Although the Pope restricted the fact that this did not mean formal recognition as king, with the letter he tacitly lifted the church sanctions imposed from 1317 onwards. During his return from Avignon, Moray is said to have traveled to York to negotiate a final peace with England. But the British were not ready for serious negotiations.

Negotiator in France and again at the papal court

In April 1325 he was sent to the French royal court as leader of a Scottish embassy, ​​which he reached in June. France had shown itself indifferent or even hostile towards Scotland since the Treaty of Paris signed with England in 1303 , and Moray was also unable to achieve diplomatic successes in France. From France he traveled again to the papal court in Avignon, where there is evidence that he was on October 1st. Possibly he spent the next few months at the papal court, because in February John XXII urged him. in a letter to return to Scotland. However, Moray initially traveled to France again for further negotiations. In the face of the Saint-Sardos War between France and England, the French king now saw the Scots as possible allies, and in fact Moray was able to conclude the Treaty of Corbeil in April 1326 . The Franco-Scottish alliance founded in this determined the entire 14th century on Scottish foreign policy. With this remarkable diplomatic achievement, Moray traveled back to Scotland, where the King and Parliament confirmed the alliance in July 1326. In France, before February 25, 1326, Moray is said to have concluded an alliance with the English Queen Isabelle , who did not return to England out of opposition to her husband Edward II. In this alliance, Moray agreed with Isabelle that the Scots would not take advantage of an invasion of England by Isabelle to invade northern England themselves. In return, Isabelle probably promised to officially recognize the Scottish king as king once she gained power in England.

Another campaign to England and peace agreement

After the successful invasion of Isabelle and the fall of Edward II in the autumn of 1326, the Scots broke the armistice that had been signed with England in 1323. They attacked castles in the north of England and in the summer of 1327 led a successful raid across the border. Moray was one of the Scottish commanders in this raid, but according to a contemporary report he is said to have led the army into a situation from which, in his opinion, he could only free himself through a battle against the English. Only the tactical skill of James Douglas is said to have saved the Scottish army from being cut off by the English, so that it was able to withdraw to Scotland at the beginning of August without a major battle. In any case, the campaign was a humiliating defeat for the young English King Edward III. who had failed with his army to put the Scots into battle. In September 1327, King Robert I himself led another attack on Northumberland, with the Scots besieging several castles. The English were no longer ready or able to counter this attack with a new campaign. Thereupon peace negotiations began, which in March 1328 led to the conclusion of the Edinburgh Agreement . In this the Edward III recognized. Robert I as the Scottish King. The peace was supposed to be strengthened by a marriage between the two ruling houses, which is why Moray escorted David , the young Scottish heir to the throne, to Berwick in July 1328 , where he married the English king's daughter Johanna . The English king and then Robert I stayed away from the celebration. In the peace agreement it was agreed that the Scottish and English nobles would renounce property claims in the respective other country, but in Berwick Moray accepted in negotiations with the English Queen Isabelle that the four English magnates Thomas Wake , Henry de Beaumont , Henry Percy and William Zouche should get back the lands they claimed in Scotland. In doing so, Moray deviated from the policy that Robert I had previously pursued. Ultimately, this agreement was not fully implemented, which Beaumont, other English magnates and later Edward II used in 1332 as a pretext for a new war against Scotland .

Guardian of Scotland

After the seriously ill Robert I died on June 7, 1329, Moray took over the reign of the underage David II as Guardian. He exercised this office with determination and skill. As chief judge, he insisted on a strict interpretation of the law. For his service he received an extremely modest salary of 100 marks a year . With the death of the king, the government had lost the income from the tithe granted to Robert I for life. Moray insisted on the further collection of the tithe, which had been decided before the death of the king in 1328. The purpose of this tax was to raise the £ 20,000 Scotland had to pay to England under the Edinburgh Peace Treaty. The last installment of this sum, which is large for Scotland, was paid in November 1331, and then the young David of Moray was knighted and crowned. The Scottish magnates paid homage to the new king and, given the peace with England, Scotland's independence seemed assured. This was mainly thanks to Moray, who led the peace negotiations and implemented them during his reign. Still, the reign of Moray was not free of tension. According to the last will of Robert I, James Douglas had set out for the Holy Land and fell on the way there in Spain. In England the so-called disinherited , the barons, who continued to lay claim to possessions in Scotland, refused to make peace with Scotland. Rumor has it that Moray was poisoned by a monk, but he is believed to have had liver cancer. He first tried to cover up the consequences of his illness. Allegedly he is said to have received an English herald with swollen and reddened limbs at the head of a Scottish army . This was deceived by the fact that he believed that the Scots under Moray's leadership could still repel an English attack, whereupon the English would have given up a campaign against Scotland. In fact, Moray is said to have been seriously ill and bedridden in his final months. As soon as Beaumont and the other disinherited people learned of his death, they began their long-planned attack on Scotland on August 6th.

Appearance and character

According to the poet John Barbour , Moray had a broad, handsome face and was of medium height and stature. He was considered polite and elegant, but he was loyal, generous and honest. When Robert I was fatally ill, he is said to have stood by him to the end. Barbour's poems particularly praise the military skill and bravery of James Douglas, although they also indirectly recognize Moray's abilities.

Marriage and offspring

Moray had married Isabel Stewart , a daughter of Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl . With her he had two sons and two daughters, including:

Moray was buried like Robert I in Dunfermline Abbey . His heir became his eldest son Thomas, who, however, died only a few weeks after his father in the battle of Dupplin Moor in the fight against the disinherited. Thereupon Moray's second son John inherited the title.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 260.
  2. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 265.
  3. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 414.
  4. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 412.
  5. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 299.
  6. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 280.
  7. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 339.
  8. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 265.
  9. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 357.
  10. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 355.
  11. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , pp. 200-201.
predecessor Office successor
New title created Earl of Moray
1312-1332 		Thomas Randolph, 2nd Earl of Moray
John de Soules Guardian of Scotland
1329-1332 		Domhnall, 8th Earl of Mar
personal data
SURNAME Randolph, Thomas, 1st Earl of Moray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Moray, Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish nobleman, military man and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH 13th century or 14th century
DATE OF DEATH July 20, 1332
Place of death Musselburgh