Thomas of Galloway (rebel)

Barnard Castle in northern England, where Thomas of Galloway was held for decades

Thomas of Galloway († after 1296) was a Scottish nobleman and rebel. After an inheritance dispute, he was imprisoned for over 60 years.

Origin and marriage

Thomas was an illegitimate son of Alan, Lord of Galloway . As Lord of Galloway , his father was one of the most powerful nobles in south-west Scotland and ruled in Galloway , which was largely Gaelic , largely autonomous from the rule of the Scottish kings. In the 1220s, Alan of Galloway intervened in the power struggle between the brothers Ragnvald and Olaf on the Isle of Man , which at that time was a largely autonomous empire under the rule of the Norwegian kings . Alan married Thomas to a daughter of Ragnvald. After he fell in the fight against Olaf in 1229, Alan claimed the island as an inheritance for his son. This led to the intervention of a fleet of the Norwegian king , whereupon Alan had to recognize Olaf as King of Man in 1231.

Galloway inheritance dispute and imprisonment

After Alan of Galloway's death in 1234, Galloway was supposed to be divided between his three daughters under feudal law, as he had no legitimate sons. The nobles of Galloway refused to split the rule. According to traditional Gaelic law, they proposed Thomas or, if the latter was unacceptable to the Scottish king because of his illegitimate birth, his cousin Patrick of Atholl as the new Lord of Galloway. When King Alexander II divided Galloway among the three daughters despite these objections, a rebellion broke out, which the king was able to violently suppress in July 1235. Alexander II commissioned Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith with the final pacification of the region. A new revolt broke out as a result of the looting by Comyn's troops. This was supported by Thomas, who returned to Galloway with a force deployed in Ulster and the Hebrides . However, this rebellion was quickly put down by a royal army led by the Abbot of Melrose , Bishop Gilbert of Whithorn and Patrick Dunbar, 5th Earl of Dunbar , the exact course of which is unclear. The Galloway nobles submitted, apparently on acceptable terms, to the Scottish king. Thomas of Galloway was captured or submitted to the king's mercy. He was taken to Edinburgh Castle as a prisoner . The warriors he brought with him from Ireland fled north. They were picked, beaten and massacred by a squad from Glasgow .

Captivity and final years

Thomas was handed over by the king to his half-sister Dervorguilla de Balliol , who imprisoned him in Barnard Castle in northern England , a castle of her husband John de Balliol . There Thomas remained in captivity for over 60 years. In 1286 Dervorguilla's son, John Balliol , asked the Scottish King Alexander III. whether he could let old Thomas go. The king discussed this with his council, but before he could come to a decision, he was killed in an accident. In the turmoil of the Scottish succession controversy that followed, no decision was made about the release of Thomas, and even when John Balliol became king of the Scots in 1292, he did not release Thomas. It was not until a war broke out between England and Scotland in 1296 that Thomas was freed by Bishop Antony Bek , an agent of the English King Edward I. The English king ordered Thomas to be washed, shaved and newly dressed so that he could serve as leader of an uprising against Balliol in Galloway. The release of Thomas of Galloway resulted in the Macdowells and Maccans, the leading noble families from Galloway, henceforth supporting the English king. During the Scottish War of Independence that followed, the Scottish Earl of Buchan did not take part in a Scottish Parliament in Rutherglen in May 1300 because he put up a contingent in Galloway. With this he wanted to repel an English attack, whose figurehead should be the old Thomas of Galloway.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 78.
2. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 79.
3. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 37.
4. ^ Archibald AM Duncan: Scotland. The Making of the Kingdom (The Edinburgh History of Scotland; Vol. I ). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1975. ISBN 0-05-00203-7-4 , p. 531.
5. ↑ Michael Brown: The wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2004, ISBN 0-7486-1237-8 , p. 39.
6. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 9.
7. ^ Geoffrey WS Barrow: Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland . Eyre & Spottiswoode, London 1965, p. 156.
8. ↑ Michael Penman: Robert the Bruce. King of the Scots . Yale University Press, New Haven 2014, ISBN 978-0-300-14872-5 , p. 65.