Bruces Conflict With His Scottish Opponents Flashcards
1
Q
The Murder of (John the Red) Comyn
A
- On 10 February 1306, Bruce and Comyn met to discuss thier differences in the safe and neutral church of Grey Friars in Dumfries
- It seems they disagreed, either because both wanted the Scottish crown for themselves or because Comyn refused to lend his support to Bruce’s planned uprising against the English.
- When Bruce left the church Comyn lay dying.
- Bruce realised he had committed murder in a holy place, the greatest sacrilege imaginable
2
Q
The Murder of (John the Red) Comyn: after effect
A
- The consequences for Bruce were the same. He had committed a heinous act, killing Comyn in a church. It meant instant excommunication and perhaps worse
- After first confessing his sin to Bishop Wishart and receiving a full pardon
- Bruces followers hastily assembled at Scone on 25 March 1306, where Bruce was inaugurated King of Scot’s by the Countess of Buchan, a deed for which she later suffered.
3
Q
Did Bruce have good reason to take the throne in 1306? (Bishop Support)
A
- Perhaps more importantly were the actions of Bishops Lamberton and Wishart.
- Both were strong supporters of the independence of the Scottish church and in turn they were both supporters of Scottish independence.
- At Cambuskenneth, on 11 June 1304, the bishops met in secret
- No specific details were written down, but it was clear that Bruce and the Bishops were to support each other in the future and if they broke the promise they would be liable to a penalty on ten thousand pounds
- It was clear that Lamberton and Wishart now saw the restoration of King John as impossible and Bruce was the most likely inheritor of the throne
- It is no wonder Bruce thought he could act in the way he did if he had such important backers
4
Q
Early Defeats ( Appoitment of Valance)
A
- Bruce launched several raids against Edward’s forces in the South West and in Fife
- He quickly captured the royal castle at Couper, and forced Comyns supporters and family to pay homage to him
- Edward had responded by appointing Aymer de Valance as his special lieutenant in Scotland.
- Valance had been Comyns brother-in-law and thus held a special desire to see Bruce brought to justice
5
Q
Early Defeats (Battle with Valance, Methven woods)
A
- By early June, Valance led a sizeable force through Fife undoing King Robert’s work of the previous months
- King Robert rode north to Perth, hoping to catch him by surprise
- Near Perth, King Robert’s small army was ambushed by Valance as they pitched their tents for the night at Methven woods
- Methven proved to be an utter disaster for King Robert and his army was well destroyed
- The King was force to flee west with only a few hundred survivors
6
Q
Early Defeats (MacDougal fight)
A
- King Robert was harried at Daley by John MacDougal of Argyll.
- MacDougal, a relation of John Comyn, blocked King Robert’s escape route and routed his remaining men
- At this point the Scots king ceased to have an effective fighting force.
- with only his closest friends and supporters he fled to the west coast and sailed away form Scotland
- His wife, daughter and brother, Neil Bruce, were taken to the relative safety of Kildrummy Castle in the north east.
7
Q
Early Defeats (Valance beats Robert)
A
- However, Valance and the Prince of Wales had arrived with enough of a force to seal off the fortress effectively
- Despite Kildrummys formidable fortifications the castle soon fell, betrayed by a blacksmith who set fire to the grain stone’
- The blacksmith asked for gold as his reward and he got it
- King Edward despised all traitors and had the liquid gold poured down the blacksmiths throat
8
Q
Edward’s Reign of terror (What happened to Robert’s family)
A
- The Earl of Atholl, Neil Bruce and other leading supporters of King Robert were publicly executed in the same manner as Wallace.
- King Robert’s wife was confined to a Manor House and his youngest sister was sent to a nunnery in Lincolnshire
- The Countess, who had the misfortune of placing the crown on King Robert’s head at Scone, and his older sister Mary were imprisoned in steel cages at the highest towers of Roxburgh and Berwick respectively
- The Countess was kept like his until 1313, while Mary was not released until after the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
- King Robert’s daughter Marjorie was destined for a similar fate; a cage in the Tower of London; but her sentence was reduced and she was also sent to a nunnery in Yorkshire
9
Q
King Hob
A
- It is unknown where Bruce spent the winter of 1306-07
- Sir Walter Scott, writing in the nineteenth century, invented the story of King Robert and the spiders web to highlight his plight and admire his courage and determination not to give up
- There is, however, no evidence of he story existing prior to this
- He was referred to, somewhat mockingly, as ‘King Hob’, meaning King Nobody
10
Q
Bruces campaigns 1307-14 (King Hob returns to Scotland)
A
- King Hob returned to Scotland in February 1307 in order to reclaim his kingdom.
- He first landed at his own earldom of carsick and succeeded in capturing Turnberry Castle and raising a small army from his own tenants
- However, success once again turned to defeat as two more of his brothers were captured and sent to England for execution
- Bruce set up camp in Glen Trool in April, and defeated an English patrol that had been sent in to look for him.
11
Q
Bruces campaigns 1307-14 (Further battle with Vallance)
A
- King Robert continued northwards with his small army and once again came face to face with Valance, this time at Loudoun Hill in Ayrshire on 10 May 1307
- despite Valances forces having the advantage of numbers and a superior cavalry force, king Robert chose his ground well and Valance was forced to fight in a narrow stretch of land.
- Valance found himself forced to retreat to Bothwell
-Several days later the Earl of Gloucesters force was similarity routed by King Robert, forcing him to retreat to Ayr
12
Q
The Death of Edward I
A
- Elderly and ill, King Edward had tried to lead one final expedition to Scotland to deal with King Robert but he did not make it and died on 7 July 1307 at Burgh on Sands, only a few miles from the Scottish border
- It was said he made his son, the future Edward II, promise to continue the invasion
- However, the Prince of Wales decided to take his fathers body to Richmond and handed it over to the Archbishop of York before attempting to track down King Robert
- Instead, the English force turned for home and the coronation of the new King of England
13
Q
Scotlands Civil War (trying to take Comyn land)
A
- King Robert had already decided to settle the dispute with the Comyn family once and for all
- Bower tells us that the Bishop of Moray, David Murray, sent King Robert a letter promising that the people of Moray would rise up and support him with an army of 3000
- it is unknown if this is true, but King Robert indeed travelled to Moray and spent the winter of 1307-08 harrying English garrisons and Comyn fortresses
- It would appear that King Robert’s first major target was the Comyn castle of Inverlochy at Lochaber
- From there it was a simple matter of travelling up the Great Glen, capturing Urquhart and Inverness with ease
14
Q
War against the Comyns (Robert gets sick)
A
- King Robert then turned his attention to Mora, first capturing and destroying Nairn Castle but then failing twice to capture Eligin
- He then fell ill while attacking Banff, sensing their chance, the remaining Comyn forces, under the command of John, the Earl of Buchan, tracked down King Robert’s army to Slioch near Huntly.
- King Robert’s men were dismayed at their leaders illness and some were saying he was dying
- This dispirited group of worried and weary men were trapped in a lonely boggy wood
15
Q
War against the Comyns (Mistake of Buchan)
A
- Edward Bruce, the kings brother, took command of the army and after a brief skirmish with the Earl of Buchan he ordered his men to fall back
- Instead of pressing Buchanans advantage he fell back and regrouped, to return on 31 January.
- However, by that time the kings army had recovered enough to fight an effective withdraw to the relative safety of Huntly
- Buchan once again withdrew
