Biography of John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl 1266-1306

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. On the following day [28th April 1296], when our king arrived, the defenders surrendered the castle [Map], placing their lives and limbs into the king's hands, as he refused to grant any terms or promise mercy by formal agreement. The names of those captured included: William, Earl of Ross, William [John] (age 30), Earl of Atholl, Alexander, Earl of Menteith, Barons: John, son of John Comyn, William de St. Clair, Richard Siward, John, son of Geoffrey de Mowbray Along with these nobles, thirty-one knights, one hundred squires, and two clerics, John de Somerville and William de St. Clair, were also captured. King Edward sent all of them, scattered in groups of twelve or sixteen, to various castles in England, to be held in secure custody. With the victory at Dunbar achieved, the hearts and plans of the Scots were broken, and almost all of them fled beyond the seas, except for those who remained in a few castle garrisons. From there, the king advanced to various towns and cities, and from that point on, the entire strength of Scotland was brought under his control with minimal resistance and little bloodshed. For, as the glory of their entire realm had been wiped away by the outcome of a single battle, no obstacle remained to prevent the most fortunate king from easily subduing the rest of the country.

Regi quidem nostro in crastino venienti reddiderunt castrum, ponentes in manu ipsius vitam et membra. Noluit enim rex ullam conditionem apponere, neque gratiam promittere ex pacto certam. Nomina eorum qui captivabantur erant ista: Willelmus comes de Rosse, Willelmus comes de Asthelle, Alexander comes de Meneteth. Item barones, Johannes filius Johannis Comyn, Willelmus de Sancto Claro, Ricardus Syward, Johannes filius Gaufridi de Moubrai. Cum istis etiam magnatibus inventi sunt et capti triginta unus milites, et armigeri centum, et duo clerici, scilicet Johannes de Somerville et Willelmus de Sancto Claro. Hos omnes misit dominus rex sparsim et divisim per XII vel XVI ad diversa castella in Anglia, sub firma custodia reservandos. Obtenta itaque victoria de Dunbar, dissoluta sunt corda et consilia Scotorum, fugeruntque quasi omnes ultra mare regni illius, exceptis illis qui in castrorum præsidiis remanebant. Exinde processit rex ad aliquas urbes et oppida, et extunc omne robur Scotiæ quasi minimo et incruento negotio in suam potestatem redegit et vicit. Namque quia universam eorum gloriam unius prœlii casus abraserat, in obtinendis residuis nulla se fortunatissimo principi difficultas opposuit.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. As for the Earl of Atholl [John Stathbogie (age 40)], who had fled from that castle and, after some time, had been captured, although the queen of England and many magnates begged the king on his behalf that his life be spared, because he was a close kinsman¹ to the lord king of England, the king ordered that he be brought to London and hanged higher than the others. And because he was found to be a deceiver, although a relative, the king commanded that after being hanged he should be beheaded and burned, and this was done [on 7th November 1306]. Christopher de Seton, who had married the new king's sister Mary [a mistake for Christina Bruce (age 33)], and was an Englishman, having been captured in the castle of Loch Doon, and afterwards his wife and many others as well, the king ordered to be brought to Dumfries, where the knight [John Comyn] had been killed, and there to be drawn, hanged, and beheaded. The same sentence was passed on two of his brothers and on all the others who had agreed to and taken part in the death of Lord John Comyn; and this was done by the special command of the king. The wife of Christopher, the king placed in the monastery of Sixhills [Map] in Lindsey, and the daughter of the new king he placed in the monastery of Watton [Map]. The lord king gave to Lord Edmund de Mauley (age 25) the manor of Seaton in Whitby Strand, which had belonged to Christopher, and other lands he had held in Northumberland the king gave to Lord William le Latimer (age 30). The lands of the new king the lord king divided among his magnates in this way: he gave the Valley of Annandale to the Earl of Hereford, who had married the daughter of the king of England; Ayr and Ayrshire he gave to Lord Robert de Clifford (saving, however, the right of the church of Durham); Tothenham, Tothenhamschire, and the manor of Wrothell in the southern parts he gave to other magnates. The earldom of Carrick, which the new king had held by maternal inheritance, the king of England gave to Lord Henry de Percy; and the earldom of Atholl he gave to the Earl of Gloucester, who had married the king's daughter after the death of Gilbert de Clare, the former earl of Gloucester. Thus he bore the title of earl by right of his wife, not by inheritance, for he had been a mere and unremarkable knight when he married her, by the name of Ralph Monthermer (age 36).

Comitem vero de Asechel, qui ab isto castro fugerat et post aliquod intervallum captus fuerat, cum regina Angliæ et multi magnates rogarent pro eo ad regem ne sanguis ejus effunderetur, pro eo quod fuit proximus parens domino regi Angliæ, jussit rex Londoniis adduci et cæteris excelsior suspendi. Et quia seductor inventus qui consanguineus extiterat, præcepit rex post suspensionem decollari eum et comburi, quod factum est. Christoforum autem de Sethon, qui sororem novi regis duxerat nomine Mariam, et esset Anglicus, cum in castro de Lochdor captus esset, et post uxorque sua et multi alii, jussit rex adduci apud Dunfrees ubi militem occiderat, ibique trahi, suspendi et decollari. Simile judicium habuerunt duo fratres sui, et omnes alii qui morti domini Johannis Comyn consenserunt et interfuerunt; et hoc ex speciali præcepto regis. Uxorem vero Christofori posuit rex in monasterio de Thyxsel in Lindesay, et filiam novi regis posuit in monasterio de Watton. Deditque dominus rex domino Eadmundo de Malo-lacu manerium de Seton in Wytebystrand, quod erat Christofori, et alias suas terras quas habuit in Northumberland dedit rex domino Willelmo le Latymer. Terras vero novi regis dispersit dominus rex inter magnates suos hoc modo; dedit enim Vallem Anandiæ comiti de Herford, qui filiam regis Angliæ duxerat in uxorem; Hert vero et Herternes dedit domino Roberto de Clifforde, salvo tamen jure ecclesiæ Dunolmensis; Thotenham et Thotenhamschyre et manerium de Wrothell in partibus australibus dedit aliis magnatibus suis; comitatum vero de Karrik, quem ex hæreditate materna habuerat ipse novus rex, dedit rex Angliæ domino Henrico de Percy; comitatum autem de Asechel dedit rex comiti Gloucestriæ, qui filiam regis post mortem Gilberti de Clare quondam comitis Gloucestriæ, duxerat; sicque nomen comitis habebat ab uxore, non ab hæreditate, fuerat enim miles simplex et segnis quando eam duxerat, nomine Radulphus Monhermer.

Note 1. John Strathbogie, 9th Earl Atholl, and King Edward I, were half first cousins twice removed. Strathbogie was a great great grandson of King John through his illegitimate son Richard.