Biography of John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl 1266-1306

1306 Imprisonment and Execution of Scottish Prisoners

John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl and Margaret Mar Countess Atholl were married. She by marriage Countess Atholl. She the daughter of Donald Mar 6th Earl of Mar.

Around 1266 John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl was born to [his father] David Strathbogie 8th Earl Atholl and [his mother] Isabel Plantagenet Countess of Atholl at Atholl. He a great x 2 grandson of King John of England.

Before June 1266 [his father] David Strathbogie 8th Earl Atholl and [his mother] Isabel Plantagenet Countess of Atholl were married. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Richard de Dover Plantagenet [aged 46] and [his grandmother] Matilda Angus 6th Countess Angus.

On 6th August 1270 [his father] David Strathbogie 8th Earl Atholl died at Tunis [Map]. His son John [aged 4] succeeded 9th Earl Atholl.

In 1292 [his mother] Isabel Plantagenet Countess of Atholl died.

Battle of Dunbar

On 27th April 1296 Battle of Dunbar was fought between John Warenne 6th Earl of Surrey [aged 65] and King John Balliol I of Scotland [aged 47], his son in law. John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl [aged 30] and John Comyn 3rd Earl Buchan were captured.

Patrick de Graham Lord of Kincardine was killed.

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] [aged 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.

Click to read more ...

After 27th April 1296 John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl [aged 30] was imprisoned at Tower of London [Map].

Battle of Methven

On 19th June 1306 the forces of Aymer de Valence 2nd Earl Pembroke [aged 31], including Robert Pierrepont, ambushed and routed the Scottish army of King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland [aged 31] including Simon Fraser, Christopher Seton and John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl [aged 40] at Methven. John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl was captured as well as many others.

Imprisonment and Execution of Scottish Prisoners

Scalaronica. [7th November 1306]. The Earl of Athol [aged 40], forasmuch as he was cousin of the King of England, [being] the son of [his mother] Maud of Dover [great grand-daughter of King John] his [Edward's] aunt, was sent to London, and, because he was of the blood royal, was hanged on a gallows thirty feet higher than the others.

On 7th November 1306 John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl [aged 40] was hanged, beheaed and burned, in London on a gallows 30 feet higher than ordinary to signfy his higher status and as a consequence of his kinship to King Edward I. His son David succeeded 10th Earl Atholl. He was the first Earl to be executed in England for 230 years.

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.

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. As for the Earl of Atholl [John Stathbogie [aged 40]], who had fled from that castle [Methven 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].

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.

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.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke

Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.

Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.

[his daughter] Isabella Strathbogie was born to John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl and Margaret Mar Countess Atholl. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King John of England. She married her third cousin twice removed Edward Bruce King Ireland, son of Robert Bruce Earl Carrick and Marjorie Carrick 3rd Countess Carrick.

[his son] John Strathbogie was born to John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl and Margaret Mar Countess Atholl. He a great x 3 grandson of King John of England.

[his son] David Strathbogie 10th Earl Atholl was born to John Strathbogie 9th Earl Atholl and Margaret Mar Countess Atholl. He a great x 3 grandson of King John of England.