John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch

John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
Died	10 February 1306 Dumfries
Cause of death	stabbing
Title	Guardian of Scotland
Other names	Red Comyn
Nationality	Scottish
Spouse(s)	Joan de Valence
Issue	John IV
Parents	John II Comyn & Eleanor née Balliol Comyn

John III 'Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lord of Lochaber, also known simply as the Red Comyn (died 10 February 1306) was a Scottish nobleman who was an important figure in the Wars of Scottish Independence, and was Guardian of Scotland during the Second Interregnum 1296–1306. He is best known for having been stabbed to death by the future Robert I of Scotland before the altar at the church of the Greyfriars at Dumfries.

His father, John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, known as the Black Comyn, was one of the Competitors for the Crown of Scotland, claiming his descent from King Donald III of Scotland. His mother was Eleanor Balliol, eldest daughter of John I de Balliol, father of King John Balliol. The Red Comyn might thus be said to have combined two lines of royal descent, Gaelic and Norman.

He had, moreover, links with the royal house of England: in the early 1290s he married Joan de Valence, daughter of William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke, an uncle of Edward I.

Comyn family

On the eve of the Wars of Independence the Comyns were one of the dominant families of Scotland, with extensive land holdings in both the north and south of the country, and political influence and family connections with the crown. Of Norman-French origin, the family first made an appearance in Scotland during the reign of David I and made steady progress ever since. In the thirteenth century they acquired the lordship of Badenoch, with extensive landholdings also in Lochaber, as well as the earldom of Buchan. On the death of Alexander III, John Comyn's father was appointed to the panel of Guardians to await the arrival of the infant Maid of Norway, granddaughter of Alexander III. Her death in 1290 immersed the nation in crisis, finally solved in 1292 when John Balliol emerged as king, with the support of his Comyn kinsmen, a solution that was never accepted by the next best claimant, Robert Bruce of Annandale, grandfather of the future king. The Comyns were the principal supporters of King John even after he was deposed by Edward I in 1296. As such they were foremost among the enemies of the house of Bruce.

Comyn at war

With the outbreak of war between England and Scotland, Comyn, his father, and his cousin, John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, crossed the border and attacked Carlisle, defended for King Edward by Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, the father of the future king. The Wars of Scottish Independence thus began in a clash between the Bruces and Comyns. Having no siege equipment, the Comyns drew off and subsequently joined the main Scottish host at Haddington, which had been assembled to meet the advance of the English army along the east coast. On 27 April the Scots were overwhelmed at the Battle of Dunbar, with John being among the many prisoners taken. While his father and cousin retreated north in the company of King John, he was sent south, to be imprisoned in the Tower of London.

John remained in prison for some months; but with the war in Scotland seemingly over he was finally released on condition that he take up service with Edward in Flanders, the main theatre of operations in his war against the French. While there he learned of the rising of William Wallace and Andrew de Moray and their joint victory over the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. In March 1298 John was among Scots who deserted from the English, finally ending up in Paris, where they appealed for aid to Philip IV. The only help they managed to get was a ship back to Scotland, arriving before the summer.

Battle of Falkirk

Earlier that year William Wallace had emerged as Guardian, Moray having died at Stirling or shortly after. The main task facing the Guardian was to gather a national army to meet an invasion by Edward, anxious to overturn the verdict of Stirling Bridge. For cavalry, by far the weakest element of the Scottish host, Wallace depended on the Comyns and the other noble families. On 22 July Wallace's army was destroyed at the Battle of Falkirk, the light horse being driven off at an early stage by the heavy English cavalry. It is possible that John Comyn was present at the battle, though the evidence is far from conclusive. The main Scottish sources, the chronicles of John Fordun and John Barbour, were composed decades after the event, long after the Comyns had been expelled from Scotland, and had a specific agenda, namely to magnify the later King, Robert Bruce, and diminish John Comyn. According to Fordun, John and his kin hated Wallace and only appeared on the battlefield with premeditated treachery in mind — "For, on account of the ill-will, begotten of the sprig of envy, which the Comyns had conceived towards the aforesaid William, they, with their accomplices, forsook the field, and escaped unhurt." This is set alongside a commendation of Robert Bruce, the future king, who, in Fordun's account, fought on the side of the English and "was the means of bringing about the victory." This is contested as no Bruce appears on the Falkirk roll, of nobles present in the English army, and ignoring Blind Harry's 15th claim that Wallace burned Ayre Castle in 1297, two 19th century antiquarians: Alexander Murison and George Chalmers stated Bruce did not participate in the battle and in the following month decided to burn Ayr Castle, to prevent it being garrisoned by the English. The contemporary English record of the Lanercost Chronicle simply blames the inadequacy of the Scottish cavalry in general. Soon after the defeat, John Comyn and Robert the Bruce were named as joint Guardians of the Realm in place of Wallace.

Guardian of Scotland

With no independent power base Wallace, whose prestige had always been based on the success of his army, had little choice but to resign as Guardian after Falkirk. In his place came one of the more unusual, and difficult, balancing acts in Scottish history: John Comyn and Robert Bruce the younger, who had now joined the patriot party. The Scots were still fighting on behalf of the absent King John, so Bruce must have paid lip service to the cause, though his royal ambitions were openly known. The records give little or nothing in the way of insight into the feelings and motives of these men. At a meeting of a council of the magnates at Peebles in August 1299 an argument broke out relative to the property of Wallace, who was then in France. Comyn is said to have seized Bruce by the throat.

William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews, was appointed as a third Guardian. Lamberton was a personal friend of both Wallace and Bruce. Bruce resigned before May 1300, when the restoration of King John was looking increasingly likely, leaving only Comyn and Lamberton. When parliament assembled at Rutherglen it elected Sir Ingram d'Umphraville to be one of the guardians of the realm in place of Bruce.

This was obviously an arrangement that suited Comyn, because Umphraville was a close political associate and a kinsman of King John. With the Guardianship taking Scotland one way Robert Bruce went the other, making his peace with Edward by February 1302 in a document in which he expressed the fear that "the realm of Scotland might be removed from the hands of the king, which God forbid, and delivered to John Balliol, or to his son."

The new triumvirate lasted to May 1301, when John de Soules emerged as sole Guardian, seemingly appointed by Balliol himself pending his return. The following year, with Soules leaving for France on a diplomatic mission, Comyn became sole Guardian, occupying the position for the next two years. Comyn became Lord of Badenoch following his father's death that same year.

Defiance and surrender

There was a certain inevitability to the Comyn domination of Scottish government in the years before 1304: not only were they the most powerful of the noble families, having more military resources and more control, particularly in he north, than any other family. English invasions in 1298, 1300, and 1301 had been confined to the south of the country, leaving the north as the chief recruiting ground, and supply base, of the Scottish army. The Guardian's prestige increased still further when he and Sir Simon Fraser defeated an English force at the Battle of Roslin in February 1303.

There never was so desperate a struggle, or one in which the stoutness of knightly prowess shone forth so brightly. The commander and leader in this struggle was John Comyn, the son... John Comyn, then guardian of Scotland, and Simon Fraser with their followers, day and night, did their best to harass and to annoy, by their general prowess, the aforesaid kings officers and bailiffs... the aforesaid John Comyn and Simon, with their abettors, hearing of their arrival at Rosslyn and wishing to steal a march rather than have one stolen upon them, came briskly through from Biggar to Rosslyn, in one night, with some chosen men, who chose rather death before unworthy subjection to the English nation; and all of a sudden they fearlessly fell upon the enemy. Fordun

Politically, however, the outlook was bleak. Philip entered into a final peace with Edward, from which Scotland was excluded. John Balliol, whose star had risen briefly above the horizon, now sank into the twilight of history. In a mood of desperation the Scottish diplomats in Paris, who included Comyn's cousin Buchan, wrote words of encouragement; "For God's sake do not despair...it would gladden your hearts if you would know how much your honour has increased in every part of the world as a result of your recent battle with the English." However, for the first time since 1296 Edward was preparing an offensive that would take him deep into the north of Scotland. Unable to mount an effective resistance, and with his main base threatened with destruction, Comyn entered into peace negotiations, concluded at Strathord near Perth in February 1304. Echoing the Treaty of Birgham, it was stipulated that laws, usages, and customs in place in the time of Alexander III should be retained. Comyn insisted that there should be no reprisals or disinheritance, which Edward accepted, with notable exceptions. Edward maintained his particular hatred for one former Guardian. Comyn was thus obliged to adhere to a condition in which he and other named individuals were to "capture Sir William Wallace and hand him over to the king, who will watch to see how each of them conducts himself so that he can do most favour to whoever shall capture Wallace..." There is no evidence to suggest Comyn made any effort to fulfill this condition, though this does not imply that he would have failed to hand over Wallace if he had the opportunity.

Death in Dumfries

The killing of Comyn in the Greyfriars church in Dumfries, as seen by Felix Philippoteaux, a 19th-century illustrator.

On 10 February 1306 Robert Bruce participated in the killing of John Comyn before the high altar of the Greyfriars Church in Dumfries. Legend, possibly apocryphal, says Robert the Bruce called Comyn to a meeting, stabbed him and rushed out to tell Roger de Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick went in to finish the job uttering: "You doubt! I mak siccar!" ("I make sure!")

Apart from these bare facts, nothing certain can be gathered from contemporary accounts. While later Scottish sources all try to justify the crime by amplifying earlier accusations of malevolence and treachery against Comyn, the English sources portray Robert as a villain who lured Comyn into a church — taken as a guarantee of safety — with the intention of committing premeditated murder.

Some sources suggest that Bruce offered a pact, whereby one would take the crown in return for the lands of the other. As they stood before the high altar, Bruce struck Comyn with a dagger. Bruce's companions struck him with their swords. Sir Robert Comyn, rushing to aid his nephew, was killed by a blow to the head by Bruce's brother-in-law, Christopher Seton.

Thirteen days after the event, a garbled version of the facts reached the court of Edward I at Winchester, where the murder was reported as "the work of some people who are doing their utmost to trouble the peace and quiet of the realm of Scotland." Once the picture became clear, Edward reacted in fury, authorising Aymer de Valence, Comyn's brother-in-law, to take extraordinary action against Bruce and his adherents by refusing quarter to them. King Edward also emphasised his blood relationship with the Comyns by ordering his cousin, Joan, to send John's young son and namesake to England, where he was placed in the care of Sir John Weston, guardian of the royal children. John IV Comyn grew to manhood in England, not returning to Scotland until 1314, when he was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn. The death of his father plunged Scotland into a brief but bloody civil war, largely concluded by 1308, but with political reverberations that were to last for decades.

See also

• Competitors for the Crown of Scotland

References

Documentary and narrative

• Barbour, John, The Bruce, trans. A. A. H. Duncan, 1964.
• Bower, Walter, Scotichronicon, ed. D. E. R. Watt, 1987–1996.
• Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, ed. J. Bain, 1881.
• Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough, ed. H. Rothwell, Camden Society, vol. 89, 1957.
• Fordun, John of, Chronicles, ed. W. F. Skene, 1871-2.
• Gray, Sir Thomas, Scalicronica, trans. H. Maxwell, 1913.
• Lanercost Chronicle, trans. H. Maxwell, 1913.
• Palgrave, F., ed. Documents and Records Illustrating the History of Scotland, 1837.
• Pluscarden, the Book of, ed. F. J. H. Skene, 1877–80.
• Wyntoun, Andrew, Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, ed. D. Laing, 1872–9.

Secondary works

• Barrow, G, Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland, 1976.
• Barron, E. M., The Scottish War of Independence, 1934.
• Young, A., Robert the Bruce's Rivals: the Comyns, 1212–1314, 1997.

Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by John II	Lord of Badenoch 1302–1306	Succeeded by John IV