Richard Comyn

Born [date unknown] in Scotland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 1249 in Scotland [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Scotland Project WikiTree [send private message] and Robert Lewis [send private message]

Richard Comyn was an inhabitant of Medieval Scotland. Join: Scotland Project Discuss: Scotland

Biography

Birth

In a charter to Glasgow Church, Sir Richard^[1] was named as son of William Comyn, lord of Kirkintilloch and Lenzie and through his second marriage, Earl of Buchan.^[2] Richard served as witness to that same charter.^[3] William Comyn was first married to an unknown wife (see research note 1),^[2][3] by whom he had four sons and one daughter:

• Richard (the subject of this profile);^[2][4][5][6]
• Walter, Lord of Badenoch, married Isabella, Countess of Menteith, circa 1234. He died without issue circa 1258;^[2][4][6]
• William (clerk);^[4][6]
• David, married Isabel de Valoniis;^[4][6] and
• Jean, married William, Earl of Ross.^[2][4][6]

William Comyn's second wife, whom he married in 1212,^[7][8] was Margaret (or Margery), Countess of Buchan,^[8] by whom he had three sons and three daughters.

• Alexander, Earl of Buchan, married Elizabeth de Quincy;^[4][6][8]
• William;^[4][6][8]
• Fergus;^[4][6][8]
• Idonea, married Gilbert de la Haye;^[4][6][8]
• Agnes, married Philip de Meldrum;^[4][6][8] and
• Elizabeth, married William, Earl of Mar.^[4][6][8]

Marriage

Richard's wife is unknown, however, their marriage produced the following issue:

• John, the Red Comyn, married firstly Eva Unknown, then Alice Ros;^[9]
• William;^[2][4] and
• Richard, when imprisoned by Henry III, Margaret Queen of Scotland negotiated for his release.^[2][3][4]

Notable Events

In 1209, Richard's father played a significant role in the peace treaty between Scotland's king, William I and John Lackland, king of England. The treaty was in consequence of William's territorial advancement into northern English lands.^[10] In fulfillment of the treaty, two knights were selected on the kings' behalf, one being William Comyn, justiciar of Scotland, who took an oath on the Bible by the soul of William I that the terms of the agreement would be honored.^[10] The treaty also required that 13 hostages were to be transferred to John Lackland's Carlisle councilors. One of these hostages may have been either William's son Richard or possibly his brother, Walter.^[10]

On 17 August 1214, William Comyn and his heirs granted to St. Cuthbert Church in perpetual alms one stone of wax, to be rendered annually at the September feast of St. Cuthbert.^[11] Richard, David Graham, and Roger, person of Rule, served as witnesses to this charter.^[12]

In 1233, Richard, as heir, succeeded to his father's estates held by him before his second marriage to Countess Margaret, circa 1212.^[13] Richard was responsible for repeating the land grants of Carraw to Hexham between 1214 and 1233.^[2] As Mary E. Cumming Bruce stated in Family Records of the Bruces and the Cumyns... that Richard, "was thus the chief of his name," his brother Walter, Earl of Menteith and Lord of Badenoch, and his half-brother Alexander, Earl of Buchan, always took precedence in documents, where Richard's signature was listed instead among the magnates.^[13]

On Christmas of 1244, Alexander II signed a contract with Henry III, in which he agreed to avoid entering into treaties with Henry III's enemies,^[14][15] whereby Richard swore an oath of fealty to the Scottish king and served among the lords of Scotland who served as Alexander II's sureties.^[2][15][16] Although Richard's name, along with his brothers, Walter and Alexander, appeared as guarantors of this treaty with England, Richard was never as politically active as his brothers.^[13] Instead, Richard and his father William provided political support for their successors, including Walter, Earl of Menteith and Alexander, Earl of Buchan. With bonds of strong family kinship, as well as employing Celtic-style governance, William, Richard, and Richard's son John were clannish in their support of family members, which lent itself to the successes of those who followed.^[17]

Death

Richard died between 1244 and 1249.^[4] The locations of his death and burial are unknown.

Research Notes

1. According to Charles Cawley, Sarah FitzHugh was the first wife of William Comyn.^[3] This claim, however, is not sourced. Mary E. Cumming Bruce, in Family Records of the Bruces and the Cumyns... while recognizing that William's first wife is not known, stated that in the pedigree of the Stewarts, William's first wife was named as Matilda Urquhart, granddaughter of the mythical Banquo.^[18]

Eve Amabilia Galloway has been detached as the mother of John Comyn and wife of Richard Comyn. Evidence has not been located to support these relationships. Moreover, Balfour Paul^[2] and Richard Cawley^[3] indicated that Richard's wife is unknown.

Joan Comyn has been detached as a daughter of Richard Comyn and brother of John Comyn. The evidence does not support these relationships. According to Balfour Paul^[2] and Charles Cawley,^[3] Richard and an unknown mother had three sons. A daughter is not named. In the event sources are located to support Joan's relationship to Richard Comyn and his son John, Joan can be reattached.

Sources

1. ↑ People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1371. Title/Occupation: Dominus (Lord/Sir), Source: 3/34/8 (Melr. Lib., no. 201), (WebLink PoMS).
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10} James Balfour Paul. The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom (Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1904), Vol. I, pp. 505, 506, (WebLink Internet Archive).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Untitled Nobility, Richard Comyn, (FMG Website: 9 May 2022), (WebLink Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13} Alan Young. Robert The Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314 (East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd., 1997), pp. x, xi.
5. ↑ People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1371. Relationship: Heir of William Comyn, Earl of Buchan (d. 1233), Source: 3/167/4 (ND, App., no. 175), (WebLink PoMS).
6. ↑ ^{6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10} People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1371. William Comyn, Earl of Buchan (d. 1233), Floruits: 1187 x 1250, (WebLink PoMS).
7. ↑ Alan Young. Robert The Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314 (East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd., 1997), p. 19.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7} James Balfour Paul. The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Ed. of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland; Containing an Historical and Genealogical Account of the Nobility of that Kingdom (Edinburgh: D. Douglas, 1904), Vol. II, p. 252, (WebLink Internet Archive).
9. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: The author, 2013), Vol II, p. 206, ROOS 6.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} Alan Young. Robert The Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314 (East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd., 1997), pp. 21, 22.
11. ↑ People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1371. Transaction: Gift of a Stone of Wax to Light the Church of St. Cuthbert at Coldingham, Witnesses: Richard Comyn, David Graham, Roger, persona of Rule, (WebLink PoMS).
12. ↑ People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1371. Transaction: Gift of a Stone of Wax to Light the Church of St. Cuthbert at Coldingham, Witnesses: Richard Comyn, David Graham, Roger, persona of Rule, (WebLink PoMS - see Witnesses).
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2} Mary E. Cumming Bruce. Family Records of the Bruces and the Cumyns, with an Historical Introduction and Appendix, Etc. (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1870), pp. 401, 402, (WebLink Internet Archive).
14. ↑ People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1371. Document 1/7/306 (RRS, iii, no. 299), Source: 1/7/306 (RRS, iii, no. 299), Calendar no. 1/7/306, (WebLink PoMS).
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Matthew Paris. Matthæi Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora, (London: Longman, 1872), pp. 381, 382, (WebLink Internet Archive).
16. ↑ People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1371. Relationship: Fidelis (Sworn Man) of Alexander II, King of Scots (d. 1249) (Tenurial & Lordship Relationship), Source: 1/7/306 (RRS, iii, no. 299), (WebLink PoMS - see Relationship Factoids).
17. ↑ Alan Young. Robert The Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314 (East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd., 1997), pp. 28, 29, 30.
18. ↑ Mary E. Cumming Bruce. Family Records of the Bruces and the Cumyns, with an Historical Introduction and Appendix, Etc. (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1870), p. 400, (WebLink Internet Archive).