Roland (Galloway) of Galloway (abt. 1164 - 1200)

Born about 1164 in Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 19 Dec 1200 at about age 36 in Northamptonshire, England

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Sir Roland Galloway was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

Biography

Known in his youth as Lachlan, his preference in adulthood for being known as Roland, the Norman-French equivalent of Lachlan, symbolizes the spread of foreign influences into Galloway which followed the overthrow in 1160 of his grandfather, Fergus of Galloway. Military conquest by Malcolm IV had replaced loose Scottish overlordship with rigorous supervision; royal officials were established in territories bordering Galloway, and Roland's father, and his uncle, Gilbert, between whom Galloway had been divided, were encouraged to settle colonists to meet new obligations due to the crown. This regime held until 1174, when King William the Lion was captured during his invasion of England in support of Henry II's rebellious eldest son. Uhtred and Gilbert, who had served in William's army, seized this opportunity to throw off Scottish overlordship and, having returned to Galloway, they attacked William's officers and appealed to their kinsman, Henry II of England. Revolt turned into civil war as rivalries between the brothers surfaced, and in September 1174 Gilbert murdered Uhtred. An English embassy negotiated terms, but, despite an offer of substantial tribute, when he learned of his kinsman's murder Henry II refused to make terms with Gilbert, and in 1175 sent the now-freed King William to subdue him. Supported by the Scots and by Uhtred's friends, Roland regained control of eastern Galloway, possibly as early as October 1176, when his uncle submitted to Henry II. Despite his continued open hostility to the Scots, Gilbert thereafter retained possession of western Galloway under English protection.

After 1174 Roland forged links with the Scottish crown. On his uncle's death in 1185, he enjoyed tacit Scottish encouragement for his takeover of Gilbert's lands and disinheritance of the latter's son, Duncan, in defiance of the wishes of King Henry, who in 1186 brought an army as far as Carlisle in an effort to subdue Roland. In a negotiated settlement, Roland swore homage and fealty to Henry II, but he was William's man. By 1187 he was active in the Scottish king's service, leading the force which defeated the MacWilliam pretender to the Scottish throne at ‘Mam Garvia’, near Inverness. Between about 1187 and 1190 he was appointed justiciar, possibly to restore royal authority in southwestern Scotland.

Under Roland the Anglo-Norman infiltration of Galloway gained pace. His few surviving charters show him introducing members of his kin, mainly from Cumbria, to assist in his establishment of control over the reunited lordship, while the church, too, was cultivated in a move to consolidate his position. His foundation c.1192 of Glenluce Abbey in Wigtownshire, a daughter house of Dundrennan, saw the establishment of a friendly community in the heart of his uncle's former estates. But there is no evidence to support the view that he swept aside the native nobility to make room for dependent incomers, and it is clear that his family's power continued to rest on the support of the Celtic aristocracy.

Roland's horizons, however, had shifted beyond the confines of Galloway and, while still enjoying the relative independence of his patrimony, he moved at ease into the ranks of the Scottish nobility. The Morville marriage facilitated this trend. On the death in 1196 of his brother-in-law William, the Morville estates in Scotland and England devolved, with the office of constable, on Roland and his wife. There is little evidence for Roland's exercise of office, but it is likely that his attendance at Lincoln in November 1200, when King William the Lion swore fealty to King John for his English lands, depended on his position as constable and justiciar. From Lincoln Roland continued to Northampton, where he opened a lawsuit concerning a portion of his wife's inheritance, but on 19 December he died in the town and was buried there in the abbey of St Andrew.

Sources

• Ancestral Roots F.L. Weis 8th ed. 2004 Line 38-25
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography