Alexander (Comyn) VI Earl of Buchan (abt. 1214 - bef. 1289)

Born about 1214 in Buchan, Aberdeen, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Quincy) Comyn — married after 1256 in Scotland [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 6 Apr 1289 before about age 75 in Buchan, Aberdeen, Scotland

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Biography

Family

Alexander was the oldest son of William Comyn, earl of Buchan, and his second wife Margaret Buchan, countess of Buchan.^[1] His date of birth has been estimated as occurring circa 1214, based upon his parents' marriage "in or before" this same year.^[2] Alexander had two younger brothers: William and Fergus; and three sisters: Idonea Comyn, who married Gilbert de la Hay; Agnes Comyn, who married Philip Meldrum; and Elizabeth Comyn, who married William, earl of Mar.^[1] He also had a number of half-siblings from his father's first marriage: Richard Comyn; Walter Comyn, earl of Menteith, who married Isabella, countess of Menteith; David Comyn, lord of East Kilbride, who married Isabel de Valognes; William Comyn (a clerk); and Jean Comyn, who married William, 2nd earl of Ross.^[3][4]

Political Alliances

Alexander succeeded his mother, becoming earl of Buchan, sometime between 1242 (when he was styled "heir of Buchan"^[5]) and 1244 (when he was listed in August of that year as "Earl of Buchan," one of the conservators of a truce with England^[6]). Along with his half-brother Walter, earl of Menteith, he quickly became a dominant force in Scottish politics.^[7] He became Justiciar of Scotland north of the Forth in 1252, was removed from that position in 1255 when the Comyn family fell from power, but was reinstated as Justiciar again in 1258 and held the office without interruption until his death in 1289.^[8][7][9]

By 1264, he was also the sheriff of Wigtownshire^[10] and Dingwall.^[11] He held castles at Kingedward, Dundarg, Cairnbulg, Rattray, Slains, and Ellon as well as lands near Scone, and in Fife and Mortlach.^[12] With his marriage to one of the three co-heiresses of Roger de Quincy, he gained further lands in Fife, Galloway, Dumfriesshire, and Lothian, and extensive properties in England.^[12] In 1270 his wife's eldest sister Margaret, countess of Darby, resigned the hereditary office of Constable of Scotland (which had passed to her on her father's death) to Comyn.^[13][9]

When his brother Walter died in 1258, Alexander Comyn became the de facto leader of the Comyn family and the head of its political party.^[12] He was named as a recurring witness on Alexander III's charters,^[11] and he had a military role in suppressing the threat to northern Scotland posed by Norway.^[12] Like his father he contributed financially to a number of religious institutions, thereby garnering political support from influential clergymen. He was a benefactor to Deer Abbey, Arbroath, Lindores, Inchholm, Scone, and St Andrews.^[12] And like his elder brother, the earl of Menteith, he consolidated his position even further by marrying all of his daughters to major Scottish barons: Patrick, earl of Dunbar; Malise, earl of Strathearn; Gilbert de Umfraville, earl of Angus; William Brechin; and Nichols de Soules.^[14] At the time of his death in 1289, he was the most senior of the Six Guardians who had been elected to govern the country on behalf of the absent Maid of Norway.^[9][12]

Marriage and Children

Alexander Comyn married Elizabeth (or Isabella) de Quincy, the daughter of Roger de Quincy, earl of Winchester and hereditary Constable of Scotland, and Ellen of Galloway, daughter and co-heiress of Alan, lord of Galloway.^[9][7][15] There were at least nine children from this marriage:

• John Comyn, b. c1259;^[16] m. Isabella MacDuff;^[17] d. bef 3 Dec 1308^[17]

• Sir Roger Comyn^[9][18]

• Sir Alexander Comyn, m. Joan Latimer;^[19][20] d. bef 3 Dec 1308^[21]

• William Comyn, Chancellor of Glasgow, Provost of St Mary's Church, St Andrews^[22][20]

• Marjorie Comyn, m. c1270 Patrick Dunbar, 8th earl of Dunbar;^[23][20]

• Agnes Comyn, m. Malise, 6th earl of Strathearn;^[24][25] d. aft. Aug 1320 (when she was sentenced to life in prison during the Black Parliament)^[26]

• Elizabeth Comyn, m. Gilbert de Umfraville, 2nd earl of Angus;^[20][27][28] d. bef. 17 Feb 1328/9^[27]

• Elena Comyn, m Sir William of Brechin^[20][9]

• Margaret Comyn, m. Sir Nicholas de Soulis^[29][20][9]

Death

Alexander Comyn died shortly before 6 April 1289.^[30] At the time of his death, he was one of the wealthiest and most influential men in Scotland.^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 2, pp. 253-254.
2. ↑ Balfour Paul, James. (1911). 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 (Vol. II, p. 252). Edinburgh: D. Douglas. Retrieved from Internet Archive (Available online); accessed 8 March 2022.
3. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 1, p. 505
4. ↑ Young, Alan. Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314. East Lothian, Scotland: Tuckwell Press (1997), p. 29.
5. ↑ Fordun à Goodall, ii. 73, cited in Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 2, p. 254.
6. ↑ Rymer's Foedera, i. 428, cited in Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 2, p. 254.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 2, p. 254.
8. ↑ Barrow, G.W.S. The Kingdom of the Scots. New York: St Martin's Press (1973), pp. 137-138.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study In Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol 2, pp 3-4 BUCHAN 8. Elizabeth de Quincy.
10. ↑ Burnet, George (ed). The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1878), vol. 1, p. 22.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Young, Alan. Robert the Bruce's Rivals: the Comyns 1212-1314. East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd (1997), p. 69.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5} Tout, Thomas Frederick. Comyn, Alexander. Dictionary of National Biography online edition.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 2, p. 255.
14. ↑ Young, Alan. Robert the Bruce's Rivals: the Comyns 1212-1314. East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd (1997), p 72.
15. ↑ Skene, Felix J.H. Liber Pluscardensis. Edinburgh: W. Paterson (1880), Vol. 1 (Historians of Scotland 10), pp. 102-103.
16. ↑ Bain, Joseph. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1884), vol 2, p. 94, #369.
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 2, p. 258.
18. ↑ Bain, Joseph. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1884), vol. 2, p. 67, #216.
19. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study In Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol 1, p. 307 BEAUMONT 8. Henry de Beaumont
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5} Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 2, p. 256.
21. ↑ Bain, Joseph. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1887), vol. 3, p. 12, #59.
22. ↑ PoMS Doc. 2/105/4 (Cal. Laing Chrs, no. 15). c1290: "William Comyn, provost of the church of St Mary in the city of St Andrews....." Available here.
23. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 2, p. 221 CLAVERING 4.iv.a. Patrick of Dunbar.
24. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1911), vol. 8, p. 249.
25. ↑ Calendar of documents relating to Scotland preserved in Her Majesty's Public Record Office, London Vol.ii 1883 p. 42, no. 208.
26. ↑ Fordun Chronica gentis Scotorum CXXXV, available here
27. ↑ ^{27.0 27.1} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), vol. 4, p. 13 MALLORY 9. Gilbert de Umfreville.
28. ↑ Paul, Sir James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas (1904), vol. 1, p. 168.
29. ↑ McMichael, T. The Feudal Family of de Soulis. Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society, 3rd ser, vol.xxvi, 1947, p. 185, available online.
30. ↑ Bain, Joseph. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland. Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House (1884), vol. 2, p. 94, #366.

See Also:

• Barrow, G.W.S. The Anglo-Norman Era in Scottish History. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1980), p. 157.

• Barrow, G.W.S. Kingship and Unity. Edinburgh: The University Press (1981), pp. 173, 178, 184.

• Close Rolls of the Reign of Henry III 1268-1272. London: H.M. Stationery Office (1938), p. 8, no. H.

• Innes. Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonesis. Edinburgh: Impressum Edinburgh (1845), vol. 2, pp. 276-277. (Charter of Alexander Comyn dated 1261, naming his wife Isabel.)

• Macdonald, WIlliam R. Scottish Armorial Seals. Edinburgh: William Green and Sons (1904), p. 65, #579, 579(a).

• Mackintosh, John. Historic Earls and Earldoms of Scotland. Digitised by Electric Scotland, chapter 2, section I: Earldom and Earls of Buchan.

• Young, Alan. Comyn, Alexander, sixth earl of Buchan. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition, 23 Sep 2004. Available by subscription here

• Young, Alan. Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314. East Lothian, Scotland: Tuckwell Press Ltd (1997), pp. 68-103.