John (Stewart) de Menteith (abt. 1265 - aft. 1323)

Born about 1265 in Kerse, Renfrewshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died after 1323 after about age 58 in Perthshire, Scotland

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Biography

John (Stewart) de Menteith is Notable.

Family and Early Allegiances

John de Menteith was the second son of Walter Stewart and Mary, Countess of Monteith, the younger daughter of Maurice, earl of Menteith.^[1][2] The exact date of his birth is unknown, but since he had to have been of age in 1286 when he was a party in an agreement with Robert Bruce,^[3] it could have been no later than 1265. Both John and his elder brother Alexander Menteith, who succeeded to the title, were initially staunch defenders of the Scottish state, and both were taken prisoner after the Scottish defeat at Dunbar. John was sent as a prisoner to Nottingham Castle where he was forced to remain for over a year^[4] until eventually obtaining his release, along with the release of a number of his fellow prisoners, by promising to serve Edward I in his campaign against the French in 1297.^[5] As a result of his valuable service in France, John Menteith was knighted and the lands which Edward I had confiscated after Dunbar were restored to him.^[6]

When Sir John Menteith returned to Scotland in 1298, it was as a loyal follower of the English king and a supporter of Baliol's claim to the throne of Scotland. This was perhaps not surprising, as both his mother's elder sister and his own cousin had both married Comyns, and that family was clearly in the Baliol camp.^[1] Edward I's complete confidence in him was demonstrated by the appointment of his "sworn-man, John of Menteith" as the keeper of the very strategically located castle of Dumbarton, it's village, and the sheriffdom of that county,^[7] a position held until that time by the earls of Lennox.

Capture of William Wallace

Sir William Wallace was captured 3 August 1305 within the sheriffdom of Dumbarton, supposedly near Glasgow, by John Menteith (following a tip from one of Menteith's servants, whose brother had been slain by Wallace).^[8][9] Wallace, at that time considered a fugitive rather than a combatant, was turned over to Edward I and his brutal murder at the hands of the English has caused generations of historians to label Menteith a "traitor of the deepest dye" and declare his reputation tarnished forever.^[10] However, when Wallace was captured in 1305, Sir John Menteith had been in King Edward's service for several years. Not handing him over would have been a violation of the trust placed in him as Sheriff of Dumbarton. G.W.S. Barrow noted that it also would have meant "publicly defying his acknowledged king and lord at a time when in Scotland itself not a single other Scotsman of note was resisting the king of England."^[11] Sir John Menteith's role as a trusted warrior and advisor in the subsequent war for Scottish indepence indicates that his contemporaries, at least, did not view him as a traitor.

Supporter of Scottish Independence

The following year (1306) Robert Bruce was crowned at Scone, and before March 1309 he had won over to his side James the Stewart; James's nephew Alexander Stewart of Bunkle (Berwickshire); Thomas Randolph (the younger); and John Menteith.^[12] Far from having any stigma of treachery attached to him, Menteith became one of a small group of men trusted implicitly by Bruce, who were not related to him.^[13] Menteith witnessed forty-six of King Robert's charters, his name always appearing second directly after Walter Stewart until 1318, when he changed places with James Douglas. ^[6] He was an envoy in the peace negotiations in 1310,^[14] was placed in charge of the earldom of Menteith during the minority of his nephew Alan,^[6] and in 1320 signed the famous Declaration of Arbroath as 'guardian of the earldom of Menteith.'^[14][15] He also helped to negotiate the thirteen year truce of 1323, and his signature on that document was third among all the barons (after the Stewart and Sir James Douglas).^[14][16]

Sir John Menteith's position as a lord of the Firth of Clyde region was made even stronger when in 1323 Robert Bruce granted him Glen Breackerie in Kintyre and other lands in 'Aulesai' (possibly Ailsa in Ayrshire).^[17]

Marriage and Children

The name of Sir John Menteith's wife is unknown,^[1] but there were at least three children from their marriage:

• Sir John Menteith, Lord of Arran and Knapdale m. Elene, dau. of Gratney, earl of Mar^[1][2]
• Sir Walter Menteith of Rusky^[1][2]
• Joanna Menteith m(1) Malise, 7th earl of Strathearn; m(2) John Campbell, earl of Atholl; m(3) Sir Maurice of Moray; m(4) William, 5th earl of Sutherland^[1][2]

Death

The exact date of John Menteith's death is unknown. William Fraser believes it was not long after 1323, citing among the missing charters of King Robert I a confirmation to Joanna, Countess of Strarthearn, 'daughter of the deceased Sir John Menteith.'^[18]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Paul, James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: David Douglas (1904), vol. 6, pp. 127-132 available online.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} MacGregor, Gordon. The Red Book of Scotland. Scotland: by the author (2016), rev. 2020, vol. 6, pp. 695-697.
3. ↑ Fraser, William. The Red Book of Menteith. Edinburgh: privately printed (1880), vol. 1, p. 460 available online.
4. ↑ List of Prisoners Taken at Dunbar. PoMS Doc. 5/3/0; CDS, ii, no. 742 (16 May 1296) available here.
5. ↑ Scottish Prisoners Released (after Dunbar). PoMS Doc. 5/1/0; Rot. Scot. i, 44b(2), (9 Aug 1297) available here.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Oxford Dictionay of National Biography Online. Entry for Menteith, Sir John (d. 1323?) by Fiona Watson. Published 23 Sep 2004 available here by subscription.
7. ↑ Appointment of John of Menteith as keeper of Dumbarton. PoMS Doc. 1/27/0; Stevenson, Docs, ii, no. 635 (20 Mar 1304), available here.
8. ↑ Barrow, G.W.S. Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (1965), p. 178.
9. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography Online. Entry for Menteith, John de (by Thomas Frederick Tout) available here.
10. ↑ Fraser, William. The Red Book of Menteith. Edinburgh: privately printed (1880), vol. 1, pp. 433-435 available online.
11. ↑ Barrow, G.W.S. Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (1965), p. 371.
12. ↑ Barrow, G.W.S. Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (1965), p. 236.
13. ↑ Barrow, G.W.S. Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (1965), p. 369.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2} Barrow, G.W.S. Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (1965), p. 372.
15. ↑ Brown, K.M. et al (eds.). Arbroath: record of assembly. Records of the Parliament of Scotland to 1707. available here.
16. ↑ Truce Between Kings of Scotland and England from 12 June 1323. PoMS Doc. 1/53/260; RRS, v, no 232 available here.
17. ↑ Gift of Glen Breackerie and Ailsa in Kintyre. PoMS Doc. 1/53/267; RRS, v, no. 239 (1 Aug 1323) Scone, available here.
18. ↑ Fraser, William. The Red Book of Menteith. Edinburgh: privately printed (1880), vol. 1, p. 454 available online.

See also:

• Correspondence to Edward I from John MacSween. PoMS Doc. 3/381/0; Stevenson, Docs, ii, no. 616 (aft. 27 Sep 1301) available here.

• Hutchison, A.F. The Lake of Menteith: its islands and vicinity with historical accounts of the Priory of Inchmahome and the earldom of Menteith. Stirliing: Eneas MaKay (1899), pp. 18-19 available online.

• Paul, James Balfour. The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: David Douglas (1904), vol. 1, p. 12 available online.

• The Peerage: Sir John Menteith of Rusky.

• PoMS no. 14047.John of Menteith (I), Knight

• Wikipedia:John de Menteith

• Wikidata: Item Q12858658, en:Wikipedia

• The Society of William Wallace. Sir John Menteith. available online.