John Comyn (abt. 1215 - bef. 1278)

Born about 1215 in Scotland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 18 Jul 1278 before about age 63 in Scotland

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

Biography

John Comyn is Notable.

John Comyn was born in Scotland.

Birth

John "the Red Comyn I" was the second son and heir of Richard Comyn of Badenoch and an unknown mother (see research note 1).^{[1][2] [3][4][5]} The marriage of Richard and his wife produced three sons, including William and Richard.^[3][6] Given that John's first marriage occurred around 1240, his date of birth has been roughly estimated as occurring circa 1215.

Marriage

John married Eve, possibly the daughter of Walter Steward, Steward of Scotland,^[1] around 1240, and was the mother of seven of John's children:

• William,^[1][2] of Kirkintilloch, born after 1240, married Isabella Russell, daughter of John Russell, Knt., and Isabella, Countess of Menteith. Although he was living in January 1260/91, he was deceased before 2 June 1291;^[3][6]
• John, "the Black," Knt., of Badenoch, was born after 1240 and died in 1302. He married Marjory, daughter of John Baliol of Barnard Castle and his wife, Devorguilla;^[1][3][6][7]
• Alexander, who married Eva Unknown, widow of Alexander de Moray.^[1][2][6];
• Mary, who married Richard Siward, Knt.;^[1][2][3]
• daughter, who married Geoffrey Mowbray, Knt., and had issue;^[1][2][3][6]
• daughter, who married Alexander of Argyll, Knt., and had issue;^{[1][2][3] [6]}; and
• daughter, who married Andrew Moray, Knt.^{[1][2][3][6][8]}

John married secondly, circa 1260, Alice, daughter of William de Ros and Lucy FitzPiers.^[1][2] Their marriage produced the following issue:

• John "le jeon," who was a minor in 1279, was born after 1260 .^[3][6][9]
• Robert, slain on 10 February 1305/6 at Dumfries, along with his nephew Red Comyn II;^{[1][2][6][10]} and
• Alice^[1][2] (see research note 2).

John was also allegedly the father of a daughter, who married Sir William Galbraith, forth Chief of that Ilk, Lord of Kyncaith, and reportedly had issue.^[3][11] This daughter's mother is uncertain.

Notable Events

John Comyn was a nephew of both the constable of Scotland, Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, and Walter Comyn, Earl of Mentieth.^[3] In the latter part of the thirteenth century, John, closely associated with his two uncles, played a significant role in the regency of Scotland during Alexander III's minority between 1249 and 1255.^[7][12] Although Henry III of England intervened after 1255 and transferred power to a more compliant regency that included Alan Durward, the earls of Carrick, Dunbar, Strathearn, and Robert Bruce, John and his uncles captured the 16 year old Scottish king at Kinross in 1257, and attempted to reinstate their power and influence over the government. In the end, the king appointed a ten-member council that included both Durward and Comyn adherents.^[7][13]

John, who had likely succeeded his father before July 1249, also succeeded to the lordship of Badenoch in 1258, upon the death of his uncle, Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, who had had died without issue.^[3][6][14] Some time before 18 March 1258/59, John became Justiciar of Galloway (and likely again in 1262 and 1272, as well as 1275),^[15] and shortly thereafter joined the Earl of Menteith and other Scottish nobles to aid Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, in his war against England.^[16] Peace, however, was soon restored between the English king and the Comyns, as in 1260 Henry III swore to John and others that he would not detain his daughter, Margaret Queen of Scots, who was to attend his court during her confinement.^[7] The following year, John received one and one-half knight's fee in Ulceby from William de Ros, in frank-marriage for his daughter, Alice.^[17][18]

Shortly after Walter Comyn's death in late 1258, allegedly the result of a horse-riding accident, his wife Isabella married John Russell, an English knight.^[6][19][20] Viewed unfavorably by the Earl's family and Scottish nobility, she was accused of poisoning her late husband.^[19][21][22] Amid these accusations, between 1260 and 1261, John violently seized the Earldom of Menteith as Walter Comyn's heir and forced Isabella and John Russell to resign the earldom. John and other nobles initiated proceedings against the couple,^[23] subsequently seized them, briefly imprisoned both, and upon their release expelled them from Scotland.^[6][24] Unfortunately for John, his claim to the earldom was short lived, as Alexander III granted the earldom to Isabella's sister, Mary, and her husband, Walter Stewart.^[21][24]

Taking advantage of opportunities in England following his loss of the earldom of Menteith, on 8 February 1261/62, Henry III confirmed during John's stay at the English court, the grants of Tynedale lands to John's great-grandparents, Richard and Hextilda.^[3][7][25] In 1264, John fought on the side of England during the Second Barons' War at the victorious battle of Northampton and the 14 May loss at Lewes, where although captured (along with Robert Bruce), Simon de Montfort did not confiscate his lands.^[6][12][26] Yet, with vacillating loyalties, given the lands and estates John held in both England and Scotland, John later supported Montfort against the English king, whereby Henry III was not so forgiving, and forfeited John's English holdings.^[6] Apparently, however, John was again in Henry's favor, for on 18 August 1269, John (and Alice and her heirs) were granted free warren in Ulceby, Lincolnshire, on their demense lands.^{[1][2][3][8][27]} In this same year, John seems to have quarreled with David de Strathbogie, Earl of Athole, regarding the donation of Invervack by William Olifar to Coupar in 1250, after which and for unknown reasons, John began construction at Blair, Scotland, of a fortalice.^[28][29] In 1276, and once again for good service, Henry granted John and his heirs the lands of Simon de Veer, as well as a land grant of £300 annually.^[25]

Death

John died shortly before 18 Jul 1278.^[1][2][10] The locations of his death and burial are unknown. Eleven years after John's death, on 24 April 1289, John's namesake and son renounced and quitclaimed to the Coupar Angus monks all rights and claims to the land of Invervack in Athole for the salvation of his soul and the souls of his father, his mother Eve, their ancestors, as well as successors. ^[28][4][30]

Research Notes

1. 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^[3] and Richard Cawley^[6] indicated that Richard's wife is unknown, while Douglas Richardson in Magna Carta Ancestry^[2] and Royal Ancestry^[1] only named John's father and not his mother.

2. In a 30 December 1303 entry in the Calendar of Documents, a reference is made regarding John Comyn (the subject of this profile), who gave William de Galbraith the land of Dalserfe in frank marriage with his daughter, which was to be held until the third heir.^[31] As Richardson named the husbands of the four daughters from John Comyn's first marriage to Eve, it is possible that the daughter who married William de Galbrathe was Alice, from John's second marriage to Alice de Ros, and whose husband is not named.^[1][2]

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^[3] and Charles Cawley,^[6] Richard and an unknown mother had three sons. A daughter is not named. In the event sources are located to support her relationship to Richard Comyn and his son John, Joan Comyn can be reattached.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15} 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.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: The author, 2011), Vol. I, pp. 475, 476, CLARELL 3, (WebLink Google Books).
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15} 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. 506, 507, (WebLink Internet Archive).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} People of Medieval Scotland 1093-1371. Charter: John Comyn (d. 1302), Document 3/167/20, Calendar No. 3/167/20, (WebLink PoMS).
5. ↑ D. E. Easson (Ed.). Charters of the Abbey of Coupar Angus. (Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable Ltd, 1947), Vol. I, p. 134, no. 62, (WebLink National Library of Scotland).
6. ↑ ^{6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15} Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Untitled Nobility, Richard Comyn, (FMG Website: 9 May 2022), (WebLink Foundation for Medieval Genealogy.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4} Thomas Frederick Tout. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/John Comyn (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900), Vol. 11, pp. 458, 459, (WebLink Wikisource).
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} 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, 1905), Vol. II, p. 126, (WebLink Internet Archive).
9. ↑ Joseph Bain. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Preserved in Her Majesty's Public Record Office, London (Edinburgh: H. M. General Register House, 1881), Vol. II, pp. lv, lvi, (WebLink Internet Archive).
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1} 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, 1914), Vol. IX, p. 30, (WebLink Internet Archive).
11. ↑ 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, 1906), Vol. III, p. 138, (WebLink Internet Archive).
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Unknown Author. Comyn, John, Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Horace Everett Hooper, 1911), Vol. 6, p. 822, (WebLink Wikisource).
13. ↑ Amanda Beam. The Political Ambitions and Influences of the Balliol Dynasty, c. 1210-1364 (Doctoral Thesis, University of Stirling, Department of History, Stirling, Scotland, 2005), pp. 94, 95.
14. ↑ Mary E. Cumming Bruce. Family Records of the Bruces and the Cumyns, with an Historical Introduction and Appendix, Etc. (Edinburgh: , 1870), p. 55, WebLink Internet Archive).
15. ↑ Alan Young. Robert The Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314 (East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd., 1997), p. 79.
16. ↑ 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. VI, p. 128, (WebLink Internet Archive).
17. ↑ William Farrer. Early Yorkshire Charters: The Trussebut Fee, with Some Charters (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), Vol. 10, p. 66, (WebLink Google Books).
18. ↑ W. G. Dimock Fletcher. Notes on Ulceby, North Lincolnshire (Stamford: George Henry Burton, 1885), p. 41, (WebLink Google Books).
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} William Fraser. The Red Book of Menteith (Edinburgh: by the author, 1880), Vol. 1, p. 36, (WebLink Electric Scotland).
20. ↑ Alan Young. Robert The Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314 (East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd., 1997), p. 59.
21. ↑ ^{21.0 21.1} 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. XI, p. 129, (WebLink Internet Archive).
22. ↑ William Fraser. The Red Book of Menteith (Edinburgh: by the author, 1880), Vol. 1, p. 40, (WebLink Electric Scotland).
23. ↑ 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. XI, p. 201, (WebLink Internet Archive).
24. ↑ ^{24.0 24.1} William Fraser. The Red Book of Menteith (Edinburgh: by the author, 1880), Vol. 1, pp. 38, 39, 40, (WebLink Electric Scotland).
25. ↑ ^{25.0 25.1} Alan Young. Robert The Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314 (East Lothian: Tuckwell Press Ltd., 1997), p. 81.
26. ↑ Amanda Beam. The Political Ambitions and Influences of the Balliol Dynasty, c. 1210-1364 (Doctoral Thesis, University of Stirling, Department of History, Stirling, Scotland, 2005), pp. 108, 112 (fn 163).
27. ↑ H. C. Maxwell Lyte. Calendar of the Charter Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office, Henry III-Edward I. A. D. 1257-1300 (London: Mackie and CO., 1906), Vol. II, Membrane 8, p. 124, (WebLink Internet Archive).
28. ↑ ^{28.0 28.1} David Edward Easson (Ed.). Charters of the Abbey of Coupar Angus, (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1947), Series 3, Vol. 40, p. 136, (WebLink National Library of Scotland).
29. ↑ Canmore, National Record of the Historic Environment. Archaeology Notes, Event ID: 875169, (WebLink Canmore).
30. ↑ Francis Palgrave (Ed.). Documents and Records Illustrating the History of Scotland, and the Transactions Between the Crowns of Scotland and England (Great Britain: The Commissioners on the Public Records of the Kingdom, 1837), Vol I, p. xi, no. 10, (WebLink Internet Archive)
31. ↑ Joseph Bain. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Preserved in Her Majesty's Public Record Office, London (Edinburgh: H. M. General Register House, 1881), Vol. II, p. 372, no. 1420, (WebLink Internet Archive).

See also:

Charles Rogers. The Book of Wallace (Edinburgh: Printed for the Grampian Club, 1889), Vol. II (WebLink Internet Archive).

Wikipedia: John Comyn I of Badenoch