Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan (probably died c. 1314), was a significant figure in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
She was the daughter of Donnchadh III, Earl of Fife, and Johanna de Clare, daughter of The 6th Earl of Hertford. She was married to John Comyn, 3rd Earl of Buchan, and thus was the Countess of Buchan. After Robert the Bruce killed John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries, the Earl of Buchan joined the English side in the Scottish Wars of Independence. Isabella took the contrary view.
According to tradition, the ceremony of crowning the monarch was performed by a representative of Clan MacDuff, but Isabella, Lady Buchan, arrived in Scone the day after the coronation of Robert the Bruce in March 1306. However, the Bruce agreed to be crowned for a second time the day after, as otherwise some would see the ceremony as irregular, not being performed by a MacDuff.
Bruce was defeated at the Battle of Methven in June 1306, so he sent Isabella and his female relatives north, but they were betrayed to the English by Uilleam II, Earl of Ross. Edward I of England ordered her sent to Berwick-upon-Tweed with these instructions: "Let her be closely confined in an abode of stone and iron made in the shape of a cross, and let her be hung up out of doors in the open air at Berwick, that both in life and after her death, she may be a spectacle and eternal reproach to travellers." [1]
Lady Buchan was imprisoned in this cage for four years, [2] [3] then moved to the Carmelite friary at Berwick. [4] This was not necessarily a humanitarian move; it is suggested that by this stage Bruce was gaining support, his female relatives were potentially valuable hostages, and the English did not want them to die of ill-treatment. The last clear mention of Lady Buchan is of her being transferred again in 1313, her eventual fate being uncertain. Most of Bruce's female relatives returned to Scotland in early 1315, when they were exchanged for English noblemen captured after the Battle of Bannockburn, but there is no mention of her in the records, so she had probably died by then. [5] [6]
Mary Bruce was treated in a similar fashion at Roxburgh Castle.
She is the subject of the novel Kingdom of Shadows by Barbara Erskine and the short story Proud Lady in a Cage by Fred Urquhart. She is also included in Girl in a Cage by Jane Yolen.
She was also the subject of a song Isabel by Steeleye Span (recorded on their album Back in Line ) which claims without foundation that she was Bruce's lover (and also gets some chronology confused). [7] [8]
She is a character in Rebel King - Book One - Hammer of the Scots, a series of novels on the Chronicles of Robert the Bruce, by Charles and Carolyn Bruce.
She is also a character in Nigel Tranter's Bruce trilogy, which probably unhistorically has her returning to Scotland after Bannockburn.
She is portrayed in the 2018 Netflix movie, "Outlaw King," by actress Kim Allan.
She is also a character in the series of books written by Romance writer Monica McCarty (the Highland Guard Novels). Isabella MacDuff is the main character in the 4th book of the series titled The Viper.
She is a character in the 2011 historical novel The Lion Wakes by Robert Low, described to have a secret love affair with Robert the Bruce.
She is a character in the 2013 historical romance novel A Rose in the Storm by Brenda Joyce. The heroine of the novel (Lady Margaret Comyn) is the fictional niece of Isabella's husband and her friend. Isabella's fate is the same.
Robert I, popularly known as Robert the Bruce, was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. Robert led Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against England. He fought successfully during his reign to restore Scotland to an independent kingdom and is regarded in Scotland as a national hero.
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and 14th centuries.
Elizabeth de Burgh was the second wife and the only queen consort of Robert the Bruce. Elizabeth was born sometime around 1289, probably in what is now County Down or County Antrim in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. She was the daughter of one of the most powerful Norman nobles in the Lordship of Ireland at that time, Richard Óg de Burgh, the 2nd Earl of Ulster, a member of the noble dynasty, the House of Burgh and a close friend and ally to King Edward I of England.
Isabella of Mar was the first wife of Robert Bruce VII, Earl of Carrick. Isabella died before her husband was crowned King of Scotland. She and her husband were the grandparents of Robert II, King of Scotland, founder of the Royal House of Stuart.
The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife was the ruler of the province of Fife in medieval Scotland, which encompassed the modern counties of Fife and Kinross. Due to their royal ancestry, the earls of Fife were the highest ranking nobles in the realm, and had the right to crown the king of Scots.
Marjorie Bruce or Marjorie de Brus was the eldest daughter of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and the only child born of his first marriage with Isabella of Mar.
Clan MacDuff or Clan Duff is a Lowland Scottish clan. The clan does not currently have a chief and is therefore considered an armigerous clan, which is registered with the Lyon Court. The early chiefs of Clan MacDuff were the original Earls of Fife, although this title went to the Stewarts of Albany in the late fourteenth century. The title returned to the MacDuff chief when William Duff was made Earl Fife in 1759. His descendant Alexander Duff was made Duke of Fife in 1889.
Macduff may refer to:
William II, Earl of Ross was ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland, and a prominent figure in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Back in Line is the twelfth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. The album was released in 1986, after a hiatus of almost 6 years. It is their first album without founding member Tim Hart, who quit the music business entirely. It is also the last album they recorded with Maddy Prior's husband, Rick Kemp, until They Called Her Babylon; Kemp suffered a shoulder injury that forced him to stop playing for a long time.
Henry de Beaumont, jure uxoris 4th Earl of Buchan and suo jure 1st Baron Beaumont, was a key figure in the Anglo-Scots wars of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, known as the Wars of Scottish Independence.
The Battle of Dalrigh, also known as the Battle of Dail Righ, Battle of Dalry or Battle of Strathfillan, was fought in 1306 between the army of King Robert the Bruce against Clan MacDougall of Argyll, who were allies of Clan Comyn and the English. It took place at the hamlet of Dalrigh near Tyndrum in Perthshire, Scotland. Bruce's army, reeling westwards after defeat by the English on 19 June at the Battle of Methven, was intercepted and all but destroyed, with Bruce himself narrowly escaping capture. The battle took place sometime between July and early August, but the exact date is unknown.
John Comyn, 3rd Earl of Buchan was a chief opponent of Robert the Bruce in the civil war that paralleled the War of Scottish Independence. He should not be confused with the better known John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, who was his cousin, and who was killed by Bruce in Dumfries in March 1306. Confusion between the two men has affected the study of this period of history.
John Comyn (Cumyn) was Lord of Badenoch in Scotland. He was Justiciar of Galloway in 1258. He held lands in Nithsdale and Tynedale.
Isabel Bruce was Queen of Norway as the wife of King Eric II.
Mary Bruce was the younger sister of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. During the First War of Scottish Independence, she was captured by the English and imprisoned in a cage at Roxburgh Castle for about four years. She was the daughter of Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale, and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick.
Christian or Christina Bruce, also known as Christian or Christina de Brus, was a daughter of Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, and her husband, Robert de Brus, jure uxoris Earl of Carrick, as well as a sister of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. It is presumed that she and her siblings were born at Turnberry Castle in Carrick.
Alice Comyn, Countess of Buchan, Lady Beaumont was a Scottish noblewoman, a member of the powerful Comyn family which supported the Balliols, claimants to the disputed Scottish throne against their rivals, the Bruces. She was the niece of John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, to whom she was also heiress, and after his death the Earldom of Buchan was successfully claimed by her husband Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Buchan, by right of his wife. His long struggle to claim her Earldom of Buchan was one of the causes of the Second War of Scottish Independence.
Nigel de Brus was a younger brother of King Robert I of Scotland. Born at Carrick, Ayrshire, Scotland, he was a son of Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale and Margaret, Countess of Carrick. He supported his older brother in the struggle for the crown of Scotland and fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Events from the year 1306 in the Kingdom of Scotland.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) lyrics of "Isabel"