Lord John Comyn & Alice de Roos

11817060. Lord John Comyn & 11817061. Alice de Roos

~1230, John born in Badenoch, Scotland, heir & s/o 23634120. Richard Comyn.

~1250, Alice born in England, d/o 4997476. William de Roos & 4997477. Lucy Fitz Peter.

[––John & Eleanor––]

John married Eleanor Baliol. [3 sons, 4 daughters, possibly widow of Baron William de Percy.]

1258, John, Lord of Badenoch.

1262, John, “Black Comyn”, Lord of Badenoch, received confirmation of a grant made to his grandfather Richard Comyn & wife Hextilde by King David. [Grant confirmed by King Henry II].

1264, John, Robert the Bruce, and John Baliol led troops to assist King Henry III against his barons.

5/14/1264, John de Balliol and John Comyn fought for the King against Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Lewes; both were taken prisoner. (S) Walthamstow Antiquarian Society, No.24, 1930.

5/14/1264, Lord Edward (I) and his father King Henry III captured by Montfort at the battle of Lewes, Sussex, “at the Mill of the Hide”. An estimated 2700 died. Lord Edward and his knights penetrated the center of Montfort’s army, but was flanked on both sides by armored calvary. [Lord Edward escaped with the help of supporting knights.]

8/4/1265, Lord Edward (I) defeated Montfort’s army at the battle of Evesham, Worcester, ending the Baron’s Revolt.

1266, John received a grant of £300 per year from the lands of the King’s enemies beyond the Trent.

1267, John knighted.

1268, John granted a license to crenellate a camer [a long thin building] at his manor of Tarset, Northumberland.

[––John & Alice––]

Bef. 1269, John married 2^nd Alice de Roos.

8/18/1269, Grant to John Comyn and Alice his wife, and the heirs of said Alice, of free warren in their demesne lands in Ulseby, co. Lincoln. (S) CChRs.

1270, John led the Scotch invasion of the Isle of Man.

5/12/1275, Order to the escheator beyond Trent to sell or demise at farm John Comyn the wardship of the lands and heirs of Richard son of Richard do Kirkebride, deceased. (S) CFRs.

1275-78, Sir John died.

[––Alice––]

Alice married 2^nd Sir James de Bryon of Cadney, Lincolnshire. (S) Thoroton’s History of Nottinghamshire, V2, 1790.

Bef. 4/29/1286, Alice died; buried at the church of Friars Minor, Lincolnshire.

(S) Magna Carta Ancestry, P201.

Children of John and Eleanor:

i. Sir John Comyn, born ~1260 in England.

John married Joan de Valence, d/o William de Valence & Joan de Munchensy.

3/1286, Alexander III, King of Scotland, died in a fall from a horse. John was one of several appointed to the panel of Guardians to await the arrival of the infant Maid of Norway, the last descendant of the Canmore dynasty. 1290, the Maid of Norway died and immersed Scotland in crisis. There were 14 competitiors for the crown.

1292, John Baliol emerged as king, with the support of his Comyn kinsmen, a solution that was never accepted by the next best claimant, Robert Bruce of Annandale. The Comyns were principal supporters of the new King John. As such they were foremost among the enemies of the house of Bruce.

1296, King John disposed by Edward I. The Scotland civil war started with an attack at Carlisle by the forces of Comyn against the forces of Bruce who were defending for Edward I.

4/27/1296, John fought for Scotland at the battle of Dunbar and was captured. The prisoners were taken to the Tower in London.

1297, After some quick victories by Edward in Scotland, John was released when he pledge to serve in Flanders, the main area of battles against the French. (S) CCRs.

3/1298, After hearing of the victories of William Wallace, John and other scottish knights deserted in France and made there way to Paris. The French King provided them passage back to Scotland.

8/1299, At a meeting of a council of the magnates at Peebles an argument broke out, during which Comyn is said by an English spy to have seized Bruce by the throat.

1302, After many political manuevers, including John resigning as a Guardian; John served as sole Guardian; and with the death of his father became Lord of Badenoch. He expelled English officials.

5/1303, Hugh de Audley and 60 men-at-arms camped in Scotland at the abbey at Melrose in support of Edward I, were attacked at night by John.

2/24/1303, John and Simon Fraser defeated the English under command of John de Seagrave at the battle of Roslin.

2/1304, John, driven north by Edward I, recognized that he could not win, and rendered himself on the King’s mercy at Dumfermline; swearing allegience to Edward.

1305, the Scots rebelled and elected John their Guardian and Chief. (S) Archaeologia, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, 1851, P435. (S) The Scottish Historical Review, 1906, P222.

2/10/1306, John, “Red Comyn”, was killed by Kirkpatrick, on orders of Robert Bruce, before the high altar of the Greyfriars Church in Dumfries. [Bruce wanted to restart the war with Edward I, which John did not support. John’s uncle Sir Robert Comyn was also killed.]

1306, Upon hearing of the murder, Edward I reacted in fury, authorising Aymer de Valence, John’s brother-in-law, to take extraordinary action against Bruce, who had since been crowned king. He also emphasised his blood relationship with the Comyns by ordering his cousin, Joan, to send John’s young son and namesake to England, where he was placed in the care of Sir John Weston, guardian of the royal children.

(S) Scotland in 1298: Doc’s Relating to the Campaign of King Edward, Gough, 1888, P83.

Children:

·          John Comyn, born ~1280 in England. 1314, he was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn.

·          Elizabeth Comyn, born 11/1/1299 in England. She married Richard Talbot, s/o Gilbert Talbot & Anne Botiler.

Family note:

·         2 obituary notices written into the calendar of the “Murthy Book of Hours”, probably written in the 1280’s, suggest that the manuscript passed from the MacDougalls to the Stewarts of Lorne and possibly came to Scotland as a result of the marriage of Joan de Valence with John Comyn of Badenoch.  Joan de Valence was the half-niece of King Henry III of England and the kind of person for whom a luxuriously illuminated book of hours might have been commissioned in Paris.

Children of John and Alice:

i. John Comyn (5908530), born ~1270 in Scotland.

[2^nd son of same name.]

ii. Robert Comyn, born ? in Scotland.

iii. Alice Comyn, born ? in Scotland.