John de Menteith
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2018) |
John de Mentieth | |
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Personal details | |
Born | c.1274 |
Died | c.1329 |
Sir John Menteith of Ruskie and Knapdale (c. 1275 – c. 1329) was a
Life
John was the younger son of
With his older brother Alexander, John was involved in the resistance against King Edward I of England and were both captured after the Battle of Dunbar on 27 April 1296. While Alexander was released after swearing fealty, John remained a prisoner at Nottingham Castle in England until August 1297, when Edward released John from prison, on his taking oath and giving security to serve with the king in the campaign of 1297 in Flanders.
He was appointed the Constable of Lennox and was ravaging the lands of Edward's partisans in Lennox in 1301. John was sent in 1303 to treat of peace with the English, but refrained from pressing his mission. By 1303 John submitted and had been restored to Edward's favour, for on 20 March 1304 John was appointed Warden of the castle, town, and sheriffdom of Dumbarton. Edward was keen to secure the fortification as a major access route into Scotland by sea.
As sheriff of Dumbarton, in August 1305 John is alleged to have conspired with Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Robert Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford, at the Parish Church in Rutherglen in Lanarkshire, to capture Sir William Wallace and have him handed over to the Captain of Scotland, below the Forth, John Segrave, 2nd Baron Segrave.[2][3][4][5] A service for which he was to be rewarded with land, and titles.[3] For this John was labelled traitorous and was given the contemporary nickname Fause Menteith ("Menteith the treacherous, false").
Schyre Jhon of Menteith in tha days
Tuk in Glasgow William Walays;
And sent hym until Ingland sune,
There was he quartayrd and undone.
The English chronicler
Menteith was nominated one of the representatives of the Scots barons in the parliament of both nations which assembled at London in September 1305 and was chosen upon the Scottish council, which was appointed to assist John of Brittany, the new Guardian of Scotland, in the English interest. John received on 1 June 1306 from Edward the Earldom of Lennox, while on 15 June he received the Warden of the castle, town, and sheriffdom of Dumbarton office for life. John returned to Scotland in October.[3]
Edward appealed to John in December 1307 to join him in resisting the revolting
John was one of the negotiators of the thirteen years' truce between Bruce and the English, signed on 30 May 1323 and was present at a Scottish council at Berwick in June. The last recorded grants to him are in 1329, during the minority of King David II of Scotland.
Issue
Menteith, by an unknown spouse, had issue:[6]
- Sir John de Menteith the younger, married Helen daughter of Gartnait, Earl of Mar
- Walter Menteith
- Johanna Menteith, married (1) Malise, 7th Earl of Strathearn, (2) John Campbell, Earl of Atholl, (3) Maurice de Moravia, Earl of Strathearn, (4) William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland
Notes
- ^ Douglas, Peerage of Scotland, p. 472, ed. 1764
- ^ "William Wallace betrayal spot in Rutherglen to be marked". www.scotsman.com. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ a b c Tout, Thomas (1894). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 37. pp. 255–257.
- ^ "The Historical Background to the Site of Rutherglen Old Parish Church". Rutherglen Old Parish Church.
- ^ Scottish nationalist group hold Lanarkshire event to remember betrayal of William Wallace, Jonathan Geddes, Daily Record, 9 August 2022
- ^ Balfour Paul vol vi, pp 132-133
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Tout, Thomas (1894). "Menteith, John de". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 37. pp. 255–257.
- Paul, James Balfour, The Scots Peerage, Vol. VI, (Edinburgh, 1909)