Sir Ingram De Umfraville and the Anglo-Scottish Wars, 1296–1321*

‘AT THE APEX OF CHIVALRY’: SIR INGRAM DE UMFRAVILLE AND THE ANGLO-SCOTTISH WARS, 1296–1321*

Amanda Beam

In his epic work The Bruce, John Barbour, archdeacon of Aberdeen (d.1395), highlights the interesting role played by Ingram de Umfraville from 1306, drawing attention to the military experience of a knight who is often over- looked as a key fĳigure during the Scottish Wars of Independence. According to Barbour, he advised Edward II on two occasions: before the battle of Bannockburn, when his tactics were ignored by the king, and when he urged Edward II to make a truce with the Scots more than fĳive years later.1 He was a ‘most chivalrous knight’ and, it seems, a skilled military tactician. Ingram de Umfraville was also a loyal Scot but had given homage to Edward I in 1296, only to be found fĳighting against the English by 1298 and leading a later invasion. By 1300, he had joined Bishop Lamberton and John Comyn as a guardian of Scotland, underlining some degree of political experience. But despite this, his loyalty would not stretch to include Robert Bruce after the killing of Comyn and usurpation of the throne. Though appending his name to the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, only months later he was involved in the Soules Conspiracy to oust King Robert; his role here was certainly more than what Barbour revealed, which will be discussed in more depth below. This paper will also focus on and explore Ingram’s military experience and his important role in the Anglo- Scottish conflict from 1296 as seen through Barbour’s eyes – but it will also investigate this within the context of conflicting loyalties and the Umfravilles’ position as a politically influential family to 1320. The political careers of the Umfraville men were acted out primarily in England, with a few exceptions. Ingram’s ancestor, Gilbert (I) (fl. c.1140– 1175), served as constable of Earl Henry of Huntingdon (d.1152) and of the future King William I, appearing more often in a Scottish rather than an

* The author would like to thank the editors, Andy King and David Simpkin, for their comments on drafts of this paper, as well as comments and suggestions received from her colleagues, Drs Steve Boardman, Alasdair Ross and Profs Dauvit Broun and Matthew Strickland, on Ingram and the Umfraville family. 1 Barbour, pp. 28–30; XII, ll. 452–481 (pp. 470–472); XIX, ll. 146–186 (pp. 706–708). 54 amanda beam

English context.2 Other kinsmen, in particular Gilbert (III) (d.1245) and Gilbert (IV) (d.1307), were successive earls of Angus and thus participated in many major Anglo-Scottish political events of the thirteenth century. Like other families of the time, the Umfravilles had allied themselves with the powerful Comyn network of thirteenth-century Scotland through the marriage of Gilbert (III) to Matilda, daughter of the earl of Angus and widow of John Comyn. What further strengthened their connections was the marriage of their son, Gilbert (IV), to one of Alexander Comyn’s daugh- ters. Yet, despite inheriting the title and earldom of Angus and holding Dundee and Forfar castles from 1286, Gilbert (IV) did not capitalise on what could have been a very influential political position in Scotland, and in March 1296, he returned to the English king’s peace, along with the Bruces and the earl of Dunbar.3 On the other hand, his cousin, Ingram, remained loyal to the Scots and would emerge as one of their political leaders; thus, when the Wars of Independence began, we see a classic example of split loyalties: one branch of the family supported the Scots and one the English. By 1306, Ingram would turn back to England, though, in a move which underlines his own split loyalties and which will be more thoroughly discussed below.

A Short Note on Familial Networks and Genealogy

The Umfravilles were kinsmen of the Comyn and Balliol families, and in previous studies Ingram’s connections to the Umfravilles of Prudhoe and to the Balliols have been vague and confusing at best. However, we know now that his father was Robert (V), brother of Gilbert (III), who died before 1257 and whose lands Ingram petitioned for in 1279, around the time an elder brother, Richard, was declared insane.4 It seems from assize records in Northumberland that justices of Robert (VI) de Umfraville, earl of Angus (d.1325), held an assize ‘to discover whether Gilbert de Umfraville,

2 For Gilbert as constable, see Durham Cathedral Muniments, Misc. Ch. 755; Raine, North Durham, app., no. 108. 3 Anglo-Scottish Relations 1174–1328: Some Selected Documents, ed. E.L.G. Stones (London, 1970), no. 22. 4 TNA, SC 1/20/155; Lanercost, app. no. 18; CDS, ii, nos. 155, 156. For more on the Umfraville family, see W. Percy Hedley, Northumberland Families (2 vols, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1968– 1970), i, 208–214; NCH, xii, neither of which is without errors. Robert’s eldest son, Gilbert, died before 29 March 1269, when Henry III confĳirmed a grant by Gilbert (IV) of his lands (CDS, i, no. 2526); BL, Lansdowne MS 326, f. 138; J.C. Hodgson, A History of Northumberland (7 vols in 3 parts, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1820–1858), II, iii, 12–13; NCH, xii, 93.