Dervorguilla of Galloway
Encyclopedia
Alan, Lord of Galloway
Alan Fitz Roland was the last of the MacFergus dynasty of quasi-independent Lords of Galloway. He was also hereditary Constable of Scotland.-Family:He was the son of Roland, or Lochlann, Lord of Galloway and Helen de Morville...
and his second wife Margaret of Huntingdon.
Through her mother, she was a descendant of King David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
. Born in or around 1210, she was a granddaughter of Maud of Chester
Maud of Chester
Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman, sometimes known as Maud and sometimes known with the surname de Kevelioc. She was a daughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester, and the wife of David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon...
, and of David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon
David of Scotland was a Scottish prince and Earl of Huntingdon. He was a claimant to the Scottish throne.-Life:He was the youngest surviving son of Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and Ada de Warenne, a daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, and Elizabeth of Vermandois. His...
, himself the youngest brother to two Kings of Scotland, Malcolm IV and William the Lion, Dervorguilla's mother Margaret being the couple's eldest daughter.
As her father died in 1234 without a legitimate son (he had an illegitimate son Thomas), according to both Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
feudal laws and to ancient Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
customs, she was one of his heiresses, her two sisters Helen and Christina being older and therefore senior. This might be considered an unusual practice in England, but it was more common in Scotland and in Western feudal tradition. Because of this, Dervorguilla bequeathed lands in Galloway
Galloway
Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
to her descendants, the Baliol and the Comyn
Comyn
Comyn can refer to:* Clan Comyn, another name for Clan Cumming.People* Dan Comyn, an Irish cricketer.* Stephen George Comyn, Naval chaplain to Lord Nelson* Valens Comyn, English MP* William Leslie Comyn, Californian shipbuilder...
s. Dervorguilla's son John of Scotland
John of Scotland
John Balliol , known to the Scots as Toom Tabard , was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296.-Early life:Little of John's early life is known. He was born between 1248 and 1250 at an unknown location, possibilities include Galloway, Picardy and Barnard Castle, County Durham...
was briefly a King of Scots too, known as Toom Tabard (Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
: 'puppet king' literally "empty coat").
Life
The Balliol family into which Devorguilla married was based at Barnard CastleBarnard Castle
Barnard Castle is an historical town in Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is named after the castle around which it grew up. It sits on the north side of the River Tees, opposite Startforth, south southwest of Newcastle upon Tyne, south southwest of Sunderland, west of Middlesbrough and ...
in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Although the date of her birth is uncertain, her apparent age of 13 was by no means unusually early for betrothal and marriage at the time.
In 1263, her husband Sir John was required to make penance after a land dispute with Walter Kirkham, Bishop of Durham. Part of this took the very expensive form of founding a College
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
for the poor at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. Sir John's own finances were less substantial than those of his wife, however, and long after his death it fell to Devorguilla to confirm the foundation, with the blessing of the same Bishop as well as the University hierarchy. She established a permanent endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
for the College in 1282, as well as its first formal Statutes. The college still retains the name Balliol College, and the history students' society is called the Devorguilla society. While a Requiem Mass in Latin was sung at Balliol for the 700th anniversary of her death, it is believed that this was sung as a one-off, rather than having been marked in previous centuries.
Devorguilla founded a Cistercian Abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
7 miles south of Dumfries
Dumfries
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...
in South West Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, in April 1273. It still stands as a picturesque ruin of red sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
.
When Sir John died in 1269, his widow, Dervorguilla, had his heart embalmed and kept in a casket of ivory bound with silver. The casket travelled with her for the rest of her life. In 1274–5 John de Folkesworth arraigned an assize of novel disseisin against Devorguilla and others touching a tenement in Stibbington, Northamptonshire. In 1275–6 Robert de Ferrers arraigned an assize of mort dancestor against her touching a messuage in Repton, Derbyshire. In 1280 Sir John de Balliol's executors, including his widow, Devorguilla, sued Alan Fitz Count regarding a debt of £100 claimed by the executors from Alan. In 1280 she was granted letters of attorney to Thomas de Hunsingore and another in England, she staying in Galloway. The same year Devorguilla, Margaret de Ferrers, Countess of Derby, Ellen, widow of Alan la Zouche, and Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, and Elizabeth his wife sued Roger de Clifford and Isabel his wife and Roger de Leybourne and Idoine his wife regarding the manors of Wyntone, King’s Meaburn, Appleby, and Brough-under-Stainmore, and a moiety of the manor of Kyrkby-Stephan, all in Westmorland. The same year Devorguilla sued John de Veer for a debt of £24. In 1280–1 Laurence Duket arraigned an assize of novel disseisin again Devorguilla and others touching a hedge destroyed in Cotingham, Middlesex. In 1288 she reached agreement with John, Abbot of Ramsey, regarding a fishery in Ellington.
In her last years, the main line of the royal House of Scotland was threatened by a lack of male heirs, and Devorguilla, who died just before the young heiress Margaret, the Maid of Norway, might, if she had outlived her, have been one of the claimants to her throne. Devorguilla was buried beside her husband at New Abbey, which was christened 'Sweetheart Abbey
Sweetheart Abbey
Sweetheart Abbey , south of Dumfries, near to the Nith in south-west Scotland, was a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1275 by Dervorguilla of Galloway, daughter of Alan, Lord of Galloway, in memory of her husband John de Balliol...
', the name which it retains to this day. The depredations suffered by the Abbey in subsequent periods have caused both graves to be lost.
Successors
Dervorguilla and John de Balliol had issue:- Sir Hugh de Balliol, who died without issue before April 10, 1271.
- Alan de Balliol, who died without issue.
- Sir Alexander de Balliol, who died without issue before November 13, 1278.
- King John of ScotlandJohn of ScotlandJohn Balliol , known to the Scots as Toom Tabard , was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296.-Early life:Little of John's early life is known. He was born between 1248 and 1250 at an unknown location, possibilities include Galloway, Picardy and Barnard Castle, County Durham...
, successful competitor for the Crown in 1292. - Cecily de Balliol, who married John de Burgh, Knt., of Walkern, Hertfordshire.
- Ada de Balliol, who married in 1266, William de Lindsay, of Lamberton.
- Margaret (died unmarried)
- Eleanor de Balliol, who married John II Comyn, Lord of BadenochJohn II Comyn, Lord of BadenochJohn II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lord of Lochaber or John "the Black", also known as Black Comyn, a Scottish nobleman, was a Guardian of Scotland, and one of the six Regents for Margaret, Maid of Norway...
. - Maud, who married Sir Bryan FitzAlan, Lord FitzAlanBryan FitzAlan, Lord FitzAlanSir Bryan FitzAlan, Baron FitzAlan Knt. was Lord of the Manor of Bedale in Richmondshire, Askham Bryan in the Ainsty, Bainton, Heworth &c., in Yorkshire, Bicker and Graby in Lincolnshire, a J.P., and High Sheriff of Yorkshire, &c...
, of BedaleBedaleBedale is a market town and civil parish in the district of Hambleton, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of Leeds, southwest of Middlesbrough, and south west of the county town of Northallerton...
, Knt., (d. June 1, 1306), who succeeded the Earl of SurreyEarl of SurreyThe Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England, and has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror...
as Guardian and Keeper of Scotland for Edward I of EnglandEdward I of EnglandEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
.
Owing to the deaths of her elder two sons, both of whom were childless, Dervorguilla's third and youngest surviving son John of Scotland
John of Scotland
John Balliol , known to the Scots as Toom Tabard , was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296.-Early life:Little of John's early life is known. He was born between 1248 and 1250 at an unknown location, possibilities include Galloway, Picardy and Barnard Castle, County Durham...
asserted a claim to the crown
Competitors for the Crown of Scotland
With the death of Alexander III of Scotland in 1286 without a male heir, the throne of Scotland had become the possession of the three-year old Margaret, Maid of Norway, the granddaughter of the King...
in 1290 when queen Margaret died. He won in arbitration against the rival Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale
Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale
Robert V de Brus , 5th Lord of Annandale , was a feudal lord, Justice and Constable of Scotland and England, a Regent of Scotland, and a leading competitor for the Scottish throne in 1290/92 in the Great Cause...
in 1292, and subsequently was king of Scotland for four years (1292-96).
Ancestry
Sources
- This article originated with the 'Sweetheart Abbey' guidebook, by J S Richardson HRSA, LLD, FSA Scot., published by the Ministry of Works in 1951.
- Anderson, Rev. John, editor, Callendar of the Laing Charters A.D. 854 - 1837, Edinburgh, 1899, page 13, number 46, contains the Foundation Charter for Sweetheart Abbey by Devorguilla, daughter of the late Alan of Galloway, dated 10 April and confirmed by King David II on May 15, 1359 which gives relationships for this family.
- Oram, Richard D., Devorgilla, The Balliols and Buittle in 'Transactions of the Dumfrieshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society', 1999, LXXIII. pp. 165–181.
- Huyshe, Wentworth, Dervorguilla, Lady of Galloway, 1913, has been condemned as "romantic twaddle and error" by the historians of Balliol College.
External links
- Balliol College named its 1989-90 fundraising campaign the Dervorguilla Campaign.
- Information about the founders of Balliol College, Oxford, by the Fellow Archivist.
- Dervorguilla Records was a record company founded by Balliol graduates, which from 1992-96 made recordings of Early Music, much of it dug out of the darker corners of the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
- Find A Grave
- History of the Baliol Family in Scotland
- FMG on Devorguilla of Galloway