Elizabeth de Burgh

For other people named Elizabeth de Burgh, see Elizabeth de Burgh (disambiguation).
Elizabeth de Burgh
Queen consort of Scotland

Robert the Bruce and Elizabeth de Burgh, from the Seton Armorial.
Tenure 1306–1327
Coronation 27 March 1306
Born c. 1284
County Down or County Antrim
Died 27 October 1327
Cullen, Banffshire
Burial Dunfermline Abbey
Spouse Robert I of Scotland
Issue Matilda
Margaret
David II of Scotland
John of Scotland
House de Burgh
Father Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster
Mother Margarite de Burgh

Elizabeth de Burgh (c. 1284 – 27 October 1327) was the second wife and the only queen consort of King Robert the Bruce. Elizabeth was born sometime around 1284, probably in Down or Antrim in Ireland.[1] She was the daughter of one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the period, Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, who was a close friend and ally of Edward I of England. Not much is known about Elizabeth, despite her husband's status as one of the most famous Scottish kings and warriors. As is the case with most medieval women, records of Elizabeth are scarce, however it is clear that she was caught up in the political turmoil that unfolded between the Scottish and the English during the reign of her husband King Robert, having to move several times to keep safe and eventually being seized as a prisoner.

Life

She was born in Ireland (c.1284), the daughter of the powerful Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and his wife Margarite de Burgh (died 1304). Her father was a close friend of King Edward I of England.

Elizabeth probably met Robert the Bruce, then Earl of Carrick, at the English court, and they married in 1302 at Writtle, near Chelmsford, Essex, England. Elizabeth would have been about eighteen years old, and Robert twenty eight.

On 27 March 1306, Robert and Elizabeth were crowned as King and Queen of Scots at Scone. The coronation took place in defiance of the English claims of suzerainty over Scotland after the execution of Sir William Wallace. After his coronation, she is quoted as having said,

Alas, we are but king and queen of the May!

as though anticipating a defeat by Edward I.[2]

Capture

After the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Methven on 19 June 1306, the king sent Elizabeth, his daughter Marjorie by his first marriage, his sisters Mary and Christian to Kildrummy Castle, under the protection of his brother Niall (also known as Nigel).[3]

The Ruins of Kildrummy Castle

The English laid siege to the castle containing the royal party. The siege finally succeeded when the English bribed a blacksmith with "all the gold he could carry" to set fire to the corn store. The victors hanged, drew and quartered Niall Bruce,[4] along with all the men from the castle. However, the royal ladies under the escort of the Earl of Atholl had already fled.

They were taken from the sanctuary of St. Duthac at Tain by the Earl of Ross, a supporter of the Comyns, and dispatched to King Edward. He imprisoned Bruce's sister Mary and Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, in wooden cages erected on the walls of Roxburgh and Berwick castles respectively, and then sent Bruce's nine-year-old daughter Marjorie to the nunnery at Watton.

Elizabeth was held under severe conditions of house arrest in England. The Earl of Atholl was hanged and his head displayed on London Bridge.[5]

She was imprisoned for eight years by the English, from October 1306 to July 1308 at Burstwick-in-Holderness, Yorkshire and then transferred to Bisham Manor, Berkshire until March 1312. From there, she was moved to Windsor Castle until October 1312, Shaftesbury Abbey, Dorset until March 1313, Barking Abbey, Essex until March 1314, and Rochester Castle, Kent until June 1314. After the Battle of Bannockburn, she was moved to York while prisoner exchange talks took place. At York, she had an audience with King Edward II of England. Finally, in November 1314, she was moved to Carlisle just before the exchange and her return to Scotland.

Elizabeth had three children who reached adulthood: Matilda, Margaret, and David (the future king David II of Scotland).[6][7]

Robert Bruce and Elizabeth de Burgh, from the Senton Armorial, National Library of Scotland

.

Death

Elizabeth died on 27 October 1327 at the royal residence at Cullen, Banffshire, aged around 43, and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey, resting place of Scottish kings and queens since 1093.[8] King Robert, her husband, died 18 months later. His body was laid to rest next to hers, interred in the very centre of the abbey beneath the high altar, in an alabaster tomb decorated with gold leaf.[9] Fragments of the tomb still remain and can be seen in the National Museum of Scotland.[10] The abbey was sacked in 1560 by Calvinists during the Scottish Reformation and the tomb was lost, however King Robert's coffin was rediscovered in 1819 during construction work on the new abbey and Elizabeth's coffin was rediscovered in 1917. Both were re-interred in the new abbey.[11]

Dunfermline Abbey

The organs of Elizabeth de Burgh were removed during the embalming process, and are said to have been buried in the parish church of Cullen after her death.[12] A chaplainry was established at the church to celebrate mass for the queen's soul.[13] Robert made an annual payment to the village in gratitude for the treatment of his wife's body and its return south for burial.[14] A recent non-payment of this sum by the government was challenged and settled to the village's favour.

Victorian brass plate covering the tomb of Robert Bruce and Elizabeth de Burgh

Issue

NameBirthDeathNotes
Margaret
between 1315 and 1323
30 March 1346
in childbirth
Married William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland and had one son, John, who died aged twenty of the Black Plague.
Matilda30 July 1353Married Thomas Isak/Isaac and had two daughters, Joanna (wife of John of Argyll) and Catherine.
David5 March 132422 February 1371King of Scots (1329  1372). Married Joan of The Tower, no issue.
John
October 1327
Dunfermline Palace, Fife
Heir to the Crown of Scotland.

Ancestry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. William de Burgh
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Richard Mór de Burgh, 1st Baron of Connaught
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. daughter of Domnall Mór Ua Briain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Walter de Lacy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Egidia de Lacy, Lady of Connacht
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Margaret de Braose, Lady of Trim
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. John Fitzgeoffrey
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Aveline de Clare
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Isabel FitzJohn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Isabel Bigod
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Maud Marshal
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Elizabeth de Burgh
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Walter de Burgh
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
25. Alice
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. John de Burgh
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. William de Warrenne, Lord of Wormegay
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Beatrice de Warrenne
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Beatrice de Pierrepont
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Margarite de Burgh
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. William II de Lanvaley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. William III de Lanvaley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Hawise de Bocland
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Hawise de Lanvaley
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Gilbert Peche
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Maud Peche
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Alice FitzRobert
 
 
 
 
 
 

See also

References

  1. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54180
  2. Lang, Andrew, "A history of Scotland from the Roman Occupation"
  3. Marshall, Rosalind K. (2003). Scottish Queens, 1034-1714. Tuckwell Press. p. 34.
  4. http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/warsofindependence/elizabethdeburgh/index.asp
  5. Scott, Ronald McNair, Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots, p 87
  6. Bingham, Caroline Robert the Bruce
  7. Boardman, Stephen The Early Stewart Kings
  8. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54180
  9. Macnamee, Colm (2006), Robert Bruce: Our Most Valiant Prince, King and Lord, Edinburgh: Birlinn, ISBN 978-1-84158-475-1. p.271.
  10. http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-000-354-C
  11. http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/scottish-royal-burial-sites/
  12. http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/edeburgh.html
  13. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54180
  14. http://www.cullen-deskford-church.org.uk/cullen-auld-kirk-history.php

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elizabeth de Burgh.
Scottish royalty
Preceded by
Yolande de Dreux
Queen consort of Scotland
1306–1327
Succeeded by
Joan of The Tower
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