Scots and Welsh

Right, we shall have another look at Scotland. I broke off last time in the mid-13th century, when the Comyn faction were nearing the height of their power. A lot of people still seem to dismiss the Comyns as traitors or whatever, and don’t quite appreciate how important they were. 

Let’s go from 1257. In this year Earl Walter, head of the Comyn family, made his bid for power by kidnapping Alexander III, the young King of Scots, at Kinross. This enabled the Comyns to regain control of the government and kick out their rivals, headed by Alan Durward. For the past two years, Walter had been trying to leverage the support of the King of England, Henry III, to achieve his aims. Henry was willing, but his own position in England was crumbling away. By 1257 he was in dire straits: Henry was preoccupied with his disastrous attempt to conquer Sicily, the baronial reform movement in England, the illness of his queen and the rise of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in Wales. 

These issues probably compelled Walter to make his move. Seeing that Henry was a busted flush, he promptly ditched the king and made a new alliance with Llywelyn, who had started to call himself Princeps Wallie; Prince/Overlord of Wales. In 1258 the Comyns took the extraordinary step of allying with Llywelyn and his supporters, which must have put Henry’s nose seriously out of joint. 

 Interestingly, it was Llywelyn who took the initiative in seeking alliance. The agreement didn’t last very long, but it captures the shifting balance of power at this point in time. In short: Comyns and Llywelyn up, Durward and Henry down. 

Attached is a pic of the first part of the agreement. As you can see, the second name on the Welsh witness list is Dafydd, Llywelyn’s notorious brother. At this point he was back onside with Llywelyn, and doing pretty well out of it. That wouldn’t last either.