Hugh Dunbar, duke of Lothian
| Hugh | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Lothian Duke of Cumbria Duke of Northumberland | |
| Tenure | 1204 - 1233 |
| Predecessor | Suibhne |
| Successor | Douglas |
| Born | 1187 Stirling, Scotland |
| Died | 27 February 1233 Bowness, Cumberland, Scotland |
| Buried | Abercorn Abbey |
| Noble family | Dunbar |
| Spouse(s) | Rannveig af Orkneyjar (m. 1203; d. 1229) |
| Issue
Douglas, duke of Lothian Cynehelm | |
| Father | Suibhne, duke of Lothian |
| Mother | Cynehild of Hwicce |
Hugh son of Suibhne (1187 - 27 February 1233) was a Scottish nobleman of the High Middle Ages. A crusader, royal counselor, and one of the most respected and feared politicians in the British Isles during his heyday, Hugh was the most powerful ruler of the Dunbar dynasty but ultimately met a violent end through his own ambitions.
Life
Hugh was born in 1187 at the castle of Stirling, the seat of his grandmother Moyna Dunbar, lady of Lothian. Hugh's father Suibhne, Moyna's eldest son, succeeded as duke of Lothian upon her death in the summer of 1188. Hugh's mother Cynehild of Hwicce, a daughter of Thurcytel, duke of Northumberland, died in 1189. Hugh was raised as a Scoto-Norman knight in the Dunbar tradition, and undoubtedly also spoke English due to contacts with his mother's family. In approximately 1203 he married Rannveig af Orkneyjar, widow of Johann MacRigh, lord of the Isles.
Hugh succeeded his father as duke of Lothian when the latter died at Abercorn on 23 October 1204, also inheriting the duchy of Cumbria. He was a close ally of his cousin Thurcytel the Younger, duke of Northumberland; in 1205 the two joined Lulach III in petitioning the pope to lift Thurcytel's excommunication. Hugh served Lulach III as a counselor and ambassador, but seems largely to have stayed out of politics during the elderly king's reign; in 1216, shortly before his death, Hugh hosted the king at Berwick to hunt.
Thurcytel the Younger's death later in 1216 offered an opportunity for Hugh to claim the Nothumbrian inheritance, but this was blocked by Kenneth V during his short reign in 1217; likewise the new king Edward, who rose to the throne later that year, also preferred the duchy to remain in the hands of Thurcytel's underage successors. During 1219-20 Hugh accompanied Edward on the failed crusade for Italy; the two men fought alongside at the battle of Caputa in December 1219, at which the Scottish crusaders were heroically defeated. After his return to Scotland in 1220 Hugh was high in the king's favor.
Beginning in 1226 Hugh pushed his ambitions to Northumberland more aggressively, ultimately securing recognition of his title to the duchy from Edward at Christmas 1228. Meanwhile, Hugh challenged his stepson Richard MacRigh, lord of the Isles, over the latter's possession of Durham in the winter of 1226-27 and won, securing his control over the wealthy cathedral city. In 1229 Hugh supported Edward's new succession laws, the Statutes of Linlithgow, despite their general unpopularity in the kingdom; in exchange, he received from the king the gift of almost ₤300 in silver.
The seed of the fatal conflict between Hugh and the crown was laid in 1231, when he again challenged Richard MacRigh, this time over the lord's rights to the Northumbrian castle of Bamburgh. Determined to put a stop to internecine violence, the king convened an assembly at Scone in March 1232 that demanded peace between Hugh and Richard. Hugh resented the king for suppressing his ambitions to control Bamburgh. Meanwhile, a faction of Hugh's enemies at court, most notably including Simon, bishop of Dunkeld, was gaining prominence.
In the autumn of 1232, perhaps after his enemies around the king accused him of treason, Hugh openly broke with Edward, leading an army to Berwick and sacking the town. In response the king led a royal army to Edinburgh. Hugh confronted him with his own formidable host at Roslin on 21 December, but was defeated and forced to flee south into Cumbria. Hugh raised more forces from the ancestral Dunbar lands in Cumberland, but was unable to match the power of Edward's much larger army. Backed into a corner against the coast of the Solway Firth, Hugh stood his ground against the king at Bowness on the afternoon of 27 February 1233 but was defeated. The army of Lothian was routed early in the battle; surrounded by his retainers, Hugh attempted to hack his way through the men of Atholl guarding the king on the battlefield, but was cut down by the sword of the knight Farquhar of Pitlochry.
Hugh was buried alongside his ancestors at Abercorn Abbey, while his eldest son Douglas inherited his titles; he was spared forfeiture by the king but sentenced to lifelong imprisonment. Hugh had one known bastard son, Cynehelm, who became a Knight of Calatrava.