Alan of Galloway
Alan of Galloway was a leading thirteenth-century Scottish magnate. As the hereditary Lord of Galloway and Constable of Scotland, he was one of the most influential men in the Kingdom of Scotland and Irish Sea zone.
Alan first appears in courtly circles in about 1200, about the time he inherited his father's possessions and offices. After he secured his mother's inheritance almost two decades later, Alan became one of the most powerful magnates in the Scottish realm. Alan also held lands in the Kingdom of England, and was an advisor of John, King of England concerning Magna Carta. Alan later played a considerable part in Alexander II, King of Scotland's northern English ambitions during the violent aftermath of John's rejection of Magna Carta. Alan participated in the English colonisation of Ulster, receiving a massive grant in the region from the English king, and simultaneously aided the Scottish crown against rebel claimants in the western and northern peripheries of the Scottish realm. Alan entered into a vicious inter-dynastic struggle for control of the Kingdom of the Isles, supporting one of his kinsmen against another. Alan's involvement in the Isles, a region under nominal Norwegian authority, provoked a massive military response by Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway, causing a severe crisis for the Scottish crown.
As ruler of the semi-autonomous Lordship of Galloway, Alan was courted by the Scottish and English kings for his remarkable military might, and was noted in Norse saga-accounts as one of the greatest warriors of his time. Like other members of his family, he was a generous religious patron. Alan died in February 1234. Although under the traditional Celtic custom of Galloway, Alan's illegitimate son could have succeeded to the Lordship of Galloway, under the feudal custom of the Scottish realm, Alan's nearest heirs were his surviving daughters. Using Alan's death as an opportunity to further integrate Galloway within his realm, Alexander forced the partition of the lordship amongst Alan's daughters. Alan was the last legitimate ruler of Galloway, descending from the native dynasty of Fergus, Lord of Galloway.
Background
Alan was born sometime before 1199. He was the eldest son of Lochlann of Galloway, Frenchified as Roland, and his wife, Helen de Morville. His parents were likely married before 1185, possibly at some point in the 1170s, since Roland was compelled to hand over three sons as hostages to Henry II, King of England in 1186. Roland and Helen had three sons, and two daughters. The name of one of Alan's brothers is unknown, suggesting that he died young. The other, Thomas, became Earl of Atholl by right of his wife. One of Alan's sisters, Ada, married Walter Bisset, Lord of Aboyne. The other, Dervorguilla, married Nicholas de Stuteville, Lord of Liddel.Alan's mother was the daughter of Richard de Morville, Anglo-Norman lord of Cunninghame and Lauderdale, and sister and heir of William de Morville, Lord of Lauderdale and Cunningham, Constable of Scotland. Alan's father was the eldest son of Uhtred, Lord of Galloway, son of Fergus, Lord of Galloway. The familial origins of Fergus are unknown, and he first appears on record in 1136. The mother of at least two of his children, Uhtred and Affraic, was an unknown daughter of Henry I, King of England. It was probably not long after Fergus' emergence into recorded history that he gave away Affraic in marriage to Amlaíb mac Gofraid, King of the Isles. One after-effect of these early twelfth-century marital alliances was that Alan—Fergus' great-grandson—was a blood relative of the early thirteenth-century kings of England and the kings of the Isles—men who proved to be important players throughout Alan's career.
Early career
Roland died in December 1200, after which Alan succeeded to the lordship of Galloway. Alan also inherited the constableship of Scotland, a pre-eminent position which had passed to Roland from the Morvilles by right of Roland's wife, the only surviving heir of Richard de Morville. As constable, Alan, like the earls of the realm, was responsible for leading the king's royal forces. It is uncertain whether the constable of this period took precedence over the earls in command of the king's army, or if the constable had charge of the realm's numerous marischals. His attachment to the importance of his position as constable is evidenced by the fact that this title tends to have taken priority over his hereditary title as ruler of Galloway.Even before Roland's death, Alan was active in courtly circles, perhaps serving as his father's deputy. Alan's first known important attestation occurs late in December 1199, when he witnessed a royal charter at Forfar. From this point in his career until 1209, Alan appears to have been most often in the attendance of the Scottish king, witnessing several of the latter's royal charters. Alan's eminent standing in society is partly evidenced by the fact that, within these sources, his name tends to appear amongst the top four recorded names, and is usually the first name of non-comital rank. His second marriage, in about 1209, to the king's niece, Margaret, eldest daughter of David, Earl of Huntingdon also reveals Alan's significant social standing. From about 1210 to 1215, his activity in Scottish affairs dwindles dramatically, whilst his activity in English affairs increases steadily.
Ulster ambitions
At some point in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, Alan was granted a vast swathe of territory in Ulster from John, King of England. The transaction itself almost certainly took place in the aftermath of the John's expedition to Ireland in 1210. The exact date of the transaction, however, cannot be ascertained due to a gap in English charter records between the months of April 1209 and May 1212. The brunt of John's nine-week Irish campaign appears to have been directed at wayward Anglo-Norman magnates—the troublesome Lacy family in particular. With his subsequent destruction of Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster, and the confiscation of the latter's Irish earldom, John was evidently in a position to reward his own supporters with the Lacys' former possessions. A date of 1210 for Alan's grant, as well as the possibility of his participation in the English expedition of the same year, may be evidenced by the record of a certain "Alan, son of Roland" in the king's service that year.Other sources, however, point to 1212 as the year of Alan's grant. For instance, the thirteenth-century Gesta Annalia I states that, when the English and Scottish kings concluded their treaty at Norham in February 1212, Alan did homage for the "extensive" Irish lands that the English king had given him. The fifteenth-century historian Walter Bower echoed this statement, adding that Alan obtained a lordship of one hundred sixty knights' fees, and took an oath on William's behalf to uphold the treaty. Certain documentary sources appear to lend credibility to aforementioned accounts. Specifically, a confirmation charter from John to Alan, dating to 1215; a somewhat dubious copy of a letter from William to John, which makes reference to Alan's seal; and the copy of a letter from the Irish justiciar concerning the delivery of seisin to Alan's proxies, which appears to date to April or May 1212. In July 1213, Alan was granted right to the forests and fairs upon his Irish lands.
File:RomanDeFergus.PNG|left|thumb|upright|alt=Refer to caption|Fourteenth-century depiction of Fergus, Lord of Galloway as he is depicted in Leiden University Library Letterkunde 191. Fergus was a grandfather of Donnchad mac Gilla Brigte, and a great-grandfather of Alan, his brother Thomas, and Ragnall mac Gofraid. These four descendants of Fergus were important agents of the English Crown in Ireland.
There is reason to suspect that Alan obtained William's approval in regard to his dealings with John. In 1211, Ross and Moray, the northern peripheries of the Scottish realm, were invaded by Gofraid mac Domnaill, a member of the Meic Uilleim, a kindred that contested the kingship. Facing continued opposition early in 1212, William likely undertook the treaty negotiations at Norham as a means of retaining good relations with John, and the agreement itself was likely concluded in the context of shared security concerns. The Meic Uilleim appear to have drawn support against the Scottish crown from peripheral regions of the realm, and likely from Gaelic Ulster as well. In fact, Gofraid's invasion may well have been based from Ulster, and could have been an after-effect of John's campaign there. The most powerful native Gaelic ruler in the region during this period was Áed Méith Ua Néill, King of Tír Eoghain, a figure who appears to have not only seized upon the power vacuum created by Hugh's fall, but may have also aided the Meic Uilleim insurrection in Scotland. The successful implementation of Alan's massive grant in Ulster, therefore, would have not only served English interests in the region, but would have also dramatically increased the security of the Scottish realm. In effect, the alliance between John and Alan appears to have been a coordinated campaign constructed by the English and Scottish crowns in an effort to secure the control of outlying territories where their royal authority was disputed.
The territories granted to Alan encompassed most of what is today northern County Antrim and far north-eastern County Londonderry, stretching from Glenarm to Coleraine. The vast scale of Alan's allotment suggests that it was almost certainly a speculative grant, with little prospect that he could assemble the necessary men and resources to enfeoff and populate the area. Furthermore, his territories lay on the fringes of former Lacy power, in a region where native Gaelic power was still strong. Alan was not the only member of his family allotted Ulster lands from the English. His brother, Thomas, and his cousin, Donnchad mac Gilla Brigte, Earl of Carrick, also received grants of lands nearby.