Cupar Castle was a royal castle at

Cupar Cupar ( ; ) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It was located on a small hill or motte that is known as Castle Hill next to the former Castlehill Primary School in Cupar. No vestiges of the castle remain above ground.

History

The castle was built by the

Earls of Fife The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife was the ruler of the province of Fife in medieval Scotland, which encompassed the modern counties of Fife and Kinross. Due to their royal ancestry, the earls of Fife were the highest ranking nobles in the re ...

in the 11th century. King Alexander III's wife

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

died at the castle on 26 February 1275. The castle traded hands several times during the first and second Scottish War of Independence. The castle was surrendered to the English in 1296, and King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

stayed there for a time. In 1306, Scottish forces led by Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow, attacked the English garrison at the castle and besieged it. Wishart was captured by the English at Cupar and imprisoned until he was ransomed after the Scottish victory at the Battle of Bannockburn. In 1308 the Warden of Cupar Castle, Sir Thomas Grey, was ambushed on his way back from

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...

's coronation by a follower of

Robert Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against England. He fought successfully dur ...

, Walter de Bickerton. Although heavily outnumbered, Thomas routed Bickerton's men through the use of cavalry charges and by deceiving his enemy that they were greater in number than they really were. However, that same year, Cupar Castle was recovered for the Scots by Robert the Bruce. The forces of the pretender

Edward Balliol Edward Balliol or Edward de Balliol (; – January 1364) was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356. Early life Edward was the el ...

retook the castle for the English in 1332. In April 1336 the forces of Robert Stewart, then Guardian of the Realm laid siege to Cupar Castle. The following month English forces, led by John de Strivelyn, relieved the English forces occupying the castle breaking the siege. The castle was surrendered by the English constable Sir William Bullock to

William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale Sir William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale (–1353), also known as the Knight of Liddesdale and the Flower of Chivalry, was a Scottish nobleman and soldier active during the Second War of Scottish Independence. Family and early life Douglas' ...

in 1339. The court of the Stewart of Fife sat at the castle until 1425.

Citations

References

*Ashley, Mike (2002). British Kings & Queens. Carroll & Graf. . * {{Cite book , title = Scalacronica; The reigns of Edward I, Edward II and Edward III as Recorded by Sir Thomas Gray , last = Maxwell , first = Herbert , location = Glasgow , publisher = James Maclehose & Sons , year = 1907 , url = https://archive.org/details/scalacronicareig01grayuoft , access-date = 17 October 2012

External links

RCAHMS - Cupar Castle listing
Castles in Fife