Richard Comyn (died c. 1179) was a Scottish noble of unknown parentage who is known to have been the nephew of
William Cumin.
Biography
Richard was probably born between 1115 and 1123. In 1144, William Comyn gave him
Northallerton Castle, which he had re-built a few years earlier. Shortly after, he received the castle and
honour of Richmond
The Honour of Richmond (or Richmondshire) was a feudal barony in what is now mainly North Yorkshire, England. The honour was two tiers below Yorkshire, the middle tier being the North Riding.
Before the honour was created, the land was held ...
as part of his uncle's settlement to renounce to Durham bishopric.
[Alan Young, ‘Cumin, William (d. c.1160)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004.] In 1145, Richard married Hextilda of Tynedale, the daughter of Uchtred (or Hadrian) of Tynedale, Lord of Tynedale, and wife Bethóc ingen Domnaill Bain, the only known child and daughter of King
Donald III of Scotland.
[Young, Alan, Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1213–1314, (East Linton, 1997), p. 15]
In
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 ...
, he acquired the position of
Justiciar of Lothian: he witnessed 6 charters for
King Malcolm IV and 33 for
King William I. He was captured with
King William in 1174 and was a hostage for him in the
Treaty of Falaise. He gave, with Hextida's consent, lands to the monks at
Hexham
Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...
,
Kelso and
Holyrood. He died between 1179 and 1182. Hextilda remarried to
Máel Coluim, Earl of Atholl (also called Malcolm).
Children
Richard had four sons and three daughters by Hextilda:
* John, died between 1152 and 1159, and buried at
Kelso Abbey
Kelso Abbey is a ruined Scottish abbeys, Scottish abbey in Kelso, Scottish Borders, Kelso, Scotland. It was founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland in the reign of Alexander ...
*
William
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
, jure uxoris
Earl of Buchan
* Odinel (also called Odo), a priest, witness to Richard's charters to religious houses in 1162 and 1166
* Simon, mentioned in the 1166 charter to the
Augustinians
Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...
in
Holyrood
* Idonea
* Ada
* Margaret - Countess of Atholl by marriage to
Henry, Earl of Atholl
His daughters were witnesses to a donation made by
Máel Coluim, Earl of Atholl and their mother Hextilda to the Church of St Cuthbert in
Durham.
References
* Young, Alan, ''Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1213-1314'', (East Linton, 1997), pp15–19.
* Surtees Society 2: 84–5.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comyn, Richard
Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
12th-century Scottish nobility
12th-century births
1170s deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain