Battle of Inverurie (1308) - Blood Feud

Blood Feud

In February 1306, for reasons that are still unclear, Robert Bruce and his supporters murdered John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, also known as the Red Comyn. Comyn was a nephew of the former King John Balliol and had been a leading player in the wars against the English. His death automatically meant that his extensive network of family and associates would regard Bruce as an enemy, his seizure of the Scottish crown notwithstanding. Men, in other words, who had been hitherto in the forefront of the struggle against the English occupation of Scotland were now to see Bruce as the greater enemy. Chief among these was Comyn's cousin and namesake, John Comyn, Earl of Buchan. The alliance against the new Scottish king was so strong that it is almost certain that his cause would have been overwhelmed but for the death in July 1307 of Edward I of England. His son, Edward II, soon preoccupied with political problems at home, left his Scottish allies unsupported at a critical time. Bruce, a masterly soldier as well as a politician, acted quickly, on the assumption that the English were bound to return in strength for the campaigning season in 1308.