Cupar Castle was a royal castle at

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) 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 Fif ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was located on a small hill or motte that is known as Castle Hill next to 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 r ...

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

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

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, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

stayed there for a time. In 1306, Scottish forces led by

Robert Wishart Robert Wishart was Bishop of Glasgow during the Wars of Scottish Independence and a leading supporter of Sir William Wallace and King Robert Bruce. For Wishart and many of his fellow churchmen, the freedom of Scotland and the freedom of the S ...

, Bishop of Glasgow, attacked the English garrison at the castle and besieged it. Wishart was captured by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

's coronation by a follower of

Robert Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

, 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 (; 1283 – 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 eldest son of John Ba ...

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 John de Strivelyn ( fl. 1327 – 15 August 1378), also called John Stirling or Johannes de Strivelyn, was a medieval Scottish knight in English service. Military career Stirling was first mentioned in the aftermath of the Battle of Halidon Hil ...

, 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' fa ...

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