Sir William Oliphant (died aft. 1313), was a Scottish knight and Governor of

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

during the

Wars of Scottish Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of ...

. He switched loyalties to the English and died in a Scottish prison.

Life

Sir William Oliphant fought at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296, where the Scots, under their king

John Balliol John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...

, were defeated by the invading English. Following the battle he was captured and taken to

Devizes Castle Devizes Castle was a medieval fortification in the town of Devizes, Wiltshire, England, on a site now occupied by a Victorian-era castle. It is a Grade I listed building. The original castle (not currently visible) was overbuilt by the current s ...

in England where he was imprisoned.''The Scots Peerage, Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage of Scotland'', Vol. VI, Ed. James Balfour Paul (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1909), p. 532 He was freed on 8 September 1297 and with his fellow prisoner John of Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl returned to Scotland to serve in King Edward I's army. Breaking his pledge to Edward I, he next appears as the governor of

and when attacked by King Edward's army he refused to surrender without permission of the Guardian of Scotland, John de Soules who was in France at the time. His small garrison held out against the full might of Edward's army until 20 July 1304 when they were forced to surrender. While Edward agreed to favorable terms in writing, immediately after the surrender he broke the terms and imprisoned Oliphant in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

.''John of Fordun's Chronicle of the Scottish Nation'', Ed. William F. Skene (Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1872), p. 329 In this same year all of Scotland with the exception of

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...

swore fealty to Edward I. In 1308, he was released on

mainprise Mainprise is a concept in English law regarding the release of a prisoner from custody upon sureties pending trial. It is nearly identical to the concept of bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensu ...

on 24 May 1308 and shortly afterwards returned to Scotland where he served king

Edward II of England 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 ...

. In 1309 he was at Stirling castle. By 1312 Sir William was in command of the key English outpost, the fortified town of Perth.Ronald McNair Scott, ''Robert the Bruce, King of Scots'' (New York: Carloll & Graf Publishers, 1996), p. 134 A six-week siege by

Robert the 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 eventual ...

had little effect so the Scots withdrew in open sight of the English garrison. Little more than a week later after nightfall, the Scots crossed the Lade, Perth's moat at the time, and climbed the wall. They took the town with little bloodshed. However many of the higher ranking Scots and English were executed while most of the English were allowed to go free.Herbert Maxwell, 'Chronicle of Lanercost', ''The Scottish Historical Review'', Vol. 8, No. 32 (Jul., 1911), p. 381 Sir William However, John Barbour said that King Robert "commanded on great pains" that only those who could not be captured were to be killed. Since Oliphant was not executed but was sent in chains to the western Isles, where he apparently died a prisoner there is some reason to think Barbour was correct. There is no further mention of him in any records.He has been mistakenly confused with his cousin

William Oliphant, Lord of Aberdalgie Sir William Oliphant (died 1329), Lord of Aberdalgie and Dupplin,There is confusion between two Sir William Oliphants, both cousins, who fought together "and it is not possible to discriminate between their respective actions with certainty." S ...

who signed the

Declaration of Arbroath The Declaration of Arbroath ( la, Declaratio Arbroathis; sco, Declaration o Aiberbrothock; gd, Tiomnadh Bhruis) is the name usually given to a letter, dated 6 April 1320 at Arbroath, written by Scottish barons and addressed to Pope John ...

in 1320 and died in 1329. See the Scots Peerage, VI, 531–34.

Life

Notes

References

See also