Gille Brigte or Gilla Brigte mac Fergusa of Galloway (died 1185), also known as ''Gillebrigte'', ''Gille Brighde'', ''Gilbridge'', ''Gilbride'', etc., and most famously known in French sources as Gilbert, was

Lord of Galloway The lords of Galloway consisted of a dynasty of heirs who were lords (or kings) and ladies who ruled over Galloway in southwest Scotland, mainly during the High Middle Ages. Many regions of Scotland, including Galloway and Moray, periodically ...

of Scotland (from 1161 with Uchtred; 1174 alone, to 1185). Gilla Brigte was one of two sons of the great Fergus, the builder of the "Kingdom" of

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

Background, marriage and family

In the struggle that arose after the death of Fergus between Gille Brigte and Uchtred, Gille Brigte emerged the stronger. The partitioning of Galloway left Gille Brigte with the western part, the part less exposed to the armies of the Scottish and English Kings.''Robert the Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland'' vol. 4, p. 430. Roger Howden calls Uctred, son of Fergus of Galloway, a cousin of King Henry II (gestahenrici secundi benedicici abbatis ed. stubbs rolls ser.i 80), a relationship which is best explained on the supposition that Fergus married a bastard daughter of Henry I. The suggestion in the Scots peerage, s.v. ''Galloway'', that Gilbert, Uctred's brother, had a different mother is contradicted by cal.docs.scoti no.480, where King John calls Duncan, grandson of Fergus, cousin of Uctred, of Carrick his cousin, making Uctred and Gilbert brothers by the same mother We do not know for certain to whom Gille Brigte was married.

Richard Oram Professor Richard D. Oram F.S.A. (Scot.) is a Scottish historian. He is a professor of medieval and environmental history at the University of Stirling and an honorary lecturer in history at the University of Aberdeen. He is also the director of ...

suggests the strong likelihood that his main wife was a daughter of Donnchad II,

Mormaer In early Middle Ages, medieval Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, a mormaer was the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the Kings of Scots, King of Scots, and the senior of a ''Toísech'' (chi ...

Earl 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 ...

and the most important native lord in

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 ...

. The introduction of the name ''Donnchad'' (or ''Duncan'') into the family naming pattern is some evidence of this, as is the later marriage of Gille Brigte's great-granddaughter

Marjorie Marjorie is a female given name derived from Margaret, which means pearl. It can also be spelled as Margery or Marjory. Marjorie is a medieval variant of Margery, influenced by the name of the herb marjoram. It came into English from the Old Fre ...

to the

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 ...

petty-lord Adam de Kilconquhar. Gille Brigte had two known children: * Donnchad * Máel Coluim

Events of 1174 & approach to England

From 1161 until 1174, Gille Brigte and Uchtred shared the lordship, with Gille Brigte in the west, and Uchtred in the east. In 1174, King William le Lion of Scotland invaded England in an attempt to regain

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. He brought with him the two ''meic Fergusa'', Gille Brigte and Uchtred. During the invasion, William was caught off-guard, and captured while besieging the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

Benedict of Peterborough Benedict, sometimes known as Benedictus Abbas (Latin for "Benedict the Abbot"; died 29 September 1193), was abbot of Peterborough. His name was formerly erroneously associated with the ''Gesta Henrici Regis Secundi'' and ''Gesta Regis Ricardi'', Eng ...

reported that: Despite the implications that both brothers were involved, it is clear that only Gilla Brigte was, and that Uchtred opposed him. For Benedict goes on to tell us that, in relation to the same year, Gille Brigte's son Máel Coluim was besieging Uchtred on an island in Galloway. Máel Coluim mac Gille Brigte captured Uchtred. Uchtred was blinded,

castrated Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceut ...

and had his tongue cut out. What Gille Brigte did at this time might have changed British history for ever. Gille Brigte sent a messenger, and asked King Henry II for direct lordship (i.e. without the Scottish king as a middle man). Henry sent a delegation to investigate. This delegation consisted of

Roger de Hoveden Roger of Howden or Hoveden (died 1202) was a 12th-century English chronicler, diplomat and head of the minster of Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Roger and Howden minster Roger was born to a clerical family linked to the ancient minste ...

and Robert de Vaux. Thanks to the former, we have a record of the embassy. It is reported by Benedict of Peterborough that Gille Brigte offered the King of England a one-off payment of 2000

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members * Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel '' ...

, and a yearly tribute of 500 cows and 500 swine, if the King would "remove them he Galwegiansfrom the servitude of the king of Scotland" (Anderson, p. 258). However, when the delegation discovered the fate of Uchtred, Henry's cousin, they rejected the request. Gille Brigte's

fratricide Fratricide (, from the Latin words ' "brother" and the assimilated root of ' "to kill, to cut down") is the act of killing one's own brother. It can either be done directly or via the use of either a hired or an indoctrinated intermediary (a ...

effectively prevented any deal. Gille Brigte's bad fortune was compounded later in the year, when Henry and William signed the

Treaty of Falaise The Treaty of Falaise was a forced written agreement made in December 1174 between the captive William I, King of Scots, and Henry II, King of England. During the Revolt of 1173-1174, William joined the rebels and was captured at the Battle of ...

. Gille Brigte was forced to come to terms with the two kings. In 1176, Gille Brigte travelled into England, was fined 1000 marks by Henry, and handed over his son Donnchad into Henry's custody as a

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

to ensure good behaviour.

The Lordship of Gille Brigte

Gille Brigte's reign is characterized by a large degree of hostility towards the Scottish kings. Unlike his brother Uchtred, he was no friend to incoming Normans. He maintained a Gaelic following. Such a policy made him popular in the province, but alienated him from his nominal

Franco-Gaelic The term Scoto-Norman (also Franco-Scottish or Franco-Gaelic) is used to describe people, families, institutions and archaeological artifacts that are partly Scottish (in some sense) and partly Anglo-Norman (in some sense). It is used to refer to ...

overlords, King

Máel Coluim IV Malcolm IV ( mga, Máel Coluim mac Eanric, label=Medieval Gaelic; gd, Maol Chaluim mac Eanraig), nicknamed Virgo, "the Maiden" (between 23 April and 24 May 11419 December 1165) was King of Scotland from 1153 until his death. He was the eldest ...

and then King

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. William cultivated the loyalty of Uchtred's son

Lochlann In the modern Gaelic languages, () signifies Scandinavia or, more specifically, Norway. As such it is cognate with the Welsh name for Scandinavia, (). In both old Gaelic and old Welsh, such names literally mean 'land of lakes' or 'land of sw ...

(Roland), using him as a card in the game for control over the Galwegian lordship. In the 1180s, tension between Gille Brigte and William was high, with Gilla Brigte being known to have made frequent raids into the Scottish controlled territory of eastern Galloway. When Gille Brigte died in 1185, he was at war with William. Gille Brigte's timely death, with Donnchad still in Henry II's custody, eased the way for William to install Lochlann as Gille Brigte's successor.

Footnotes

References

* Anderson, A.O., ''Scottish Annals from English Chroniclers: AD 500 to 1286'', (London, 1908) * Oram, Richard, ''The Lordship of Galloway, (Edinburgh, 2000) {{DEFAULTSORT:Galloway, Gille Brigte Of 1185 deaths 12th-century Scottish people History of Galloway Medieval Gaels from Scotland People from Dumfries and Galloway Year of birth unknown Mormaers of Carrick Lords of Galloway