Greyfriars, Dumfries, was a
friary of the Friars Minor, commonly known as the
Franciscans
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...
, established in
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
, Scotland. Following dissolution the friary was demolished and the site levelled. The locality has retained a reference to the friary in the street named "Friars Vennel". The present neo-Gothic Greyfriars was built from 1868 and is located at the site of the former
Maxwell's Castle at the top of High Street.
The original friary is best known as where
John "the Red" Comyn was killed by
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...
and his supporters, at the high altar in the chapel.
[Fullarton, p.351.] The killing sparked the
resumption of conflict with England with Bruce crowned
King of Scots at
Scone Palace seven weeks later. Bruce's campaign for an independent Scotland reached its culmination when the English recognised Scotland as an independent nation in the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton signed in 1328.
Citations
References
*Fullarton, A. "The Topographical, Statistical, and Historical Gazetteer of Scotland: A-H" (1853)
Franciscan monasteries in Scotland
1559 disestablishments in Scotland
Former Christian monasteries in Scotland
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