John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray (died 17 October 1346) was an important figure in the reign of

David II of Scotland David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scotland from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, be ...

, and was for a time joint

Regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of Scotland.

Family

He was son of the famous

Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray (c. 1285 20 July 1332) was a soldier and diplomat in the Wars of Scottish Independence, who later served as regent of Scotland. He was a nephew of Robert the Bruce, who created him as the first earl of M ...

, a companion-in-arms of

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 ...

. Upon the death of his elder brother Thomas, 2nd Earl at the

Battle of Dupplin Moor The Battle of Dupplin Moor was fought between supporters of King David II of Scotland, the son of King Robert Bruce, and English-backed invaders supporting Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland, on 11 August 1332. It took place a l ...

in 1332, John succeeded to the earldom. He was brother to Agnes Randolph, Countess of Dunbar, sometimes referred to as "Black Agnes". His sister Isobel's daughter Agnes Dunbar, was the mistress of David II of Scotland.

Military campaigns

He at once took up arms on behalf of his sovereign and cousin King David II and surprised and defeated

Edward Balliol Edward Balliol or Edward de Balliol (; – 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 el ...

at the Battle of Annan in December 1332. At the

Battle of Halidon Hill The Battle of Halidon Hill took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army under Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army commanded by King Edward III of England () and was heavily defeated. The year before, Edward Balliol had seized ...

on 19 July 1333, he commanded the first division of the Scots' Army, supported by Sir Andrew Fraser and his two brothers, Simon and James. Escaping from the carnage there he retired to France.

Regency

John returned to Scotland the following year, when he and the High Steward of Scotland (the future King

Robert II of Scotland Robert II (2 March 1316 – 19 April 1390) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie Bruce, Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, h ...

) were appointed joint

s, and set about trying to restore order to the nation. He was successful in taking prisoner the Comyn

Earl of Atholl The Mormaer or Earl of Atholl was the title of the holder of a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl (''Ath Fodhla''), now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is repor ...

, commander of the English forces in Scotland, but, on his swearing allegiance to the Scottish Crown he was set free. Comyn, however, disregarded his oath, returned to the English camp, and resumed his hostilities. In August 1335 led an attack on the Burgh Muir near

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

against a body of

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

auxiliaries in the English service, under Count Guy de Namur, and forced them to surrender. But escorting the Count to the

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

he fell into an ambush and was made prisoner by William de Pressen, (English) Warden of

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

. He was confined first at

Nottingham Castle Nottingham Castle is a Stuart Restoration-era ducal mansion in Nottingham, England, built on the site of a Normans, Norman castle built starting in 1068, and added to extensively through the medieval period, when it was an important royal fortr ...

, and afterwards 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 citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. On 25 July 1340, he was removed to

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. In 1341 he was exchanged for the

Earl of Salisbury Earl of Salisbury is a title that has been created several times in English and British history. It has a complex history and is now a subsidiary title to the marquessate of Salisbury. Background The title was first created for Patrick de Sa ...

, a prisoner with the French, and Moray then returned to Scotland.

Last battle

In February 1346 he invaded England with

. At the

Battle of Neville's Cross The Battle of Neville's Cross took place during the Second War of Scottish Independence on 17 October 1346, half a mile (800 m) to the west of Durham, England. An invading Scottish army of 12,000 led by King David II was defeated with heavy lo ...

, outside Durham, on 17 October 1346 John, with Douglas, Knight of Liddesdale, commanded the right wing of the Scottish army. He was killed during the first English attack. He was married to Euphemia de Ross but the marriage was childless. On his death the earldom of Moray reverted to the Crown, but was later given to his nephew, John Dunbar.

References

* Anderson, William, ''The Scottish Nation'', Edinburgh, 1867, vol.vii, pps:200-1. * Traquair, Peter, ''Freedom's Sword'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Moray, John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Year of birth unknown 1346 deaths Scottish deaths at the Battle of Neville's Cross Earls of Moray 14th-century Scottish earls Lords of Badenoch