See: , Great Hall Stirling Castle, Heading Hill.
In June 1281 David Dunkeld (age 9) died at Stirling Castle [Map]. He was buried at Dunfermline Abbey [Map].
After 9th July 1297 William "Hardy" Douglas 2nd Lord Douglas (age 57) was imprisoned at Douglas Tower ar Stirling Castle [Map].
Before 1304 William Oliphant was appointed Governor of Stirling Castle.
On 22nd April 1304 King Edward I of England (age 64) commenced the siege of Stirling Castle [Map]
On 20th July 1304 William Oliphant, Governor of Stirling Castle [Map], surrendered the castle to King Edward I of England (age 65). King Edward refused the surrender, wanting to test his new trebuchet 'Warwolf'. He eventually accepted the surrender four days later on 24th July 1304. See Walter of Guisborough and John of Fordun.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. Then he turned back and besieged Stirling Castle [Map], which earlier he had passed by without besieging, so that, indeed, his men fleeing from him might fear to pass into the hands of the enemy. He wintered at Dunfermline, and there his wife the queen came to him, she having stayed long at Tynemouth. When winter was over [22nd April 1304], he attacked the castle more fiercely than before; for he had many wooden siege engines throwing stones weighing one hundred, two hundred, or three hundred pounds. These battered the walls and broke down the high parts of the walls with continual blows; yet the besieged still refused to surrender, and defended themselves manfully with their own engines, killing many. The king ordered the ditches to be filled each day with branches and wood; but the defenders set fire to them and burned them all. At last, when siege engines had been set up by which the walls might be scaled, the ditches were filled with stones and earth.
Reversusque est et obsedit castrum Strivelyn, quod prius obsidere gratis prætermiserat, ut sui scilicet fugientes ab eo per manus hostium pertransire timerent, hiemavitque ad Dunfermelyn, et ibi venit ad eum uxor sua regina quæ apud Tynemw diu manserat. Transacto hieme, fortius solito insultum fecit ad castrum; habuit enim ligneas machinas multas, projicientes lapides ponderis centum, ducentarum, vel trecentarum librarum. Concusseruntque muros et demolierunt excelsa murorum continuatis ictibus; et adhuc se dare noluerunt obsessi, sed viriliter defenderunt se cum machinis suis et multos occiderunt. Jussitque rex indies impleri fossata cum ramis et lignis. Sed illi, igne apposito, omnia combusserunt. Ordinatisque demum machinis per quas possent muros ascendere, impleverunt fossata lapidibus et humo.
John of Fordun's Chronicle. 111. Stirling Castle [Map] besieged by the King of England
Just after Easter, in the year 1304, that same king besieged Strivelyn [Map] Castle for three months without a break. For this siege, he commanded all the lead of the refectory of Saint Andrews [Map] to be pulled down, and had it taken away for the use of his engines. At last, the aforesaid castle was surrendered [20th July 1304] and delivered unto him on certain conditions, drawn up in writing, and sealed with his seal. But when he had got the castle, the king (age 64) belied his troth, and broke through the conditions: for William Oliphant, the warden thereof, he threw bound into prison in London, and kept him a long time in thrall. The same year, when both great and small in the kingdom of Scotland (except William Wallace alone) had made their submission unto him; when the surrendered castles and fortified towns, which had formerly been broken down and knocked to pieces, had been all rebuilt, and he had appointed wardens of his own therein; and after all and sundry of Scottish birth had tendered him homage, the king, with the Prince of Wales (age 19), and his whole army, returned to England. He left, however, the chief warden as his lieutenant, to amend and control the lawlessness of all the rest, both Scots and English. He did not show his face in Scotland after this.
In 1337 Stirling Castle [Map], then under English control, was besieged by Andrew Murray (age 39) but failed to take it.
William Keith of Galston (age 37) was killed.
Around 1366 Mary Douglas Countess Mar (age 26) died at Stirling Castle [Map].
On 3rd September 1420 Robert Stewart 1st Duke Albany (age 80) died at Stirling Castle [Map]. His son Murdoch (age 58) succeeded 2nd Duke Albany. His son John (age 39) succeeded 2nd Earl Buchan. Elizabeth Douglas Countess Buchan and Orkney by marriage Countess Buchan.
On 18th May 1425 Murdoch Stewart 2nd Duke Albany (age 63), his two sons Walter Stewart (age 25) and Alexander Stewart, and Duncan Lennox 8th Earl Lennox (age 80) were tried at Stirling Castle [Map] in the presence of King James I of Scotland (age 30).
The jury which condemned them was composed of 21 knights and peers, including Albany's half-uncle Walter Stewart 1st Earl Atholl 3rd Earl Caithness (age 65), first cousin Alexander Stewart 1st Earl of Mar (age 50), first cousins once-removed Archibald Douglas 2nd Duke Touraine (age 35), and Alexander, Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles.
On 14th December 1444 Louis King Cyprus (age 8) and Anabella Stewart (age 8) were betrothed at Stirling Castle [Map]. The marriage never took place and the betrothal was annulled in 1456.
On 13th May 1453 Mary Stewart Countess Arran was born to King James II of Scotland (age 22) and Mary of Guelders Queen Consort Scotland (age 19) at Stirling Castle [Map]. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
On 17th March 1473 King James IV of Scotland was born to King James III of Scotland (age 21) and Margaret Oldenburg Queen Consort Scotland (age 16) at Stirling Castle [Map].
On 19th September 1502 Mynour, the Inglis payntour (age 42) delivered four portraits of the English royal family to James IV of Scotland (age 29) at Stirling Castle [Map].
All About History Books
The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.
James Stewart 1st Duke Rothesay (age 1) was created 1st Duke Rothesay. A year later On 27th February 1508 he died at Stirling Castle [Map].
On 30th April 1514 Alexander Stewart 1st Duke Ross was born to King James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor Queen Scotland (age 24) at Stirling Castle [Map]. He a grandson of King Henry VII of England and Ireland.
On 18th December 1515 Alexander Stewart 1st Duke Ross (age 1) died at Stirling Castle [Map].
On 4th September 1571 supporters of Mary Queen of Scots (age 28) led by George Gordon 5th Earl Huntley attacked Stirling Castle [Map].
Matthew Stewart 4th Earl Lennox (age 54)was shot. His son Charles (age 14) succeeded 5th Earl Lennox.
Alexander Stewart (age 39) was killed
On 3rd May 1584 William Ruthven 1st Earl Gowrie (age 41) was beheaded at Stirling Castle [Map] for continuing to rebel against the King. His son James (age 8) succeeded 2nd Earl Gowrie
In 1594 James Erskine Earl Buchan was born to John Erskine 19th Earl of Mar (age 32) and Mary Stewart Countess Mar (age 12) at Stirling Castle [Map].
On 19th February 1594 Henry Frederick Stewart Prince of Wales was born to King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 27) and Anne of Denmark Queen Consort Scotland England and Ireland (age 19) at Stirling Castle [Map]. He was baptised on the 30th August 1594.
On 11th January 1597 Anne Erskine Countess of Rothes was born to John Erskine 19th Earl of Mar (age 35) and Mary Stewart Countess Mar (age 15) at Stirling Castle [Map].
John of Fordun's Chronicle. 110. The Estates of Scotland make their submission to the King of England
The same year, after the whole Estates of Scotland had made their submission to the king of England, John Comyn, then guardian, and all the magnates but William Wallace, little by little, one after another, made their submission unto him; and all their castles and towns - except Strivelyn Castle [Map], and the warden thereof - were surrendered unto him. That year, the king kept Lent at Saint Andrews [Map], where he called together all the great men of the kingdom, and held his parliament; and he made such decrees as he would, according to the state of the country - which, as he thought, had been gotten and won for him and his successors for ever - as well as about the dwellers therein.
In April 1578 James "Lord Bothwell" Hepburn 1st Duke Orkney (age 44) died at Dragsholm Castle. His nephew Francis (age 15) succeeded 5th Earl Bothwell at Great Hall Stirling Castle.
On 24th May 1425 Alexander Stewart and Duncan Lennox 8th Earl Lennox (age 80) were beheaded at Heading Hill at Stirling Castle.
On 25th May 1425 Murdoch Stewart 2nd Duke Albany (age 63) and his son Walter Stewart (age 25) were beheaded at Heading Hill at Stirling Castle.