| Notes |
- James date of birth is disputed. (See attached.) James inherited the office of High Steward of Scotland in 1283 following the death of his father, Alexander. James married Egidia de Burgh, sister of Richard de Burgh, Earl of Uslter, making them aunt and uncle to Elizabeth de Burgh, future wife of Robert The Bruce.
Service to King Alexander III & Robert I
In 1286, following the tragic death of King Alexander III, leaving only a child heir, James was chosen as one of the six Guardians of Scotland. He subsequently submitted to King Edward I of England on 9 July 1297 and was one of the auditors for the competitor, Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale. However, during the Wars of Scottish Independence he joined Sir William Wallace. After Wallace's defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298, he gave his support to Robert Bruce, later King Robert I of Scotland, grandson of the competitor.
Fealty to Edward I of England
In 1302, with six other ambassadors including John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, he was sent to solicit the aid of the French king against King Edward, to whom he was once again compelled to swear fealty at Lanercost Priory on 23 October 1306. To render his oath inviolable, it was taken upon the two crosses of Scotland most esteemed for their sanctity, on the consecrated host, the holy gospels and on various relics of saints and he agreed to submit to instant excommunication if he should break his allegiance to Edward. However, convinced that his faith was primarily to his country in spite of all, he once again took up the Scottish patriotic cause and died in the service of Robert the Bruce in 1309. (Wikipedia)
According to Wikipedia, James was married firstly to Cecilia, a daughter of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar (died 1289); and secondly, apparently to Muriel (born 1244), a daughter of Malise, Earl of Strathearn (died 1271). However this second suggested marriage is difficult to reconcile with her known other marriage. James had no known children with either of these wives, so it is presumed they died young, which would explain his late start in having children with a third wife.
James had two confirmed children by Egedia de Burgh, namely Walter and Egedia. His other children's mothers are unconfirmed.
James was father of:
------------------
Disputed Date of Birth
The date of birth for James Stewart, 5th High Steward, is unknown. We suggest an earlier date around 1243. Wikipedia disputes this and suggests a later date around 1260. Both dates are estimates based on different interpretations of the evidence. All that can be said definatively is that James' actual date of birth is unknown.
Wikipedia says:
"The date of his birth is not known and some sources have placed it, on no good evidence, as early as 1243. This is now thought to be unlikely, for the following reasons. Firstly, James's father is known to have planned a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James of Compostella in 1252 or after, so that James would probably have been born after this, and named in honour of that saint. Secondly, James's Christian name was an unusual one, then uncommon in Scotland and not a traditional name in the Stewart family where Walter and Alan were favoured. It is therefore quite possible that he was not Alexander's eldest son, but rather the eldest surviving son. For these reasons, and also the fact of his son and successor Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland being described in about 1314 as a "beardless lad" by John Barbour in his poem The Brus, it is proposed that James was born in about 1260." (Wikipedia)
To state that the case for the earlier birth date rests on "no good evidence" is disingenuous.
St. James had already been a patron saint of the family for over two hundred years before Alexander Stewart made his pilgramage in 1252. Alexander's great-grandfather, Sir Walter Fitz-Alan, the first High Steward, founded Paisley Priory in 1163 and dedicated it to St. James, a century before James Stewart was born. But St. James had been a patron saint of the family even before then, as far back as the 11th century when they still lived in Brittany.
To claim that James was named after Saint James of Compostella after his father's pilgramage in 1252, confuses correlation with causation. The causation could just as easily be argued the other way: that, in an era of high infant mortality, Alexander Stewart made his pilgramage in 1252 to give thanks for the good health of his growing young son, whom he'd previously named James after the family's traditional patron saint.
While James Stewart may be the first person in the family documented to use the forename James, that does not mean that he was the first person to have the name. It only means that he's the first person documented with that name. The documentation on the earlier generations of this family is very incomplete.
In the poem, The Brus, by John Barbour, James Stewart's son, Sir Walter Stewart, the future 6th High Steward, was described as a "beardless lad" at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Wikipedia claims that this is evidence that James could not have been born earlier that 1260, which is untrue.
Barbour was neither a contemporary writer nor a first-hand witness. He didn't write his poem until 1375, 60 years after Bannockburn, and 50 years after the "beardless lad" was dead. He most certainly never met Walter Stewart, as he was only a child himself when Walter died. His description should not be relied upon as evidence for Walter's age. But, even if Walter was young (about which we agree) that is also not conclusive evidence as to the age of his father at the time of his birth. James Stewart could easily have been close to 50 years old when his son Walter was born. That would not be unheard of in that era.
Furthermore, Barbour was appointed to the court of James Stewart's grandson, King Robert II (Stewart), and had a clear motivation to portray the king's ancestors in a favourable and dashing manner.
In support of the earlier dating for James' birth, we find that James is cited along with his father in a charter ca. 1276, in which he was an adult, which would make James latest possible birth around 1255.
James' second wife, Muriella of Strathearn, is recorded in the same Wikipedia article as being born in 1244. Wikipedia's dating would make James sixteen years younger than his wife, which is highly unlikely. Our dating would make them about the same age.
And, finally, James Stewart's younger brother, Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl, is estimated to have been born ca. 1245, as shown by the Stewart Society and other sources. In order to have inherited the office of High Steward, James must have been born before his brother, John. That means James must have been born earlier than ca. 1245. The accounting of the descendants of Sir John Stewart of Bonkyl becomes nearly impossible if Sir John was born later than 1260.
The suggestion that James Stewart was born closer to 1243 rests on good evidence. The suggestion that he was born closer to 1260 cannot be reconciled with other evidence and confuses correlation with causation.
|
Abt 1243 - 1309 (~ 66 years)
