John Comyn (born c. 1215, died c. 1275) was Lord of Badenoch

Lord of Badenoch

The Lord of Badenoch was a magnate who ruled the lordship of Badenoch in the 13th century and early 14th century. The lordship may have been created out of the territory of the Meic Uilleim, after William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan, Justiciar of Scotia and Warden of Moray defeated Gille...

in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. He was justiciar of Galloway

Galloway

Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...

 in 1258. He held lands in Nithsdale

Nithsdale

Nithsdale , also known by its anglicised gaelic name Strathnith or Stranit, is the valley of the River Nith in Scotland, and the name of the region...

 (Dalswinton

Dalswinton

Dalswinton is a small village in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland. It is located about 6 miles north-north-west of Dumfries. To the east of the village a wind farm has been built...

, a Comyn stronghold, and Duncow) and Tynedale

Tynedale

Tynedale was a local government district in south-west Northumberland, England. It had a resident population of 58,808 according to the 2001 Census, and was named after the River Tyne . Its main towns were Hexham, Haltwhistle and Prudhoe...

.

Life

The Comyn family were in effective power in Scotland from 1249 to 1255, when Alexander III of Scotland

Alexander III of Scotland

Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...

 was a minor; John was one of those with court influence. The Comyns were ousted, by Alan Durward

Alan Durward

Alan Hostarius was the son of Thomas de Lundin, a grandson of Gille Críst, Mormaer of Mar. His mother's name is unknown, but she was almost certainly a daughter of Máel Coluim, Mormaer of Atholl, meaning that Alan was the product of two Gaelic comital families.Alan was one of the most important...

, but returned to power in 1257-8, before provoking a strong English reaction.

He fought for Henry III of England

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

 at the Battle of Lewes

Battle of Lewes

The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264...

 (1265), with John Baliol the elder and Robert Bruce the elder, and was captured. In 1267 he was given license to crenellate Tarset Castle in Tynedale (by present-day Lanehead, near Hexham

Hexham

Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...

), by Henry III; Tarset had previously been held by Walter Comyn.

He started castle construction at Blair Castle

Blair Castle

Blair Castle stands in its grounds near the village of Blair Atholl in Perthshire in Scotland. It is the home of the Clan Murray family, who hold the title of Duke of Atholl, though the current Duke, John Murray, lives in South Africa....

 with a tower built in 1269. The place was soon taken back by David, Earl of Atholl

David I Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl

David I Strathbogie was the first of the Strathbogie Earls of Atholl.David was the son of John de Strathbogie and Ada, suo jure Countess of Atholl....

.

Family

John was the son of a Richard Comyn and was the grandson (through Richard) of William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan

William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan

William Comyn was one of four sons of Richard Comyn, Justiciar of Lothian and Hextilda of Tynedale. He was born in Scotland, in Altyre, Moray in 1163 and died in Buchan in 1233 where he is buried in Deer Abbey...

.

According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica he died in 1274, and was nephew of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan

Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan

Alexander Comyn, 2nd Earl of Buchan was a Scoto-Norman magnate who was one of the most important figures in the 13th century Kingdom of Scotland. He was the son of William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan, and Marjory, Countess of Buchan, the heiress of the last native Scottish Mormaer of Buchan,...

, Constable of Scotland), and of Walter Comyn, Earl of Mentieth . His date of death is also given as 1277.

He succeeded his uncle Walter, in 1258, as Lord of Badenoch, and was succeeded by his son John II

John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch

John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lord of Lochaber or John "the Black", also known as Black Comyn, a Scottish nobleman, was a Guardian of Scotland, and one of the six Regents for Margaret, Maid of Norway...

, the "Black Comyn". John I was known as the "Red Comyn", the nickname more commonly applied to his grandson .

His second wife is given as Alice de Roos (Ros), or Alice de Lindsay of Lamberton. His first wife was called Eva.

His children, at least four sons and four daughters, included:

• John II
• a daughter who married Alexander of Argyll
  Alexander of Argyll
  Alexander of Argyll or Alexander of Lorne, also known as Alexander MacDougall , was a Scottish magnate from the late 13th and early 14th century, and was chief of Clan MacDougall. Alexander was the son of Ewen MacDougall, Lord of Argyll...
  
  
• a daughter who married Sir William Galbraith, 4th Chief of that Ilk, Lord of Kyncaith
• a daughter who married Galfrid de Mowbray