Isabella of Buchan (fl. 1290–1310)

Scottish royal and countess of Buchan who crowned Robert I, king of Scotland. Name variations: Isabel.

Flourished between 1290 and 1310; daughter of Duncan Fife (1262–1288), 9th earl of Fife (r. 1270–1288), and Joan de Clare (c. 1268–after 1322); sister of Duncan Fife (1285–1351), 10th earl of Fife; married John Comyn, 3rd earl of Buchan (d. 1313?, constable of Scotland).

Isabella of Buchan was born around 1250, the daughter of Duncan Fife, 9th earl of Fife, and Joan de Clare . Isabella's father was murdered by Sir Patrick Abernethy. Isabella, as the countess of Buchan, was a staunch supporter of Robert the Bruce of Scotland, in direct opposition to her husband, John Comyn. Around 1313, after Comyn betrayed an agreement to make Robert the Bruce king, Robert set up a meeting with him at Greyfriar's Church, where Bruce lost his temper and stabbed him; a henchman finished the deed. Earlier, standing in for her brother, the earl of Fife (who was being held prisoner by the British), Isabella had bravely volunteered to crown Robert the Bruce, Robert I, king of Scotland in 1306. To atone for this crime, she was besieged in the castle of Berwick by the English under the leadership of Edward I. When the castle was taken, she was imprisoned for four years in the castle of Roxburgh in a suspended iron and wooden cage, as was Mary Bruce (a sister of Robert Bruce). Both would survive. Mary's niece Margaret Bruce (1296–1316) narrowly escaped the same fate.

Bruce, Mary (fl. 1290–1316)

Scottish royal. Flourished around 1290 to 1316; died before 1323; daughter of Robert Bruce, earl of Carrick, and Marjorie of Carrick (c. 1254–1292); sister of Robert the Bruce also known as Robert I, king of Scotland (r. 1306–1329); married Neil Campbell of Lochow, around 1312; married Alexander Fraser, in 1316; children: (first marriage) John of Lochow (b. around 1313), earl of Atholl; Dougal; Duncan; (second marriage) John of Touch (b. around 1317); Sir William Fraser (b. around 1318).