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Birth:          ABT 1210 of Galloway, Wigtownshire, Scotland
Death:          28 Jan 1290 Kemston, Bedfordshire, England
Burial:         New Abbey, Galloway, Wigtownshire, Scotland

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dervorguilla_of_Galloway
Dervorguilla of Galloway (c. 1210 – 28 January 1290) was a 'lady of substance' in 13th 
century Scotland, the wife from 1223 of John, 5th Baron de Balliol, and mother of John 
I, a future king of Scotland.

The name Dervorguilla or Devorgilla was a Latinization of the Gaelic Dearbhfhorghaill 
(alternative spellings, Derborgaill or Dearbhorghil).
Family[edit]

Dervorguilla was one of the three daughters and heiresses of the Gaelic prince Alan, 
Lord of Galloway. She was born to Alan's second wife Margaret of Huntingdon, who 
was the eldest daughter of David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon and Matilda (or 
Maud) of Chester. David in turn was the youngest brother to two Kings of Scotland, 
Malcolm IV and William the Lion. Thus, through her mother, Dervorguilla was 
descended from the Kings of Scotland, including David I.

Dervorguilla's father died in 1234 without a legitimate son (he had an illegitimate son 
Thomas). According to both Anglo-Norman feudal laws and to ancient Gaelic customs, 
Dervorguilla was one of his heiresses, her two sisters Helen and Christina being older 
and therefore senior. This might be considered an unusual practice in England, but it 
was more common in Scotland and in Western feudal tradition. Because of this, 
Dervorguilla bequeathed lands in Galloway to her descendants, the Balliol and the 
Comyns. Dervorguilla's son John of Scotland was briefly a King of Scots too, known as 
Toom Tabard (Scots: 'puppet king' literally "empty coat").

Life[edit]

The Balliol family into which Devorguilla married was based at Barnard Castle in 
County Durham, England. Although the date of her birth is uncertain, her apparent age 
of 13 was by no means unusually early for betrothal and marriage at the time.

In 1263, her husband Sir John was required to make penance after a land dispute with 
Walter Kirkham, Bishop of Durham. Part of this took the very expensive form of 
founding a College for the poor at the University of Oxford. Sir John's own finances 
were less substantial than those of his wife, however, and long after his death it fell to 
Devorguilla to confirm the foundation, with the blessing of the same Bishop as well as 
the University hierarchy. She established a permanent endowment for the College in 
1282, as well as its first formal Statutes. The college still retains the name Balliol 
College, where the history students' society is called the Devorguilla society and an 
annual seminar series featuring women in academia is called the Dervorguilla Seminar 
Series. While a Requiem Mass in Latin was sung at Balliol for the 700th anniversary of 
her death, it is believed that this was sung as a one-off, rather than having been 
marked in previous centuries.

Devorguilla founded a Cistercian Abbey 7 miles south of Dumfries in South West 
Scotland, in April 1273. It still stands as a picturesque ruin of red sandstone.

When Sir John died in 1269, his widow, Dervorguilla, had his heart embalmed and 
kept in a casket of ivory bound with silver. The casket travelled with her for the rest 
of her life. In 1274–5 John de Folkesworth arraigned an assize of novel disseisin 
against Devorguilla and others touching a tenement in Stibbington, Northamptonshire. 
In 1275–6 Robert de Ferrers arraigned an assize of mort d'ancestor against her 
touching a messuage in Repton, Derbyshire. In 1280 Sir John de Balliol's executors, 
including his widow, Devorguilla, sued Alan Fitz Count regarding a debt of £100 
claimed by the executors from Alan. In 1280 she was granted letters of attorney to 
Thomas de Hunsingore and another in England, she staying in Galloway. The same 
year Devorguilla, Margaret de Ferrers, Countess of Derby, Ellen, widow of Alan la 
Zouche, and Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan, and Elizabeth his wife sued Roger de 
Clifford and Isabel his wife and Roger de Leybourne and Idoine his wife regarding the 
manors of Wyntone, King’s Meaburn, Appleby, and Brough-under-Stainmore, and a 
moiety of the manor of Kyrkby-Stephan, all in Westmorland. The same year Devorguilla 
sued John de Veer for a debt of £24. In 1280–1 Laurence Duket arraigned an assize of 
novel disseisin again Devorguilla and others touching a hedge destroyed in 
Cotingham, Middlesex. In 1288 she reached agreement with John, Abbot of Ramsey, 
regarding a fishery in Ellington.

In her last years, the main line of the royal House of Scotland was threatened by a 
lack of male heirs, and Devorguilla, who died just before the young heiress Margaret, 
the Maid of Norway, might, if she had outlived her, have been one of the claimants to 
her throne. Devorguilla was buried beside her husband at New Abbey, which was 
christened 'Sweetheart Abbey', the name which it retains to this day. The 
depredations suffered by the Abbey in subsequent periods have caused both graves 
to be lost.

Successors[edit]

Dervorguilla and John de Balliol had issue:
Sir Hugh de Balliol, who died without issue before 10 April 1271.[1]
Alan de Balliol, who died without issue.[1]
Sir Alexander de Balliol, who died without issue before 13 November 1278.[1][2]
King John of Scotland, successful competitor for the Crown in 1292.[1]
Cecily de Balliol, who married John de Burgh, Knt., of Walkern, Hertfordshire.[1]
Ada de Balliol, who married in 1266, William de Lindsay, of Lamberton.[1][3]
Margaret (died unmarried)
Eleanor de Balliol, who married John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch.[1][4]
Maud, who married Sir Bryan FitzAlan, Lord FitzAlan, of Bedale, Knt., (d. 1 June 
1306),[5][6][7] who succeeded the Earl of Surrey as Guardian and Keeper of Scotland 
for Edward I of England.

Owing to the deaths of her elder three sons, all of whom were childless, Dervorguilla's 
fourth and youngest surviving son John of Scotland asserted a claim to the crown in 
1290 when queen Margaret died. He won in arbitration against the rival Robert Bruce, 
5th Lord of Annandale in 1292, and subsequently was king of Scotland for four years 
(1292–96).

Aunt and niece[edit]

She should not be confused with her father's sister,[8] Dervorguilla of Galloway, 
heiress of Whissendine, who married Nicholas II de Stuteville. Her daughter Joan de 
Stuteville married 1stly Sir Hugh Wake, Lord of Bourne and 2ndly Hugh Bigod 
(Justiciar). Her other daughter Margaret married William de Mastac but died young.[9]

Parents
OF GALLOWAY Alan (ABT 1188 - 1234)
OF HUNTINGDON Margaret (ABT 1194 - BEF 1228)

Siblings
DE GALLOWAY Dervorgilla (ABT 1210 - 28 Jan 1290)

Marriage To DE BALIOL John (ABT 1200 - 25 Oct 1268)
    m. 1223 

Notes

Parents
DE BALIOL Hugh (ABT 1177 - 2 Feb 1229)
DE LA FONTAINE Cecily (ABT 1177 - )

Children by DE BALIOL John ABT 1200 - 25 Oct 1268
DE BALIOL Cecilia (ABT 1240 - 1289)
DE BALIOL Eleanor (Alianora) or Mary (ABT 1246 - )
DE BALLIOL John (ABT 1249 - 25 Nov 1314)
DE BALIOL ----- (ABT 1257 - )

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