William the eldest son of Farquhar (and Margaret, the daughter of MacGillvray of the family of Somerled), became the third Earl of Ross (second of the O'Beolain line). William, the third Earl of Ross, became one of the most important Scottish nobles during the reign of King Alexander III. Together with other Scottish nobility, William vowed to maintain and defend Princess Margaret's title to the Crown of Scotland if Alexander III should die without a son. He married Jean, the daughter of William Comyn, the Earl of Buchan. Earl Ferquhard's son, William O'Beolain, received grants of land in Skye and Lewis. William’s son, also William, was abducted around 1250 during a revolt against the earl’s rule, and was rescued with help from the Munros, who were re-warded with grants of land and became closely connected to their powerful benefactors.
Gloucester was involved in the Barons war (1263-1264). Maintenance of the city walls was of paramount importance at the time. Henry III and Edward ( his son ) needed the defences of Gloucester to be in good repair as they were often engaged with power struggles with the barons. The East gate was built in the 1200s and the defences were generally transformed. A series if semi circular bastions were constructed along the east and south sides of the Roman walls. This "Murage" was toll on goods coming into the town for sale, and was the principle source of funds for wall building. It was levied by Gloucester bailiffs throughout the 1200s and into the 1300s.
In the boyhood of Alexander III., when his father-in-law, Henry III. of England, was scheming to secure a suzerainty over Scotland, and actually effected a coup de état at Roxburgh, the heads of the Scottish Government, whom he succeeded in displacing, were the great Walter Comyn, Earl of Monteith, John Baliol, father of the future king, and Robert de Ross, these personages being too patriotic for the purposes of the English monarch. The Robert de Ross who thus appears in a heroic light on the historic page may have been a brother or a son of the great northern Earl. Malcolm MacHeth (1134) was taken prisoner and confined in the castle of Roxburgh, where also his son Donald was put in 1156, he was, nevertheless, released by King Malcolm, who even ceded to him some possessions in Cumberland, evidently fearing his father-in-law, the powerful Somerled.
In 1214, Alexander II led his army to the north to put down the rebellion of the son of Donald Bane, a rival claimant to the throne. He was aided by the chief of Clan Ross, Fearchar Mac an t-Sagairt, which in English acclaimed him to be ‘son of the priest,’ alluding to his O’Beolan descent from the hereditary Abbots of Applecross. Twenty years after the attempt of Donald Bane, the Earl of Ross did the King most substantial service in another province of his realm. On the death of Alan Fitz Roland, Lord of Galloway, that province seemed upon the point of being divided between his three daughters, Helen, wife of Roger de Quinci, Earl of Winchester, Christina, wife of William de Fortibus, and Devorgilla, wife of John Baliol. Resisting this partition, the people of the Province invited Thomas, a natural son of their late lord, to assert his claim, and proceeded to attack the neighbouring country with fire and sword. King Alexander advanced into Galloway with an army, and while his forces were entangled in marshy ground, ill suited to the movements of mounted men-at-arms, the insurgents rushed down from a hill, and would have overwhelmed him, had it not been that the Earl of Ross, at the head of his own light-armed mountaineers, came up in time, attacked the Galloway men in the rear, and scattered them in disorder. Alexander, it will be seen, had good reason for his policy of confirming and supporting the Earl of Ross in his great possessions in the north, as a buttress against the power of the enemies of the throne.
Young William O'Beolain survived to succeed his father as chief and Earl of Ross, leading his clan through the turmoil of the struggle to win Scotland’s independence. He commanded one wing of the Scottish army during the defeat of the Viking fleet under the command of King Håkon of Norway in 1263, for which he was given the title "Lord of Skye and Lewis". Earl William of the O'Beolan line died at Erles-Allane in 1274. Scots defeated the Vikings who were attempting to invade. In 1263, when Håkon's fleet arrived on the west coast heading to attack Scotland further south, the MacDugalls declined to join them and later attacked part of the Norse fleet near Mull. Much has been said against king Magnus because he concluded the Treaty of Perth, and ceded the Islands to Scotland. In December, King Håkon of Norway (which at that time included Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles) died on Orkney. By the Treaty of Perth on July 2, 1266, Norway renounced its claim on the Hebrides. The chief clans which branched from the Cenél nAlbanaich are the Clann Dhomhnuill and the Clann Dubhghaill. When William, died at Erles-Allane, Robert the Bruce was born on July 11, 1274.
The Rosses were prominent in Scottish affairs and supported an alliance with Llewellyn ap Gruffyd (Llewellyn Olaf the Last) the Welsh Prince, against the English (1272-1307.) His policy of close control over the bishops led in his later years to strife between him and the bishops of St. Asaph and Bangor who both bore the name Anian, and many churches plundered. In 1255, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd defeated his brothers Owain (d.1282) and Dafydd (d.1283), in battle at Bryn Derwin. Owain was imprisoned, and Llywelyn set about reasserting the authority of Gwynedd and thereafter extending it into a supremacy over much of the rest of Wales. By 1258, he was referring to himself not as Prince of Gwynedd but as Prince of Wales. To give full substance to his title he needed also to be lord of Marchia Wallie. In 1263 he led his forces into the heart of the March and was welcomed by the Welsh of Brecon, Abergavenny and upland Glamorgan. His advance was assisted by the barons' revolt in England, whose leader, Simon de Montfort, allied with Llywelyn in 1264. Three years later, through the Treaty of Montgomery, Henry III recognised Llywelyn as Prince of Wales and Llywelyn, in turn, recognised the King of England as his suzerain. The prince was to be overlord of the lesser Welsh rulers. He was allowed to retain a chain of lordships extending from the borders of Powys to Brecon and gains an ill-defined authority over the Welsh of upland Glamorgan and Gwent. In 1267 his position as overlord was recognized by Henry III in the Treaty of Montgomery when the English king accepted Llywelyn's homage as prince of Wales. Llywelyn began his own castle campaign by strengthening his grandfather's castles at Criccieth, Ewloe, and Dolwyddelan. Moreover, in 1273 he started to build a new castle at Dolforwyn, high above the Severn valley, posing a challenge to the royal frontier post at Montgomery. Llewellyn ap Gruffydd’s brother David ap Gruffydd carried on the struggle for Wales, and was captured in 1283. He was imprisoned for several years, then awarded the most brutal and torturous death. His was the first known incident of death by being drawn, quartered, hung and beheaded in British history. 30 years later, William Wallace of Scotland also suffered this fate at the hands of King Edward I. In 1284 Edward I completed the conquest of Wales and, by the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan, it became an English principality. Edward I built a string of powerful castles, including the castles at Harlech, Beaumaris on Anglesey, and Caernarfon. But Wales was not united with England. The March continued as a series of lordships, while Llewellyn's territories were divided into the counties of Anglesey, Caernarfon, Meirionydd, Flintshire, Cardiganshire, and Carmarthenshire. The Welsh clamoured for a prince who “spoke no English”. A number of such towns sprang up in Wales during Edward Longshank’s rule. Subjection to Canterbury would be only modified by Rome.
During Norman and Angevin times, a great many abbeys of foreign connection and Monasticism were founded in Wales, many of them under the control of ecclesiastics in England. Between 1121 and 1226, no less than thirteen Cisterican abbeys were planted in locations throughout the Welsh shires; Pembrokeshire where St. Davids stood. They fought at the Battle of Largs against the Norse invasion in 1263, and spoke in Parliament of 1283 in support of settling the succession to the throne on the infant Princess Margaret, the Maid of Norway. Three years later, King Alexander III died on March 19 crossing the river Forth to Fife at Queensferry. Queen Margaret, Maid of Norway (daughter of King Erik II) ascended the throne. Soon in 1292, John Balliol ("Toom Tabard" or "Turncoat") acceded to Scottish throne, and on November 30, he was crowned.
After the Battle of Largs (1263), the Comyns held Buchan, Angus, Mentieth, Lochaber, Badenoch, Galloway as possessors of Deer Abbey. Edward I of England assumed direct overlordship of Scotland. Alexander the Glorious forced Håkon to arrive at Ayrshire and the Clyde estuary. Håkon based himself on Arran after Alexander's death, in 1286 six guardians of the realm; all Normans save for Buchan and MacDuff, the earl of Fife, Culross, Melrose, Kinloss... Turnberry was the seat of the Celtic earldom of Carrick. When the Maid of Norway died, contenders to Bruce's bond to the earldom was the three daughters of the Earl of Huntingdon David and the son of Devorgilla of Galloway MacDougal: John Baliol who was related to the Comyns. By this time, Old Bruce of Annandale appealed to Edward I Longshanks who chose Baliol. With thirteen candidates, Edward insisted on all major castles in Scotland being handed over to his lieutenant Bishop Anthony Beck of Durham. From the overlordship, the Scots accepted Edward as arbiter. John Baliol protested over being summoned with his army for foreign wars. Edward marched north. At Berwick-on-Tweed, Scotland's greatest seaport was sacked in the numbers of 17,000, then to Dunbar. Edward caught up with King John at Strcathro in Angus where Baliol was. The Scots signed the Ragman Roll and the feudal system was met with a no-king-no-lord-superior other than Edward when all the Norman-built edifice of state broke down- Balliol being banished to France.
Sweetheard Abbey was founded in 1273 by Lady Dervorguilla. It was the last Cistercian abbey to be founded in Scotland. The abbey was founded in memory of her late husband, John Balliol (d. 1268). Dervorguilla is best known as the mother of John Balliol (d. 1313) who was set on the Scottish throne in 1292 at the behest of King Edward I. The size of the community increased rapidly and Mellifont had established six daughter houses within ten years of its foundation. Mellifont was the first Cistercian abbey to be founded in Ireland. In 1139 St. Malachy O’Morgair, former archbishop of Armagh and then Bishop of Down, set out on a pilgrimage to Rome. When all the Irishmen had been professed they returned to their homeland, accompanied by a group of French monks. The mother house of Abbeyshrule is Mellifont near Drogheda at Louth.
William Wallace (Welsh), was a Celt of Cymric or Strathclyde stock as distinct from the northern Gaelic Celts. The son of a Lord of Renfrewshire and vassal of the High Steward, Wallace was the inventor of patriotism. He looked to the Celtic folk for support; the majority. It was in the Celtic and Flemish north, from Moray that his first powerful assistant, Sir Andrew Moray. They won the victory of Stirling Bridge against Edward using the same strategic advantages by Malcolm the Destroyer and MacBeth of the narrow Forth crossing hte causeway through the marshland beyond to impede and bog down the weight of cavalry and armoured knights but Moray was mortally wonded in the battle. When Wallace called the Scots magnates at Selkirk, Robert the Bruce arrives. Bruce's son had succeeded his mother Marjorie as Earl of Carrick. Edward encouraged Bruce's marriage to his own god-daughter Elizabeth de Burgh from his companion in arms Richard the Red de Burgh, earl of Ulster. Wallace signed the Ragman Roll with the rest but Bruce was not at Stirling Bridge to hold Ayrshire and the southwest, nor to knight Wallace. There were only two Scots earls prepared for the national cause. One of them, the Celtic Earl of Lennox which changed sides from the English to the Scottish since Stirling Bridge and the other, Carrick who had been knighted by Edward. Wallace was cornered at Falkirk in 1298 and deserted by his Norman cavalry. Edward returned to Scone Abbey where he thought he had taken the Stone of Destiny along with Queen Margaret's Black Rood. The Sheriff of Dumbarton at Dumbarton Castle, Sir John Stewart of Menteith handed Wallace over to the English. Bruce and John the Red Comyn were Joint-Guardians. Comyn was the brother-in-law of King John Balliol.
The Welsh supported Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) in his pursuit of the English crown, regarding him as their countryman. Bards kept Welsh oral traditions alive, and towns and trade developed. It was sometime around 927, Rollo passed the fief in Normandy to his son, William Longsword. When Henry IV came to York from the Lancastrian revolution, he seized the English throne, a revolt began in Wales, which, under the leadership of Owain Glyndwr in 1402, became formidable. Glyndwr set up a separate parliament for Wales, and although Henry IV's forces led by his son (later Henry V) invaded the country and won several battles, the revolt was not finally suppressed until the death of Glyndwr in about 1416. Henry V of England sailed to France for a season of campaigning and was informed of the Southampton Plot against him. Contemporary observers describe a fleet of 1500 ships that carried Henry's army across the channel. A French fleet, after inflicting much injury on Rye, Hastings, and other places, in 1377, appeared off Dover during seven days, but was driven away by a storm. The emperor Sigismund arrived around Dover in 1416, to mediate between Henry V. and France; and sailed hence in the same year. Henry V. landed at Dover after a terrible storm, two months later in the same year; and again, with Catherine of Valois, in 1421.